Would love to see a similar list from the opposite perspective, nine signs you suck at being trained. You've all touched before on some of your pet peeves with clients, it would be great to have a condensed video like this!
In my 30’s after not working out or exercising for years, I signed up for 24 Hr Fitness and purchased a training package. I was assigned a trainer, who did a quick assessment, and then we began our workout. I remember a lot of chest exercises, push-ups, bench presses, with bicep and triceps thrown in. I was injured so badly from that one workout my wife had to take me to the hospital the next day. I could barely move for days. He called a few times because I still had sessions left, but I never went back. I didn’t start working out again until recently, at 53 yrs of age. That’s how badly it messed me up. I discovered your podcasts recently and they have been a godsend.
I listen to the podcast in my car when I take my son to work…they love to hear “ the intro” IF YOU WANT TO PUMP YOUR BODY , AND EXPAND YOUR MIND , THERE’s ONLY ONE PLACE TO GO …. MIND PUMP!!! My 9 year says it all the time! YOU ARE AWESOME! 🤜🏼💥🤛🏼
I think the key component to being a great trainer is being 100% dialed in to your client, asking questions and making very careful observations. You also need to be able to speak to the needs the client doesn't know they have such as posture problems, muscle imbalances, and dietary needs. You must address recovery (nutrition and sleep) as it is a crucial part of the client's success.
I joined a gym few days back and wanted to hire a personal trainer but i saw them giving a personal training session to client i changed my decision because he was not looking at her postute or technique . He was so focused on getting her tired and sore that she cannot even walk back to her home. Mindpump saves us alot. Thank you so much for the awesome content. Love you guys♥️
The trainers that work for gyms are the worst. I had on when I joined Bally 10 years ago. There was no aim or focus. She just gave me stuff to do for that hour. She didn't give me like assignments to do in between sessions with her, not even to tell me to do exactly the same things.
My uncle is my fitness buddy and one of my best friends, I'm trying to get him into your podcast (he's kind of stuck in the 80's). He's not a trainer but he used to be the guy who tried to talk to and fix everyone's form in the gym ha! a little funny to watch him get blown off sometimes. All in good fun though, you guys are awesome! I'm aspiring to be a trainer in the future and this podcast has helped so much! i'm like a sponge to all this info
#1 - Amen. Should be a 2 hour long assessment (until you know why they are there, the what to do doesn't matter) with family history and a copy of their blood work
This has made me rethink the way I train my clients. This also has me realized I've got myself in a rut on my training. I've decided to go for another personal training certification to help me wake up and get out of the rut.
I’ve never worked with a professional trainer outside of my coaches in high-school but every training partner, friend, or coach I’ve ever had offer me advice has fallen prey to the “entertainment trap” where they assume more complicated=better. Always trying new machines, pushing supersets and drop sets, and also thinking that blowing up a muscle group up every workout is the goal. I grew up with a dad who was a college football and track and field coach with a masters in exercise physiology and an uncle who was a pro level Strength and Conditioning coach. Because of this my instincts were always good: Focus on compound lifts Train for performance Lift heavy at least some of the time But the fitness industry has me convinced that was for athletes. Losing weight and training for health meant steady state cardio or maybe HIIT. Training for aesthetics meant high rep isolation work and extreme intensity. It wasn’t until in found mindpump that things started to click for me and I was able to trust my instincts and train the way I prefer without guilt, and I’m seeing the best results of my life.
I'm a trainer and this information is valuable. It's always good to continue learning and being innovative and not doing things beyond your scope of expertise
After years of using magazine workouts and later orange Theory I hired a trainer to focus on strength training and getting out of the chronic cardio/ dieting mindset. Wow! She nailed it. Even started with an assessment the first session, and continually as we work together. She also is constantly reminding me to do less and rest more to see results. Shes worth every penny
I went to a “transformation gym” for nearly two years where the trainers got their annual bonuses based on how much weight their clients lost. I was a complete newbie to fitness, and my trainer there started me (5’6” woman) on 1100 calories a day, and when I stopped losing weight after a few months, he knocked me down to 950 calories a day, then 850 calories a day. All while upping my daily step count average from 10,000 to 15,000, and weight training three, sometimes four times, each week (doing the exact same workout for two years!!). I hit a plateau really hard and couldn’t shift any more body fat for the last six months I worked with him. I was also hungry and exhausted all the time. It wasn’t until I moved countries and found a new trainer who understood that living on 850-950 calories a day for more than a year was hurting my health that I’ve been able to slowly reverse diet up to 2500 calories a day, train smarter, and recomp my body. I’ve seen much better progress ever since!
