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My local Gold’s Gym is going through some growing pains it seems. It’s only been open since about September. This is both good and bad. The best thing about this is that the gym doesn’t have too many members–I never have to wait for any of the equipment that I want to use, even if I go right after most people get off work. It’s the first gym that I’ve ever worked out in that wasn’t too crowded.
But, since I joined in January the three people who I had initial dealings with have decided to move on. Melissa, the person who signed me up decided that she wanted to work in a different Gold’s. Krista, the trainer who was recommended to train my wife has decided to leave to pursue other plans. And Alan, my personal trainer took another training job at a smaller club here in Salem.
Krista and Melissa didn’t really affect me when they left–they just were there one day and gone the next. However, I really liked Alan. I felt we had a great rapport, our athletic backgrounds were similar, and his workouts were varied and tough. But he was the first trainer I’d ever worked with and I didn’t know what to expect. One day, while working out on my own, another of Alan’s clients came up to me and told me that he had quit and was now training at another gym. No “Goodbye”, no “Here’s another recommendation”, he was just gone. Honestly, I felt abandoned by him.
A couple of nights later (two nights before my next appointment with Alan) I was contacted by Mike–my current trainer. We had an initial phone chat about my progress, and my goals, and the way that Alan and I had been working together. Then we set up a time to meet and do a fitness evaluation. Since then, I’ve had three training sessions with Mike. They’re very different from Alan, and I don’t know which I like better. Mike and I don’t have as good a rapport. We’re friendly and cordial, but he’s is more of a “Hollywood cool guy” than an “athletic down to Earth guy.”
Not only do my two trainers have very different personalities, they also have very different training methods. Alan would tell me what to do, show me a few reps, set me to work, wait for me to finish, get out the stopwatch, and tell me to go again. It didn’t feel like he was really even watching me work. In fact, sometimes he left me during sets to go set up the next exercise. Efficient yes, but motivating? Not really. I was tired after each workout, and I liked them because they were intense, fast-paced, invigorating, and never boring.
Mike, on the other hand, takes a very hands on approach to my training. He stresses core strength (one of my weakest areas…though I can do 27 crunches with no problems), correct form, and impeccable posture. His hands are on me every time I touch the weights, constantly guiding the path of my various body parts, keeping them on the correct plane of motion. During the set, we only talk about the exercise. “Always keep those abs tight. Squeeze those shoulder blades together. Don’t let those shoulders round. Stand up straight.” Then between sets we talk about personal stuff. It’s a good mix. And I’ve seen results since I’ve been working with him.
I lost seven pounds in the last seven weeks. Greenman would be happy!
| 2/19 | 3/20 | 5/6 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weight | 207 | 201 | 194 |
| BF% | 27.5 | 24 | ? |
| Pounds of Fat | 57 | 48 | ? |
So, now that you have the background I have two questions:
- How “personal” do you want your personal trainer to be? Would you rather have a hands-off, likable trainer like Alan, or a hands-on, hard working trainer like Mike?
- For you personal trainers out there, should I expect better results after one month of working out, or is a 2.5% drop in body fat acceptable?
Just by listing the benefits and faults of each trainer here, I think I’ve answered #1 for myself, but I’m still interested in what you all have to say. And I’m very curious about what the trainers and more experienced people have to say about #2.
J.D.
16 responses so far ↓
1 Mark // Mar 21, 2008 at 8:22 am
I would say that if I was paying for a personal trainer I would want the most “hands on” one I could get. As long as they weren’t rude or demeaning and know their stuff I would want my trainer to be very involved in what I was doing.
As to question #2, I am not a personal trainer but I would say that in one month your results are pretty good. You have lost about 3% of your body weight and gained some lean muscle mass in the process. That can only help you as time goes on.
Keep it up!
2 Eric Nagel // Mar 21, 2008 at 8:28 am
I’d rather have “a hands-on, hard working trainer like Mike”. You’re looking for a trainer first, a friend second. Form is everything - doing your exercises slowly, with light weight first trains your body how to move properly. Then you can increase the weight.
If my trainer, who I’ve worked with for a year now, left the gym I go to, I’d follow him to whatever gym he moved to.
I’m part of a tight group that works out 5-6 days / week together. We also get together about once / month or so for a social gathering. It’s nice having the social aspect to the relationship, but its first about training.
