Why You Don’t Need a Personal Trainer
We all know the story. You’re fresh-faced, bright-eyed, and bushy-tailed and ready to finally get in shape for the summer. The only problem is that you don’t know where to start. During the sign-up process at your local chain gym, where you’re greeted by a perky, ditzy trainer, who takes you through a free introductory training session. The next time I hear someone announce that they’re starting on their fitness journey by using a trainer at a commercial gym, I’m going to snap. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to support anyone interested in getting in shape, but most beginners would be better off spending their money elsewhere. In this article, I’ll discuss why it may actually be a better idea to train yourself, rather than rely on someone who has a good chance of being very unqualified. Here are the top reasons to avoid using a personal trainer:
Trainers have no incentive to show you worthwhile exercises
A common complaint about trainers from bodybuilders, powerlifters, and others in the know is that they tend to focus on gimmicky, ridiculous exercises. Walk down to your local Planet Fitness, Gold’s Gym, or 24 Hour Fitness and take a look at what routines trainers are building for their clients. Odds are the clients are standing one-legged on a bosu ball, doing endless amounts of curls with 5lb dumbbell. Odds are the clients are doing low-weight, high-rep routines. And odds are that, by the end of the training session, the client will have never set foot in a squat rack or used an Olympic lifting platform.
So why, if we know these routines are worthless, would trainers choose them for their clients, seeing as they’re supposed to be the experts? Well, assuming that trainers know enough to build a proper routine is the first problem. We’ll cover that later. There are several reasons why trainers have no incentive to take their clients through proper routines:
- The “WOW” factor: Let’s face it - to someone who’s never set foot in the gym before, what looks more likely to get you in shape? A Pendlay row, or standing on one foot in the lotus position on a bosu ball between bouts of stepping up on a bench, rapidly curling five pound dumbbells? One of the most unfortunate misconceptions in the fitness world is that more complicated routines are necessary to get in shape. When it comes to resistance training, more is less. Doing complicated high-rep, low-weight movements serves only to confuse and is ineffective at building muscle. In fact, one of the most effective routines for beginners, Starting Strength, involves only three exercises a day.
- Fear of scaring off clients: I’ve seen many trainers at my gym have their clients doing machine-only routines, only to find the same trainers a couple hours later doing their personal workout using the free weights! Why is this? Well, many people are still under the misconception that lifting heavy weights makes you “big and bulky”, and most novices come into the gym with the idea that they want to “tone” their body. The trainers, not wanting to disappoint, leads the client towards the machines, even thow they may know deep down that machines are less effective. If only it was common knowledge that the real way to “tone” is big, compound movements combined with intense cardio.
- Safety: Gyms have a large amount of liability. It simply isn’t worth it for most trainers to show clients exercises that actually work, because these are often perceived as dangerous. Just like almost everything trainers do, this is actually counter-logical, because compound exercises done with correct form can actually help to correct muscle imbalances, preventing injury. Oh, and don’t tell me that hopping around on a bosu ball is safe, either.
- Increased reliance on a trainer: If you learn proper form for simple, effective strength-building movements, you’ll start to gain a sense of independence, which means the trainer will no longer be getting your business. As Reneé DeFranco notes in SmartMoney, “Trainers are sometimes told not to spend too much time teaching clients how to use the big equipment for fear that once they get comfortable, they’ll want to go it alone. That’s why trainers might emphasize coordination exercises and rely on smaller props like stability balls, resistance tubing or bands, and balance tools, the three types of gear most frequently used by trainers”.
No.
Most trainers are not properly certified
For a job that entails clients to place nearly all trust in an authority figure, it’s maddening how little enforcement and standardization there is in the realm of training certifications.
For starters, many commercial gyms don’t even require their trainers to be certified. Let’s examine the 24 Hour Fitness policy from one of their job listings for trainers:
“24 Hour Fitness prefers that candidates possess either a certification or degree as listed below. Other certifications will be considered based upon your experience. If you have not yet completed your degree or certification, and wish to be considered, please contact your local Club Manager for more information.”
No certifications? NO PROBLEM! Just be strong enough to put these dumbbells away and we’ll set you up with this nifty red shirt.