I’ve found in my experience that female trainers and coaches are more successful with male clients because they won’t allow the male clientele to ego lift. Much more emphasis on technique, range of motion, and mind muscle connection, actively recruiting specific muscles for each exercise.
Couldn’t agree more with you guys on assessments and correctional exercise… I go through a very in depth consultation and assessment with each client before I have them do any sort of workout. We don’t want to keep promoting those faulty movement patterns. I know too many trainers whose main goal is to get their clients as tired and as sweaty as possible Every. Damn. Day…. It’s not beneficial for the client in the long run. PS: Every morning when I wake up, I look at my girlfriend and I say, “IT’S MIND PUMP TIME!” and then I listen to you guys while making my breakfast. Keep up the Good work!
I wanted to learn crossfit movements so I hired the best crossfit athlete in my country and after two months I realized being good at something doesn't mean you are good at coaching it . For example he had a client coming for months before me and still hadn't learn double unders . l myself learnt the muscle up watching a three minutes RU-vid video .
I had a very memorable session once. My trainer back then convinced me to train and showed me how to eat to bulk, because I was a skinny guy and it sounded pretty good to my newbie ass back then. "You have the frame for an awesome body bro." And of course I wanted to change my looks anyway. In my first workout session my trainer went all out with me, yelled at me to go for every single rep, motivated me to work harder and stuff. I felt every single bone after the workout and I was sweating like never before. Showering was the worst and even worse was the next day, were the next session was with him. I went to the gym and he asked me how I felt, my answer: "I feel like shit, every joint hurts, but I guess that's normal right?" He send me back home immediately and I never came back for another session with him.
I tried out a trainer before Covid. I told her I wanted to train for Spartan races so agility, mobility, speed that kind of stuff. She trained me like a Damn straight up body builder. I also had really bad connection to my glutes and hip strength/mobility. Instead of helping me fix my ailments she trained me within my limitations and made shit worse for me. Thanks to you guys though I have worked a lot on mobility and on my Imbalances and I can now squat with minimal butt wink and I feel So much more connected so THANK YOU guys for that!
Hear me out... Bar Rescue, but for gym trainers. You send a person go in for personal training, while the Mind Pump hosts sit in a van outside. Right when they make a bad practice, you go all go in and call them out.
HEY BOIS! I had an coach who put me on 1500 cal diet (i was 200 at 5"9) when my goal was to build muscle and lose fat after 1-2 years of training. Ended up feeling FRIED, training gym 4 times week LONG sessions and 6 cardio training sessions in week (half was HIIT cardio :D), losing 20 pounds fat and muscle in 10 weeks when my strength came drastically down too..so the end result wasnt something i wanted.. year ago i found you guys and havent missed an episode, When episode drops i allways listen it in work and it keeps me entertained and going :) also my progression is Blown because of you guys! 500lb deadlift is so close but only thing is bothering me is knee pain (has continued over 5 months) and it just seem i cant get my mobility right, prime would be Blessing. Planning to starts Maps Powerlift soon too! Thank to you and Cheers from Finland
I didn't think I needed a trainer because of all the information in books and the internet.. but when I finally got a kettlebell coach, I can say it's worth every red cent I paid
I’ve always been into sports and being active but certainly never knew what I was doing. I then found a gym and fell in love with working out so much that I became a trainer myself. I do my best to learn everyday so that I can best serve my clients but I know I have a lot to work on.