3 Cathy // Mar 21, 2008 at 8:30 am
I’ve worked with one personal trainer in the past and I was disappointed (I probably should have spoken up, but oh well) that he didn’t teach me what I wanted to learn. I specifically asked him to show me how to do squats and deadlifts, but he stuck to the machines for large muscles, and free weights for shoulders and arms.
Also, he wasn’t very hands on. He would show me how to do the exercise, then leave let me do it on my own. We did chat, and he was motivating, but in the end, I would have preferred someone who was hands on and made sure that I was always using correct form.
I’m interested to see what you decided after working it through, so I hope you’ll let us know later.
As for question number two, I seem to remember reading somewhere that half to one percentage body fat loss per week was a good rate. Therefore, at one month (4 weeks) 2.5% sounds right on track.
I also commend you on your success. As a woman, I’ve always lost much slower.
4 Anne Keckler, Personal Trainer // Mar 21, 2008 at 9:17 am
Losing 9 pounds of body fat and gaining 6 pounds of muscle seems very good for a month’s work!
I don’t know if you read my blog, but I recently wrote How to Choose a Personal Trainer and Questions to Ask Yourself After the First Interview or Session.
I’d want someone who would actually teach me, motivate me, and protect me from hurting myself. This is actually relevant to me, too, because I’m considering spending another week in Miami without the children, just so I can work with a good powerlifting trainer down there.
5 d.a. // Mar 21, 2008 at 9:58 am
“Hands-on”, definitely. Knowing proper form is important to me - I want my work to give me the highest possible payback. Poor form can lead to poor results, and even worse, injuries. Although its nice to have someone more compatible, I’ll take someone “hands-on” every time.
6 11101 // Mar 21, 2008 at 2:43 pm
I prefer a trainer who’s more “pushy” because I know that I won’t challenge myself without him. I told him he would do all the thinking about what exercises and how much weight, and I’d just do what he told me.
With regards to fat loss vs. muscle loss, I actually set up a spreadsheet to track how many pounds of muscle/fat I gain/lose. I just put he formula into a spreadsheet, and all I need to do is put in my weight and fat percentage each day. I think this is better than tracking my weight because I can see that while I may have put on a couple pounds, it’s because I’ve gained more pounds of muscle than lost pounds of fat.
7 greenman2001 // Mar 22, 2008 at 3:08 am
Mac, you reduced your body fat percentage by 13%, not 2.5%: 24% is 13% lower than 27.5%. You’ve lost 3.5 percentage points of fat.
Having a blog is fun, isn’t it? You get to ask questions like, “should I expect better results after one month of working out?” with a straight face, as though your personal trainer is losing your weight for you and might not be performing up to your standards. Early on in the blog you said you wanted to lose between 1 and 2 lbs a week, and you’ve lost 6 lbs in 4 weeks: 1.5 lbs a week. Looks like you’re right on track.
I like your portraits of these trainers. I’m curious about what YOU expect from them, though. Are they providing something you can’t get any other way? I think you said you get 6 free sessions, so maybe it doesn’t matter, but you’re a consumer, consuming their services: are you getting what you want from them?
8 macdaddy // Mar 22, 2008 at 8:21 am
First, regarding Cathy’s question about which trainer I like best. Without a doubt, after writing this post, I prefer Mike. I’ve learned more about exercising in those 3 sessions than I’ve ever learned before. I got three great workouts from him that were all very difficult, different, and fun. I know how to do each exercise and I can feel the effects the next day in each of the muscle groups that I worked.
Greenman, I just finished my 6th complimentary session and of course I was pressured to buy more. I resisted. Mike wants me to train with him at least once a week. Depending on how many session I pay for up front, that would cost me anywhere from $200-$250 more per month. To answer your question, no they aren’t providing something that I can’t get any other way. I got what I needed out of them, and I think I’m going to give it a go on my own for a while. The only problem is this: How do I go about getting my body fat measured if I’m not training with anybody at the gym?
9 TosaJen // Mar 22, 2008 at 2:11 pm
1. How “personal” do you want your personal trainer to be? Would you rather have a hands-off, likable trainer like Alan, or a hands-on, hard working trainer like Mike?