Even if you’re lucky enough to get a trainer with a certification from one of the many (70+) organizations that provide credentials, there is no telling how reputable the certifying organization is. While more respected programs, like those from the the National Strength and Conditioning Association, gruel examinees on biomechanics, body chemistry, and psychology, other certifying organizations require a simple online test or a weekend course. One of the causes of this is a lack of a reputable, third-party accrediting body for programs. As the fitness industry continues to squabble about which one to use, clients get the short end of the stick.
Trainers are salespeople first, personal trainers second
There’s a reason most first-time gym goers are ferried into an introductory training session. Training is big money for gyms. Not only are the training sessions themselves profitable, gyms use their trainers to push nutritional products on clients, like protein bars and powders, which are usually heavily marked up. And many commercial gyms have their own proprietary workout accessories that are mainly sold to trainees (Bodybugg, anyone?)
As much as I hate to suggest it, I’m starting to believe that this is all a giant conspiracy. Trainers play into the business model of a gym - get as many people paying a monthly fee, but not actually using the facilities - as possible. If they really showed you how much fun working out could be via compound and Olympic lifts, you would actually use the facilities.
Trainers are expensive
Training sessions can run up to $100 an hour, money that could be better spent on supplements, food and proper workout shoes.
20 signs of a worthless personal trainer
As a general disclaimer, I should say that, like many things in life, I made a lot of blanket statements in this article to prove a point. There are trainers out there that are worth their salt. Most of these can be found at your local Crossfit gym. The rest can be found in independent gyms. Good trainers at chain gyms are few and far between.
With that being said, if you are interested in getting a trainer, I’ve assembled 20 warning signs to watch out for. If your trainer exhibits any one of these, you should stop using him or her immediately:
- Is underweight.
- Is overweight.
- Leads you towards machines and away from free weights.
- Makes extensive use of the bosu ball and resistance bands, has you standing on one leg, or any other similar “circus” exercises.
- Can’t explain the biomechanics of a squat.
- Can’t explain their reasoning for their exercises or routine choices.
- Tells you that squatting below parallel is “bad for your knees”.
- Gossips with you about personal problems.
- Spends more time talking with you than training you.
- Conversely, spends more time looking at the clock, or a cell phone, than training you.
- Doesn’t have a notebook to record your progress on lifts.
- Feels the need to assist you on every lift.
- Does not warm you up before starting you with your working weights.
- Leads you through a static stretching warmup before strength training (this can actually limit flexibility and has never been proven to stop injury)
- Doesn’t have a certification, or has taken an online test or a weekend course for a personal training certificate.
- Puts you through sadistic, “The Biggest Loser” inspired workouts while ranting or yelling at you.
- Tries to sell you supplements.
- Has no knowledge of nutrition.
- Can’t demonstrate past client success.
- Has no plan - makes up workouts on the spot.
“Bro, they’re like squats, but more functional!”
The Internet has made trainers obsolete
So, if you can’t use a trainer, and you’re still a beginner, where do you get your knowledge from? Luckily, you’re living in an age where more fitness information is freely available than ever before.
In September 2006, I started Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength without ever having picked up a barbell in my life. For form advice, I compared myself to ExRx GIFs and YouTube videos. For more general feedback and information, I took advantage of the newly-formed Watch and Weight subforum on the Something Awful Forums.
The information I learned during this time is the same that can be found in the Beginner’s Health and Fitness Guide:
http://www.liamrosen.com/fitness.html
Sure, it helps to have a gym buddy, but a face-to-face training session is not a necessity to get results anymore. Load up YouTube, read the guide, and join a fitness community to get feedback, and you’ll be on the train to swoleville in no time.
16 commentsWhat to look for in a gym
What you want in a gym will largely depend on what you want out of it. That being said, there are many general things that mark “good gyms”. I decided to write the guide because I’m tired of seeing articles like “avoid gyms with loud people, huge people, or equipment that will actually help you build muscle”. This article is dedicated to helping you choose a gym that will motivate you to train hard and avoid all the gimmicks that come with fitness.
Price
- You want to negotiate the lowest price possible. A lot gyms try to get you to pay for an extra registration fee, which is often the same price as a month’s membership.
