Do I need a personal trainer? Part 2

A personal trainer in Toronto comes back to finish what they started

Last we left off, Bee was doing some potentially funky movements and I was creeping on them wondering what precisely was going on. Again, I’d like to reiterate right off the top that I love Bee and their enthusiasm and drive and determination. They are serious about fitness and strength and conditioning and it’s really obvious and I love to see that in gyms all across Toronto. And it is, ultimately how I love that level of enthusiasm and drive that inspires me to write this series. I want that level of commitment rewarded as best it possibly can be. I want Bee (and YOU) to see the results you are clearly working so hard for.

A personal trainer in Toronto imagines a few scenarios part 1

Here’s what I think was going on with Bee - generally speaking - and what I imagine is going on with a lot of folks in gyms all across Toronto (and everywhere). Bee googled some symptoms and watched some youtube videos. Now, we all do this. As a personal trainer I do this. Some of the best things I have ever learned as a personal trainer have come from googling, youtube and yup, even instagram.

“Why is my knee turning in when I squat?” is a possible question Bee could have googled. Had they, they probably would have seen a variety of answers like tight hips that don’t allow for enough external rotation or tight groin even… weakness in glutes - the list could go on and on. So let’s say (based on the warm-up I watched them doing) that the first hit was “tight groin.” Then they youtube “tight groin fixes” and see a couple of videos and off they go.

A personal trainer in Toronto points out some annoying details

Okay so now we are getting into the crux of it. It is difficult to diagnose a movement pattern in yourself without having a seriously decent understanding of how the body moves and what moves when and how and why. This is years of study and watching other bodies. As a fitness educator and personal trainer I have two different folks that I go to here in Toronto with dramatically more experience and education in fitness and movement than myself to help me diagnose movement issues that happen with me and what I should be doing about it. And I have years and years of experience at this. Someone who doesn’t have much of an education in biomechanics, reading a reddit thread is likely not going to walk away with the best information because - crucially - they do not have the education that allows them to spot movement talk nonsense.

And there is a lot of movement talk nonsense. I would suggest that 90% of all exercise and diet related information on the internet is trash. A lot of it is meant to get clicks to sell ad space not help you to live a better life.

And the same goes for youtube. Most of the things that I have come across on youtube are nonsense.

My belaboured point is that someone trying to fix a basic problem, without a background in movement is going to have a really hard go.

Another possibility is that Bee found some decent advice but missed one important detail, perhaps thinking that detail wasn’t that important. It is also possible that in all of the new information they were taking in they simply forgot a bit. But maybe that one detail was the glue that held the whole thing together….

A personal trainer in Toronto imagines a scenario part 2

The other distinct possibility is that Bee has in fact already worked with a personal trainer. Maybe they had several sessions with them at the beginning of their fitness journey. And this is a hard truth: there are a lot of really not good personal trainers out there.

A personal trainer in Toronto exposes their colleagues

In order to become a personal trainer you can take a three day program that will certify you as a personal trainer. You do not need any prior experience or education. There are people who take these courses, pass the test and then walk away thinking that they know enough to be a personal trainer. They do not.

I have seen the same thing happen in yoga school. A two hundred hour course (far far more than what you need to be a personal trainer) will allow you to register with the governing yoga body as a yoga teacher. In my experience and from what I have seen, this is far from enough to be particularly skilled.

It might be an annoying truth but a truth nonetheless: this stuff takes a lot of know-how and experience. Constant learning. A real applied dedication to the craft. I am not discounting a person’s desire to help people and to do something they will enjoy for work. That’s all good. I respect that. I believe most people’s intentions when entering these fields is admirable.

But admirable intentions are not enough to be legitimately good at your job. Whether that job be personal training, teaching yoga or anything else, we all know - whatever you do you gotta work at it. And more often than not you gotta work hard.

So a little side note to any aspiring personal trainers out there: be prepared to bust your ass if you want to be good at this. And don’t do everyone a disservice by not applying yourself one hundred percent to the task. Period.

A personal trainer in Toronto says something publicly they’ve never said before

The original reason I got into this business in the first place is that I was tired of overhearing trainers in gyms giving really bad advice. I was tired of seeing friends pay really good money and making a commitment to better their fitness and well-being and then to see their programming and realizing immediately it was entirely inappropriate.

I have been at this for a long time. The incident that threw me over the edge (and into this career) was watching a personal trainer in a gym giving a chest workout to a young person. I won’t get into the details but it was ridiculous. I could tell generally how the person was being programmed through the week and it was well known that kind of program was not optimal. And the chest workout itself was something I’d give to someone three years in, not just starting. It was nonsense and it kinda broke my heart. I imagined that kid just wanted to put on some size over the Summer - something a lot of kids want to do. They went to their local gym in Toronto and found a personal trainer. This program that someone was paying good money for, wasn’t gonna cut it. I wanted to train that kid in that gym right then and there and get them to wherever they wanted to go. I’d have become their personal trainer for free in a heartbeat. And that was it. I vowed to finish my yoga training and immediately following get my personal training certification.

A personal trainer in Toronto saves the best for last

Okay, so I promise in the next blog post I will finally once and for all answer the question of whether you need a personal trainer or not. I promise. To be honest the subject has been a little hard for me to write about. I’ve wanted to for quite some time but I don’t want to discourage anyone. I really really don’t. Go to the gym and have fun, personal trainer or no. And it’s uncomfortable to question some of my peers capacity to do their job as personal trainers (publicly if nothing else). My hope is that kind of getting the inside scoop on what goes through a personal trainer’s head while walking around a gym in Toronto will be enlightening. As will getting some unvarnished thoughts on fitness, gym culture and what people really need to think about when it comes to the question of whether or not you need a personal trainer.