We all want different things, but I’d prefer Mike. Based on a few experiences with personal trainers, I prefer:
– Someone who respects my time, is on-time and makes the most of our session time.
– Someone who is teaching me how to train myself properly. I don’t want strength training to be a mysterious process, and I don’t want a trainer who sets him/herself up as a guru.
– Someone who will answer my questions. “I don’t know” is a fine answer, so long as the correct answer is forthcoming, after some research.
– Someone who listens to what MY goals are, rather than putting me into a cookie-cutter category and using a generic workout. Nothing annoys me more than being given a million reps of “girlie” weights to make my muscles “longer and leaner”. I do strength training to become/stay STRONGER, duh. (Yes, I know low weights can be challenging and build muscle, but that’s typically about extra-slow, controlled movements, not tons of reps.)
I’ve found that sometimes it’s good to have a trainer (when you have questions or aren’t sure where to start), and other times, they aren’t so helpful. As you just said.
10 Mike // Mar 23, 2008 at 5:36 am
I like the hands-on as well, I have found that my trainer will keep checking me so I can have the maximum benefit from my exercise (and, gasp, I don’t always maintain good form, even when I think I am).
The main benefit I find from having a trainer is that she will bring up new exercises. So my muscles are constantly challenged in new ways.
11 Katy // Mar 23, 2008 at 9:57 am
As far as getting body fat percentage measured, for a rough estimate, you can find scales that use the electrical resistance of your body to measure body fat. Or pay the gym for a personal training/body fat measurement session once every couple of months, if you trust their measurements more.
12 Anne Keckler, Personal Trainer // Mar 23, 2008 at 10:03 am
Skinfold measurements done by an experienced personal trainer are much more accurate than the bioelectrical impedance measurements taken by bathroom scales.
13 Katy // Mar 23, 2008 at 12:53 pm
How much more accurate?
And health clubs don’t always use skin-fold measurements; the health club I go to uses a bioimpedance measurement for the everyday sort of fitness test.
A bathroom scale analysis is more likely to be used frequently and can more easily be used to show a trend over time, and much more cheaply than the $200 a month macdaddy cites above as his costs. (And of course it could be used in combination with more infrequent use of a personal trainer, should he be interested in precise measurements as well as a general trend-line.)
14 Cynthia // Mar 23, 2008 at 2:03 pm
I’d go for the hands-on trainer, because good form is important to me, in hopes of avoiding injury.
On the bodyfat measurement, honestly, I have a good Tanita Body Fat scale… but it is really only best for charting a downward trend. It puts me at 10% above what 7-site skinfold measurements by a trainer gave me.
For a somewhat more consistent reading, and one that is closer to an actual trainer’s skinfold measurements of my body fat, I prefer the Omron Body Fat monitor, which is a bio-impedance gadget you hold in your hands. You do need to enter your weight, so a good consistent scale is also important to have in your arsenal.
Another solution is to track girth measures for progress.
15 Anne Keckler, Personal Trainer // Mar 23, 2008 at 2:08 pm
The cost of skin-fold measurements is generally about $10 at most gyms.
16 Josh // Mar 24, 2008 at 5:05 am
The personal training business in big gyms is all about sales. Trainers have to meet quotas each month and even the best at heart either quit or have to turn into sales machines. Furthermore become a “personal trainer” is as easy as a weekend seminar or you can even get “certification” online for $50. You may have known this stuff but I wanted to make sure.
PTs are for one thing in my mind, motivation and accountability. If your trainer is doing that well, then he’s good.
As for your results, how was BF taken anyway? Calipers are very innaccurate when done by two different people (I’ve seen swings of 8% between testers). And impedance ones rely on a lot of different variables. You should do measurements around your waist (at navel) to guage how much fat you’ve lost althought it won’t give you a %. I would disagree with the above posters saying calipers are more accurate, even if done by someone skilled in doing them. I have seen informal tests comparing bioelectric and several “expert” caliper testers with hydrostatic testing. The testers’s were just as much off as the bioimpedance but at least the bioimpedance gave a reading that was off by the same amount person to person. I suppose I’m oversimplyfing it but it convinced me.
9 lbs in a month (not your first month either) is very good results in my opinion. But, like I said, I am not sure if you can fully trust that assessment but it doesn’t hurt to believe it I suppose.
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