- Monthly memberships range from $20-75, and sign-up fees can be as much as $250.
- If any of the gyms offer to let you sign-up without paying this fee, you can use it as leverage to get other gyms to let you join without paying for registration.
- Look for special seasonal deals, like summer or New Years, when signing up, to lock in the lowest monthly rate. Gyms are sales-oriented businesses. They want to get you to pay as much as possible. Don’t be suckered in. Talk them down.
- Ask them if they charge a fee to cancel the membership, and how much it is.
- Avoid frills. You’re going to pay more at gyms with racquetball courts, group fitness classes, saunas, swimming pools, climbing walls, and so on. If you’re not using these, you need to look for a weight-lifting gym.
- How far is the gym away from your house, school or place of employment? Calculate your miles per gallon rate, multiply it by the distance, and add it to the monthly fee when comparing gyms.
- Location matters. If you’re lazy one day, you’re going to use a 30 minutes commute as an excuse to skip out on training.
Equipment
This is the most important aspect. There’s no sense getting a great deal on a gym if it doesn’t even have the equipment you need. Here’s what you need to look for:
- Power cages or squat racks for doing squats, rack pulls, rack lockouts, and more.
- Cardio machines, if you’re interested in doing cardio. Observe how busy they are. Will you be able to get a machine during peak hours?
- Dumbbells up to 100lbs. Eventually you’re going to get strong enough, especially if you are doing dumbbell bench press, where you need dumbbells over 100lbs. In this case, your gym should have at least up to 150lbs.
- Is there a place to do deadlifts? Many gyms have special padded platforms. Avoid gyms with hexagonal plates, these are very hard to do deadlifts with.
- Are there padded plates? If you’re doing Olympic lifts or deadlifts, you don’t want to disturb too many people in your gym by dropping heavy metal weights all over the place.
- Is there a place to do pullups? Dips? Are there belts where you can add weight for pull ups or dips?
- Is the equipment well maintained? Things to check:
- Rust on dumbbells or barbells
- Frayed cables on cable machines
- Benches with holes in the padding
- Generally, any gym that offers chalk is a gym you want to lift at.
Employees, Rules and Ambiance
- If you want to use a personal trainer (note: see the page on trainers for why you should never do this), are they going to be knowledgeable? Look around. Are the trainers having their clients do real compound exercises, or gimmicky bosu ball squats holding 3 pound rubber dumbbells? Are they strong? Do they look like they actually lift weights, or is it some college kid that got picked up off the street?
- Are there rules against deadlifting or olympic lifting? Is there a “lunk alarm”, like at many Planet Fitness locations, for making too much noise?
- Is the gym more interested in selling you supplements or protein shakes than being dedicated to weightlifting? If so, avoid it.
- Is there a designated women-only area? Avoid it like the plague. These areas are often stocked with nothing more than light dumbbells and preloaded barbells among mountains of weight machines.
- Are they playing terrible soft rock or the same 5 R&B songs over and over? Generally, any gym that plays metal is a gym you want to train at.
CrossFit Gyms
If you’re training for a sport, or if you would like to become more of an all-around athlete, you may want to look into joining a CrossFit gym. CrossFit is hybrid training methodology that aims to build “the quintessential athlete, equal parts gymnast, Olympic weightlifter and sprinter.” These gyms are usually well-stocked with equipment, the clientele always forms a tight, motivating group, and CrossFit trainers are more knowledgeable than almost anyone around. These gyms have quite an enormous downside, however. They are incredibly expensive. It is not uncommon for people to pay $90-$150 a month for a CrossFit gym, although this includes free training. This is because CrossFit works off a different profit plan - they want to have the most people training possible and they care about their progress, so they have a smaller clientele.
2 commentsEverybody wanna be a bodybuilder, but don’t nobody wanna train like one
The following is a repost of cavefish’s bodybuilding routine posted on the Something Awful Forums. I have modified it slightly with more advice and links to the exercises on ExRx.
Introduction
Alright, its pretty obvious that the standard routine around is the 5×5. That’s fine, its a good routine for building a base level of strength and learning the compound lifts that build strength and size. All fine and good. However Bill Starr created that routine for football players, not bodybuilders. So if you want to be built like a fridge (a very strong fridge), thats cool.