I'm new into this game of training. I've only had an internship last summer and could use a lot of help. My Highschool trainer was mostly focused on lifting heavy weights and I want to be able to be the best trainer possible. Prime pro will be helpful for someone with little experience like me. You guys are great I've been watching podcasts for the last 2 months thank you for this helpful information.
Love it, as new trainer to a professional setting this info is beautiful information, mostly because I have done at least half of these. I've never worked I a gym but I've been that guy that people go to, especially Spanish speaking friends for some training. I noticed that my lack of experience and ego always wanted to keep my clients mind busy so they, 1: not be able to determine what kind of a routine I was setting to have them coming back and 2: my lack of experience blinded me from actually appreciating the importance of basics.
But I have also met the guys who yell, who watch RU-vid and try to replicate without any practice of it themselves. Never assessing. Always pushing products like it was dire. Fortunately I had enough knowledge to never hurt someone, but some clients of these other trainers would ask me about checking form and how to prevent injury. I at least had that much knowledge for my own sake, not to talk Ill of others, but I saw low retention, progress that never lasted, and avoidance of such trainers. Especially as they would push these no carb diets like body builders would do, for the general public. I at least watched enough of those trainers to not replicate what they were doing. Thank you for the info, you guys have truly broadened my knowledge for me as a trainer but especially as someone who just wants to work on themselves the best possible way. Love it.
Imbalances certainly matter when it comes to programming; knowing about them makes it a lot easier to minimize maximum damage of a gym mess-up. But we're not physical therapists, 'fixing' imbalances is pretty far outside our scope of practice. And I say that as someone who works exclusively with those with injuries, illnesses, and chronic conditions, and am often working directly with medpros (doctors, physical therapists, and endo) to get a client moving and closer to goal. Further, if an 'imbalance' isn't causing pain or a maladaptive movement pattern, it's not really an imbalance, it's just further deviation from the anatomical standard (yes that's splitting hairs but I'll die on that hill).
Hey guys, I’ve taken care of many trainers in my office and I’ve seen my fair share of good and bad trainers. I had one trainer that didn’t even know where the posterior deltoid was on their body but I’ve had many great ones as well! I’ve turned many trainers on to you guys and those are usually the best ones because they take training seriously and have a passion for it and they like Mind Pump so they are instantly cool 😎 Thanks again for all of the great info, facts and random news, love it! I would love to be able to use Prime Pro in my office some day!
I tried hiring a trainer once. It was a long time ago and I was very insecure about myself in general and especially my body at that time. In the first session the trainer had me doing shoulder presses and 10 lb dumbbells were a struggle. To motivate me he said “Even my grandma can do 10 lbs!” I never went for another session. But he saw me going into my work one day with McDonalds breakfast and decided to tell me to “stop eating that garbage.” I went inside, ate it, and felt guilty and insecure. I walked back outside and tore a strip out of him and told him to mind his own business. From then on I just learned everything myself. Took me a long time to go back to the gym though after that experience.
So I was about 19, skinny kid and wanted to gain muscle. I actually had a trainer give me a free assessment, in which he had me run up and down the stairs for 2 minutes straight, max effort. I almost passed out and went to the bathroom to puke. Never put me under a bench, had me squat, or anything just run up and down stairs. My gut said to ditch him😅😅 glad I did lmao
When I started lifting I was taught with a traditional "bro split" with improper form at age 13. Originally, my fitness journey was to look good but after spending some time lifting it became something to help with my depression and anxiety. So, at age 21 I wanted to help other people feel better and became a personal trainer. I had to unlearn, relearn, and learn new things to become a better trainer. At age 24 I still train while knowing the importance of not only strength training but injury prevention, stability, and mobility. However, I also genuinely care for my clients and I think that's the most important. The clients who had previously worked with a personal trainer would tell me stories about their experiences and they were not good. These experiences would involve injuries from unsafe exercise, body shaming, and unfriendly competition. Trainers get a bad rep because everyone pictures the drill sargent yelling at the client to do 50 more of whatever exercise it is. That's not personal training and no trainer should be like that. CrossFit trainers also are some of the worst.
I had a trainer Freshman year of high school, he did not teach me how to lift and made me do agility drills until I puked. It took me until college to actually start working out after that.
