Happy New Year to all!
Just a quick link today to a decent article in the Yahoo postgame section. A number of reputable trainers/coaches are interviewed regarding best choices for a new gym (New Years resolution stuff). Here's the link: http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/training-day/201112/how-pick-gym-2012
Take note of this quote: "Ignore the stuff you don't use," Schuler says. "Swimming pools, saunas, and basketball courts are nice, but why pay for those amenities if you're only joining to use the weights or the cardio machines?" And you should be planning to use plenty of free weights.
"Does the gym place a greater emphasis on quality free-weight strength training exercises over machine-based programs?" asks strength coach Jim Smith. "There are limitations associated with strength training on machines. Also, machine-based training is less efficient because it is typically associated with isolation exercises that target one specific muscle group." (emphasis mine)
Does this sound familiar? I hope so! (If not, you need to re-read this, and this.)
Does this sound familiar? I hope so! (If not, you need to re-read this, and this.)
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| If your gym has lots of these... |
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| And none of these, then you should look elsewhere. |
This quote, too, was interesting: "Are the trainers certified through a national fitness organization?" Smith encourages you to ask. "Also, how many years experience do they have training clients? Does the trainer know how to teach basic compound movements to a variety of people at different skill levels? A trainer must gain experience through years of training clients at all skill levels and be knowledgeable across a multitude of different training methodologies."
My experience as a personal trainer for 7 years, observing about five hundred trainers over that time, is that approximately 1 in 25 knows how to teach the fundamental compound movements on a solid, basic level, and about 1 in 75 could be called very good at it.
The crazy part is that with the widespread use of the internet, this information is so much more widely available than it was even 5 years ago. When I first began teaching and supervising other trainers as a Fitness Manager for Equinox, back in January, 2007, there was only a small amount of quality information and resources online. Now, you can go to Mark Rippetoe, Dan John, Eric Cressey, and many others' websites and read quality information, daily.
True, you can't become an accomplished coach or expert in training by simply reading things online - you need real life experience both seeing the lifts, and coaching them. But the ability to access really good information has just exploded in the last five years. So there's really no excuse, other than laziness and a willingness to do the least possible to "get by" their job, rather than want to truly master material and EXCEL at it, to explain why such a small % of Personal Trainers don't know how to properly coach the lifts.
The crazy part is that with the widespread use of the internet, this information is so much more widely available than it was even 5 years ago. When I first began teaching and supervising other trainers as a Fitness Manager for Equinox, back in January, 2007, there was only a small amount of quality information and resources online. Now, you can go to Mark Rippetoe, Dan John, Eric Cressey, and many others' websites and read quality information, daily.
True, you can't become an accomplished coach or expert in training by simply reading things online - you need real life experience both seeing the lifts, and coaching them. But the ability to access really good information has just exploded in the last five years. So there's really no excuse, other than laziness and a willingness to do the least possible to "get by" their job, rather than want to truly master material and EXCEL at it, to explain why such a small % of Personal Trainers don't know how to properly coach the lifts.
When searching for a gym or trainer, be sure to find these things. They will be the difference between a waste of time and money, and you getting fit!
1 in 25, eh? Either you're unlucky or have high standards, I have worked at 3 different gyms and, let me think...
ReplyDeleteA had 17 trainers, and 2 could coach the compounds properly.
B had 12, with 1.
C had 15, with 1.
I'm not including myself in those numbers. So it's 4 of 34, or 1 in 9. Add in me and it's 5 of 35, or 1 in 7.
Lots of half-squats, round-backed deadlifts, a few reverse-curl "hang cleans", bench presses that never touch the chest and bars that get fondled by the trainer a lot in the name of "spotting," that sort of thing.
But still, 1 in 7.
Bear in mind it'll be hard for a newbie to know if a trainer can coach the lifts properly; it takes a certain amount of competence to be able to assess competence. I think an easy test would be to ask the trainer if they've ever heard of Rippetoe, Dan John, Tommy Kono, people like them. Any trainer interested in serious lifting will have heard of them - might not follow them at all, but will know who they are.
Kyle,
ReplyDeleteI guess either my market here in NYC is just far below par, or yours is far above. I worked at a large-scale National chain of health clubs that actually has the most comprehensive education system of any big box gym, as far as I know. They operate over 50 clubs across the country, all upscale in good neighborhoods with upper class to wealthy clientele. I worked there for 6 years in 4 different locations, so got to observe literally hundreds of trainers performing thousands of sessions.
The staff sizes of the four clubs combine to only about 120, but attrition rates are literally over 100% in the personal training department - this was told to m directly by HR - so over 6 years I was on staff with, or manager of, about 500 trainers.
I count about 15 that I've seen - not including ones who I have personally taught, which would add a few more - who can coach a Squat,DL, Press, Bench Press (along with basic DB variations and a basic KB Swing) on a reasonably good level. Some of those 15 were also managers, which is good, but should be a standard. I know of a few others by reputation who could do. So add about 5 for those people, and you get about 20 trainers. Out of 500 or so. Sadly, I'm not exaggerating!
I also have used 5 or 6 independent gyms or PT Studios to train my private clients, and trained in several different gyms in apartment buildings in NYC as well. So have gotten exposure to an additional 100 or so of trainers from a range of different backgrounds and companies.
Of these, I have only seen 2 who can coach the lifts. 2 out of 100. So I assumed my experience with 1 out of 25 was actually pretty good.
Now I'm not an expert anywhere near the level of Rippetoe or Dan John etc..., but I've taught the lifts as a University level course for a few years, as well as to a several dozen trainers and clients. My experience tells me that out of those 17 I've personally observed, about 7 are not only competent in it, but really very knowledgeable and good. 7 out of about 600. So about 1 in 85, really.
You ran down the numbers, so I'm listing my experience. If yours has been better, I'm glad to hear it!
Interesting to hear your experience, expanded a little bit it could be a useful blog post.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering if we're just talking different standards of what is "competent"? I'm talking about coaching the lifts to a fairly basic level, not getting someone to squat 3 plates, but squat the bar, and within a few months 1-2 plates.
I tend to judge their competence by the cues they give. DJ's "weight through heels, chest up, knees out," in the goblet squat gets most people to it fairly well and quickly. Just today I heard a new trainer teaching a squat, and it was "arms forwards, don't let your knees go past your toes, concentrate on pushing your butt back, but not so far you fall over."
Any lift has maybe 10 or 12 points that matter in it. A competent coach knows what those points are; obviously the trainer above doesn't.
Further, of those 10-12 points, there'll be 3-4 that if the person gets them right, the other 6-9 pretty much fall into place, not perfectly, but enough to get the person started, and once those 3-4 are automatic after a few months' practice, then we can look at the other 6-9, but mastering them is probably a lifetime's work.
But which 3-4 points of the 10-12 are the important ones? And what is the shortest, simplest and clearest way I can get that across to a person in the gym in the 30-60 minutes I have to teach them 3-12 exercises on their routine? A competent coach knows.
So I might not be setting a very high standard in judging the competence of a coach. Perhaps that could be another article for you - what is a competent coach, and how can a newbie judge it?