But if you lift for aesthetics like most people, you’ll probably want to switch things up every so often and target certain muscle groups for growth. This is where the traditional 5×5 seems to fall short. Sure you can modify it yourself and add a few things, but that hardly makes it ideal for “bodybuilding.” For maximum hypertrophy you need a different style of training. Plus it never hurts to change things up, say 12 weeks of 5×5 and 12 weeks of volume work. Then you can go back to the 5×5 or a powerlifting style routine and build your strength and be able to use heavier weights for higher reps when you return to the volume.
This is not my original routine, it was written by a friend of mine who is an NPC bodybuilder for another forum I moderate so I’m re-posting it here. It may seem like a lot but its not that extreme, its basic entry level stuff even for natural bodybuilders. It’s not easy but certainly not impossible to finish and your body will adapt after a few weeks. Another important thing to remember is that nothing is set in stone here so you don’t have to follow it to the letter, its just a base/template for you to go off of. As you become more experienced and learn to listen to your body you can play with the exercise selection and change things around and add things like drop sets.
Base Level of Strength
Before you start this program it’s good to have a base level of strength. This is not a beginners routine. This is a hard workout. When you finish, you will be cursing anyone involved in the writing of this routine. Some beginners will be able to do this, but they are the exceptions to the rule. A good strength standard is the 1x/1.5x/1.5x rule. This means you should be able to bench your bodyweight for reps and squat and deadlift 1.5x your bodyweight for reps. Strength isn’t the only measure, either. Even if you already meet the strength standards you might want to make sure you’ve been doing a dedicated program for about a year so you can get used to lifting and learn the exercises with correct form.
Warmups and Increasing Weight
Whether you want to steadily increase weight as you move through your sets is up to you. However, keeping the weights the same as you go through is going to be hard unless you have found a weight that you can do for 3-4 sets without it being too easy or so hard that your form suffers as a result. It is much easier to start your first set light and work up from there, with your heaviest set being your last set.
MONDAY - Legs
4 sets Leg Extension - 10-15 reps (keep it light, this is just to get blood in the legs)
4 sets Squat - 6-10 reps (Week A) / 3 sets Deadlift - 6-10 reps (Week B)
3 sets Leg press - 10-12 reps
4 sets Leg curl - 12 reps
3 sets Stiff legged deadlift - 10-12 reps (Week A) / 3 sets Walking lunges (hamstring or quad) - 10-12 reps (Week B)
TUESDAY - Chest
4 sets Incline dumbbell or Barbell bench press – 8-12 reps
3 sets Flat dumbbell or Barbell bench press – 8-12 reps
2 sets Dumbbell fly or Machine fly (pec deck) – 12-15 reps, focus on squeezing at the top
3 sets Weighted dips – 12 reps
WEDNESDAY - Off
THURSDAY - Back
4 sets Pull-ups – up to 15 reps (if 4×15 is too easy, add weight)
4 sets Barbell or Dumbbell bent over row – 8-12 reps
3 sets Front pulldown (Week A - narrow grip, Week B – wide grip) – 8-10 reps
3 sets Cable row – 6-10 reps
2 sets Rear pulldowns – 15 reps (note: potentially dangerous and may be ineffective, remove if you wish)
FRIDAY – Shoulders/Arms
3 sets Shoulder press – 8-10 reps
3 sets Dumbbell lateral raise – 10-12 reps
3 sets Behind the back shrugs – 8 reps (It is easier to do these using a Smith Machine rather than a rack)
3 sets Front shrugs – 8 reps
3 sets Rope pushdown (palms away) – 10-15 reps
3 sets Reverse pushdown (palms facing) – 10-15 reps
3 sets Skull crushers – 6-10 reps
3 sets E-Z curls – 8-12 reps
3 sets Preacher curls – 8-12 reps
2 sets Dumbbell hammer curls – 10-15 reps
2 sets Wrist curls – 13-20 reps
Notes
- Do abs on Monday and Thursday
- Do calves Tuesday and Friday.
- Keep the rest intervals short. 30-60 seconds between sets, no more. This is very important as it will fatigue the hell out of your muscles AND improve your conditioning.
