Crappy Personal Trainer Syndrome

I recently was in the middle of a discussion that seems to sprout its ugly head every month or so. Why are there so many "bad" personal trainers in this industry? Why do people pay them to give them horrible service?

I have been in the midst of this conversion a few times. The answer for these questions seem to be this:

-It is too easy to become a personal trainer.

- People love bargains and gimmicks. Whatever works the fastest and is the cheapest is the best.

This obviously is a major problem for good personal trainers out their looking to really help their clients and wanting to charge for their time they spend providing quality service in and out of the gym.

Well, because I am pretty weary from constantly talking about this, I will simply get to the point and point out what I believe will make a good trainer and what a potential client should look for.

Good Trainers

1. Well educated in their craft. Do not simply rely on easy to obtain certifications. They have extended amount of experience and knowledge.
2. They really want to help the client they work with. The client is not just another person to make warmup for 10 minutes on a treadmill and count reps for.
3. Train clients on an individual basis. The trainer must be able to assess the client before training him or her.
4. Talks the talk and walk the walk. Doesn't tell a client to not eat donuts and then gobbles down a dozen every night.
5. Is not afraid to leave a client who fails to commit. Training someone who doesn't want to do as the trainer says is not worth training.

Smart Clients:

1. Do not judge a trainer on looks. You should be impressed with the knowledge of that trainer and not his abs.
2. Looks for a trainers background. Knows the trainer should have at least a few years under his belt, and a respectable certification to back him up (ACSM,NSCA,NASM and Chek)
3. Trainer explains workout and keeps a journal on clients progress. Nothing worse than a trainer who can't remember anything about you but your name.
4. Trainer focuses on you during session and does not watch music videos or strike up useless conversations with others. I hate that the most
5. Trainer is always prompt.

These are just a few things to catch. We can only hope that clients and trainers both become smarter about personal training