Although I may sometimes look like it, I am absolutely no MEATHEAD. I don’t do steroids, I don’t grunt and yell, I’m not aggressive and I would rather play guitar then chug a beer. Of course I’m sure the first step in being a meathead is realizing you’re a meathead…and my name does sound like something a caveman would grunt, but no - I’m no meathead.

That being said - I certainly DO know my way around a gym. I’ve spent many years, and tons of time reading about nutrition, working out and how to make improvements with my body. I studied to become a certified personal trainer, before sleeping through the exam (hmm sounding more like a meathead every minute), I’ve spoken to athletic trainers, played sports and been around intelligent fitness people all my life - so I have a clue what I’m talking about.

The reason I mention the above is because it makes my opinion on what I see every day in the gym more valuable.

The opinion of course being - Personal Trainers do not do their clients justice, and seem to be more interested in keeping themselves employed long term rather then actually teaching  how to work out properly. I understand it from a business perspective, but come on….

The problem I see is trainers seem to adopt a cookie cutter approach to their profession. I see at the gym clients ranging from pre-content bodybuilding condition, to 100 pound overweight women all doing the same movements. Typically this is a big pronounced stretching routine which spans across the entire gym floor, and makes the client look like a fool - only, it’s okay since they have the trainer by their side. They will then move into some extremely light weight lifting, with one foot on a balance ball and the other doing leg kicks while they attempt a standing military press gone into a front raise at the bottom…..you get the idea

Basically, ridiculous stuff that is only useful or even feasible to attempt when a trainer is by your side. These guys are in effect showing the client an extremely specific way to work out which they are certain will only be repeated when being supervised by a professional.

I can appreciate these people trying to work out and make improvements in their life, which is why on the whole I wish trainers would do a better job teaching them fundamentals and progressing upwards every week, rather then very kind of silly and involved movements.

You show up at the gym and ask for a trainer. What should happen next?

This is how I feel it should progress

• Discuss goals - Are you trying to lose weight, put on muscle, tone up, get ready for a marathon?
• First session primarily spent going over your diet and nutrition program. Nutrition is almost 75% of the fitness equation
• Develop a written routine with checkpoints set up in terms of weight change, as well as strength or flexibility increases
• Light stretching and other movements to assess the clients tolerance with different muscle groups
• Begin the written routine. In my opinion this should start by teaching the basic compound movements. Do sets of body weight squats, learn how to do a pushup, etc….form is critical so teach the client the proper way to perform each move
• As the client becomes comfortable with the movements themselves, begin the process of progressively increasing weight as to work the muscles more each week

If you are paying for training and continue to find yourself looking like a fool doing some crazy ’stretch twist on one leg and reach for the ceiling with the other’ then you may want to think back to this article and consider the alternative….make it a hobby, educate yourself and ask others who you see and trust at the gym….it will be worth your while - not to mention you’ll save a boat load of money