- Do your cardio normally and adjust depending on whether you’re bulking or cutting.
- If you want to do this in a 3 day split, you can go chest/back, legs, shoulders/arms.
One nice thing is this allows for variation in the number of reps you do. If you want to go heavy one week you can do sets of 6 reps, if you want to lighten it up and go for a better pump you can do 12-15 reps. The most important thing for growth is forcing as much as blood as possible into the muscle. Just don’t go under 6 reps. Even though this is not designed for strength or athletic purposes, you will still build plenty of strength.
17 commentsFish oil, flax oil, and more: the case for Essential Fatty Acids
In recent times, you’ve probably heard the terms “fish oil”, “Essential Fatty Acids” (EFAs) and “Omega-3”. As with many buzzwords, it is easy to dismiss these as marketing gimmicks with no hard science behind them. However, it would be wrong to do so. EFAs are completely backed by numerous studies and, in my opinion, represent the greatest nutritional deficit facing mankind today.
A good way to understand how fatty acids are beneficial for the human body is to look at the way they interact. The Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids form different “signaling paths” that control a staggering amount of bodily functions, especially ones involving inflammation and the central nervous system. There is essentially a perfect ratio between the Omega-3 and Omega-6 acids in a human body, allowing for the greatest “communication” on the signaling paths. This ratio is 3 units of Omega-6 for every 1 unit of Omega-3 (although this is still hotly debated, even getting close to this ratio will provide a world of difference1. This is all well and good, except that scientists have begun to understand that the average human has far less Omega-3 acids in their body than what would constitute a perfect system, and often humans consume more Omega-6 than they should. In fact, the average Western diets provide ratios of 10:1 to 30:1! This makes sense, as Omega-6 acids mostly come from animal fats and vegetable oils (Western diet staples). Omega-3 acids come from foods less common in Western diets, such as fish, flax oil, kiwis, hemp, and lingonberries.
The skewing of this ratio has been partially responsible, scientists think, for the advent of “lifestyle diseases” (and most coincidentally relate to inflammation)! Strokes, depression, obesity, heart disease, and Type 2 Diabetes are examples of lifestyle diseases. Can more EFAs help prevent most or all of these diseases? If you are deficient, very much so.
Still not convinced? Here’s some interesting studies that have been performed recently (verbatim from T-Nation and Wikipedia):
- “The Nutritional Physiology Research Group in
- Researchers in
- Taking a daily fatty acid supplement may boost the effectiveness (or even replace) antidepressants in some people. Depressed people who added omega-3s to their treatment showed less anxiety, fewer sleeping problems, less overall sadness, and fewer sexual problems.
- In a six-month study involving people with schizophrenia and Huntington’s disease who were treated with EPA or a placebo, the placebo group had clearly lost cerebral tissue, while the patients given the supplements had a significant increase of grey and white matter.3
- Some studies were conducted on prisoners in
- According to a study from
How does one get more Omega-3s, then? One easy thing to do is to eat more fish. However, since mercury pollution has risen so quickly, eating seafood is not as recommended as it once was. The best way to increase your concentration of Omega-3 fatty acids, in my opinion, is fish oil capsules. You can find these in the pharmacy section of any supermarket. Take anywhere from 1-10 capsules a day with water as a dietary supplement. Another easy way to add Omega-3 to your diet is to eat cage-free eggs or buy meat that comes from grain-fed animals. Smart Balance even makes a tasty spread fortified with Omega-3s.
EFA research continues to this day, and more and more people are discovering the many benefits of supplementation. The change in your diet is not something you will effectively feel, but you will thank yourself later in life for getting more Omega-3s.
- Simopoulos AP, Leaf A, Salem Jr N. Statement on the essentiality of and recommended dietary intakes for omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids. Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids 2000;63:119-121. [↩]
- T-Nation Article [↩]
- International Review of Psychiatry, vol 18, p 149 [↩]
- New York Times Article [↩]
- Walter J. Lukiw (2005-06-28). “A role for docosahexaenoic acid–derived neuroprotectin D1 in neural cell survival and Alzheimer disease“. J. Clin. Invest 115: 2774-2783. DOI:10.1172/JCI25420. Retrieved on 2007-02-09. [↩]