The Personal Trainer Myth: Sneaky Deception or Mass Confusion?
I’ll introduce this post with brevity and a lack of ‘setting the scene’. Reason being – the story will reveal all we need to know, by it’s very nature…
Here’s an email that came in just a few hours ago – in reply to one of my thought provoking email newsletters:
——– Original Message ——–
Subject: RE: Secrets of a Trainer: Siarra, don’t let this happen to you,
ever…
From: Siarra K -siarra-k@_____.com-
Date: Tue, August 10, 2010 3:47 am
To: -joey @ joey atlas . com-Hello Joey,
Thank you for drafting and sending these amazing email newsletters. The insight and real life stories are valuable and I really look forward to receiving your emails!
On this topic of personal trainers…
A work colleague and I started our weight loss mission at the same time. I started your lower body program whilst she joined the gym and got herself a personal trainer. I have to admit; at the time I was a bit jealous and was convinced her results would be much better and faster than mine.
Since we started at the same time, we are always discussing and comparing our results. I have visibly lost weight and inches off by waist, butt and thighs. Whereas, my colleague hasn’t lost any weight and is looking bigger, wider and more muscular.
She is totally miserable with her results so far and I am totally ecstatic with my result so I asked her to ditch the gym and her trainer to start your program.
You would think the choice was an easy one to make but she simply refuses to accept that i have gotten better results with paying a fraction of the costs she paying (she’s paying monthly gym membership fees PLUS $40 per hour with the personal trainer).
This has led to a lot of discussion around whether my program is better than going to the gym with a personal trainer. I am unclear and confused by some things she and her trainer have brought up because my knowledge in exercise is really poor so I thought who better to ask than Joey?
Can you give me your feedback on the 5 points she and her personal trainer made, below:
I look forward to your response.
Regards,
**Siarra K
1 – “All the celebrities go to the gym and have personal trainers…”
>> Joey’s Reply:
A – That’s an exaggeration. Not every celebrity goes to the gym – and not every celebrity has a personal trainer. Some celebrities could even show the average trainer a thing or two.
B – Even if that was true – SO WHAT! It doesn’t “prove” anything. Celebrities are “regular people” but many of them have the money to spend on trainers, all year round. This DOES NOT prove the theory which implies simply having a personal trainer is better than not having one. (Results are what counts.)
2 – “Women simply cannot get big and muscular with weights because we don’t have the same hormones as men. Initially she may be bulking up but those muscles will help her lose fat/weight and in the longer term she will lose more weight than me.”
>> Joey’s Reply:
LOL – Oh yes they can! This happens QUITE OFTEN. It has nothing to do with hormones. This is about ‘relativity’. A woman doesn’t have to bulk up like a man would in order to feel “she has bulked up”. All she needs to experience is what your friend is going through to realize IT DOES HAPPEN. The common rhetorical excuse is the hormone thing you mention above. Trainers love to use that one. But they can only get away with it for so long. Eventually the female client has enough of the “waiting” for the right things to happen – and decides to part ways and find another solution for her personal fitness needs.
3 – “By doing the same repetitive exercises, my body will stop responding and I will stop losing weight.”
>> Joey’s Reply:
Ah! Another “gym/trainer myth”. See, this excuse/myth IS PERFECT for the typical ‘weights and machines’ approach to fitness training. It’s used as a ‘smoke & mirrors’ tool to keep clients clinging to hope and thinking they need to keep having a trainer guide them, to change, vary and “mix up the program” – all in efforts of keeping the body guessing, blah, blah, blah… NONSENSE!!
When you do the right exercises as part of the well-designed program – YOUR BODY DOES NOT STOP RESPONDING – even if all, or most, of the exercises/program is “the same”.
4 – “The gym is a good way to exercise the heart and get the blood pumping around the body.”
>> Joey’s Reply:
So is making love for an hour!! COME ON NOW! – there are plenty of ways to get a great cardio workout – “the gym” is only one option on a list of many. (jumping rope, step-up & downs, cardio-fusion, making love, etc…)
5 – “The only way to lose the post-baby protruding tummy is to have a surgical tummy tuck and no amount of exercise will help.”
>> Joey’s Reply:
First of all – That is PURE Bu11$#!T. Sure it’s easier and has a high (short term) success rate for that specific area. BUT, there are women who’ve gotten rid of the post-pregnancy tummy bulge WITHOUT a tummy tuck. And they do it with a PROPER SYNERGY of exercise and simplified nutrition.
My replies are not intended to denounce traditional personal trainers and/or the conventional practice of personal training. But simply to shed light on the dynamics of (mis)communication, interaction, trust, marketing and understanding – as it applies to the profession of personal training and most importantly, it’s consequences on clients and potential clients.
There are MANY great trainers on the open market – BUT this does not make all trainers great – or even competent.
The tale of two approaches above, as outlined by Siarra, is great a example of firsthand experience – one which defies common logic. But does so with no “he said, she said” or “I heard about this through my friends cousin…”.
Better yet – we can consider it an un-official experiment. One that is bucking conventional wisdom, as we speak…
Siarra’s friend is now in the position to make a decision about her investment in the trainer, and more importantly about her needs & goals. Time will tell how her experience pans out.
In the meantime, Siarra will be sticking to my program and fine-tuning her body with each passing week 
Have any comments, thoughts or questions about this post? Just type below in the ‘comments’ section. I’d love to hear from you…
Your trainer forever…
Your trainer for life,
— Joey Atlas
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