In 2017 I hired my very first personal trainer. I’d been riding my bike and going to the gym every so often but I was eager to break away from cardio machines, start lifting weights and transform myself into the strong and agile athlete Nike adverts have me thinking I could be. Sure, I could attend free classes at my gym if I wanted to, but I wanted to kick things off with an expert who could give me tailored support. I also struggle with my posture and wanted someone who could keep an eye on my form throughout each exercise.
I looked at the profiles of several Pure Gym personal trainers before settling for a guy we’ll call Freddy. He was a body builder, I’d seen him in the gym training ordinary chubsters just like me, and his list of qualifications made him one of the most qualified at the gym. He also charged £30 an hour which was within my budget.
He was easy to get along with and I felt comfortable from the start. I loved our sessions and I’d leave each one feeling like I’d had a good workout. However, over time a number of issues gradually built up and when the time came to pay for a fresh batch of sessions, I told him I was trying to save money but would be in touch when I was ready to train again. This was about a year and a half ago.
With that in mind, here are a few signs you’re not getting good value for money from your personal trainer:
They put you on the treadmill
If your trainer puts you on the treadmill, this is a huge sign they just can’t be arsed. There’s absolutely no point in doing things during a personal training session that you could do on your own. You should be lifting weights so heavy you need someone to spot you and focusing on things that allow your trainer to check your form – not jogging along on a slight incline while your PT plays Candy Crush.
They use their phone during your session
The only time a trainer should use their phone during your session is if they’re using a stopwatch or some sort of fitness app that aids your workout.
Their eyes should be on you and your form the whole time. They shouldn’t be Whatsapping their pals or taking calls. You’ve paid for this time and so they should be giving you their full attention.
They complain to you about other clients or mock people in the gym
If your trainer starts bitching to you about their other clients or their job, this should be a huge red flag.
Freddy used to do this often. He’d look at his phone while I was asking him a question and then he’d go: “Sorry. It’s just a client being really annoying!”
As a client myself, this made me wonder whether he moaned about me to the other people he trained.
He also described a girl in the weight section as ‘thirsty’ (and I don’t think he meant in a dehydrated way), presumably for committing the ultimate sin of looking so hot while doing deadlifts that the men around her couldn’t help but watch.
They don’t track your progress
“Does he not write everything down for you?” a mate asked, when I told her that I couldn’t for the life of me remember how much weight I’d lifted or how many reps I’d done in my last few sessions.
My mate explained that her personal trainer would keep track of everything she’d done on a sheet of paper. She’d take that sheet home with her at the end of each session and would bring it back the following week for him to update while she worked out.
I don’t know about you but when I exercise really hard, my brain stops working. I can’t even count to five and as soon as I exit the gym, I struggle to remember how much weight I lifted and how many burpees I managed before collapsing in a heap on the floor. My sieve of a brain means I need a written record of my workout if I’m going to reflect or replicate it in my own time.
Frustratingly, my trainer didn’t keep any records at all. On reflection, I should have suggested it myself, but it made me wonder whether he tried to mentally track each client’s progress or he just didn’t care that much.
They give you a meal plan that’s not tailored to you
Personal trainers are rarely qualified to give nutrition advice, but if they are and they offer to provide you with a tailored meal plan, don’t be afraid to speak out if you suspect it’s not actually been tailored to you.
When I first hired Freddy, he said that tailored meal plans were part of his service. Right off the bat I told him I have coeliac disease and can’t eat gluten/wheat, so I was disappointed when he sent me the plan and I saw words like ‘Quorn’, ‘tofu’ and ‘veggie burgers’. The plan would have been full-on vegan if it didn’t have almond milk in it.
Not only was the plan unnecessarily veggie, it wasn’t even gluten free. I could forgive an ordinary person for not knowing couscous has wheat in it, but this guy had a nutrition qualification. The final nail in the coffin was when I reached Saturday breakfast and saw the words ‘Shredded Wheat’. The clue is in the name!
Being the pushover that I am, I avoided confrontation. I should have replied: “Have you sent me a veggie plan by mistake?” But instead, this was the interaction:
Me: “Thanks for sending these over. Is it okay if I have regular meat instead of Quorn? And regular skimmed milk instead of almond?”
Freddy: “Yeah you can use regular meat no problem, if you use skimmed not a lot of it as it’s basically sugar water”
Since Freddy didn’t admit that the veggie plan was a mistake, I was left wondering whether it was deliberate. But I couldn’t get my head around why a personal trainer who lives off chicken breasts himself would put a meat eating client on such a diet. It had to be an error, surely?
You’re not doing the work required to get the results you wanted
Plot twist! Your trainer might not even be to blame for your sessions’ poor value. If you’re not doing the work required to get the results you want, you’re playing yourself.
It’s easy to point the finger and moan about my old trainer’s shortfalls, but I’m not too big to hold my hands up and admit I didn’t work out enough in between sessions to really get the very best results. This doesn’t make his phone addiction or untailored meal plans okay, but I like to balance things out.
I also think I should have been more realistic about my goals from the start. I told him I wanted to lose weight but when it came down to it, I was unwilling to overhaul my diet enough to lose 1-2lbs a week. I like exercising but I also like cake. My love for carbs isn’t going anywhere – and that’s fine.
Maybe next time I get a trainer, I’ll emphasise my desire to exercise out of self love rather than self loathing. I’ll lift weights, take spin classes and run in my own time, but I’m never getting on the ‘eating is cheating’ bandwagon or having nothing but a bulletproof coffee for breakfast.
