5 Qualities to Look For When Selecting a Personal Trainer

Personal trainers are a dime a dozen, and if you've never worked with them, you may end up with a personal trainer who isn't right for you. In this article, I will outline some criteria by which to evaluate a personal trainer that you're considering working with.

What are the results like?

By looking at your potential personal trainer's clients, see whether he gets results with them. What kinds of results? Are these the same results you're looking for? In other words, if your personal trainer has gotten dozens of people to run a marathon, but not very many people to lose weight, is that a trainer that you would want to be with?

Is your trainer educated?

Extra letters after your name are great, but as a guy with letters after his name (EX: BA, Ph.D., CK, MS, CSCS, etc.), I can tell you it's not all it's cracked up to be. There are phenomenal personal trainers out there with no letters after their name. The best education is often self-education, and real-world experience. Does your potential trainer spend significant amounts of time on professional development?

Are your workouts individualized?

You are unique, and so should your workouts be. Do you notice that all of a particular trainer's clients are training with the same style, regardless of their goals? Different goals require different approaches, as do different individuals with the same goals. A trainer should take the time to understand you, your unique situation, your goals, your health and exercise history, your strengths and weaknesses, and a ton of other factors.Find more on how to choose a personal trainer.

Is the trainer passionate?

A trainer does not have to be flamboyant or outgoing to be passionate, although those qualities make it easy to see his passion. However, a trainer should enjoy continuous learning, and interacting with people.

Does the trainer's personality match yours?

If you're going to be spending 2-4 hours per week with somebody for months or possibly years, you want to make sure that you're spending that time with a person you like. Of course, this is last, because to some people, personality really doesn't matter. They're very pragmatic, and results are all that matter. Nothing wrong with that, as long as you have established criteria.