This just shows that you have to make sure they are on point with what you want to learn from them. I had one that I told her I wanted to work with resistance bands and she told me to buy booty bands because that's what she uses. I didn't hire here because I wanted upper body and pull up band work.
Hi Mind Pump, love you guys, I learn a lot from the show. I used to have a trainer who leaned on her flirty behavior to sell packages at a gym. Which was not the worst thing in the world, but later on as I became a trainer now, I realized she knows nothing, her programming was bad, her technique was not good, and always bashing on how I am not fit enough to try certain new things yet, and was always just chatting with me and flirt
1:40 Not to contradict since my example is comparatively niche, but working at your typical call center, particularly in the 3rd world, is every bit as much (if not more) demanding as you describe being a personal trainer. Worse yet, it's a sedentary, often combative position that can cause a lot of stress. So much I've learned from MindPump has helped me make the most of this situation. 43:13 It's funny, "apex" is a great word to describe the supplement pushing (especially when the same gym sells it) that goes on at these places, particularly when predator is the first word I think of in relation to apex.
I talked to some trainers and finally scheduled my first session with one. It took time to find someone. The first guy I talked to was a RU-vidr and trainer I had met at the park before I was looking for a trainer. He remembered me. I told him I wanted to gain muscle and mentioned I expected that I would lose some more fat in that process. He was telling me that I would gain weight or stay the same if I was building muscle. I said to him, "I'm a hundred and eighty two pounds, how much muscle do you think I'm going to gain?" I'm a 5-4 female. I've since lost another 20 pounds and I'm making strength gains. Yes, you can build muscle and lose fat and stay the same weight, but those transformations are 150 and under, not women who are 182! A trainer should have been able to tell that I was obese.
My trainer asked to hire me as a personal trainer at his gym, without having ANY personal training experience or certifications to go along with it… come to find out it was because I was genetically blessed with a strong posterior chain if youre catching my drift
Highschool coaches having us Clean.... "Come On! you do it like this" (walks to bar, picks it up, reverse curls it, grunts and drops it) then says, "only faster.... get it done!" seemed legit to a bunch of 15 and 16 year olds lol
I just started a few new jobs at a gyms in the last year. I have to watch what I say because I don't have a lot of data yet but from what I can see the majority trainers are just throwing shit at the wall hoping something will stick.
So I’m a personal trainer and I just started training about a month ago. I love it. It doesn’t even feel like a job. I have two clients so far and one is super into it and listens to what I say. The other denies things and is so afraid of injury that he won’t even understand that I’m trying to fix his dysfunctions with these certain exercises. He only picked 1 session a week and wants to learn how to deadlift and squat but he’s also too scared of injury. Any advice on what I should do?
I have an online trainer (I live remote in Australia & don't have many or very good trainers near me) and I have recently seen a screen shot of another client under my coach and our programs were IDENTICAL, yet we have completely different bodies. I'm in 2 minds and want to try a different coach, but I don't want them to hate me - what to do 🤷♀️
RE trainers that use lots of weird exercises: If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit. Also see: functional fitness coaches.
As a PT these are all high points I've noticed and try my best to avoid myself. Well, when the world was normal that is.. That 1 on 1 hands on , in person session, is a bitch to do these days 😑
Does anybody else feel like we're actually getting more Justin now that he's remote? I for one am glad to hear him more. Also, did you guys record 1621 and 1622 on the same day? If so, that's a lot of talking. If no, then did you just give up on changing your clothes? jk
Im 56 starting to go to the gym again to rebuild after an injury. After watching you guys i decided to get a trainer to rehab the right way and both trainers i tried had no knowledge on how to deal with a muscle imbalance, still looking and hope to find a good one.
Winner Winner! Please email Ann ann@mindpumpmedia.com with a screenshot of your youtube username, winning episode number, and the email address you would like the program under and we will get you hooked up.
I just got certified to be a personal trainer. Looking forward to helping people get tanned jacked and juicy as fuck. Also gonna have them stop wasting their money on useless supplements. Learned a lot from you guys.
