Not fit to be fitness trainers
By Sonia Lulla
Your desire for a great physique often makes you desperate enough to settle for a bad personal trainer. The results of this compromise can be not just unsatisfactory, but also dangerous.
It had been a while since the concern over her bulging waist had slowly begun to plague her. Eventually, when her regular pair of jeans refused to button up, the alarm bells finally grew too loud to ignore. Shreya Jain, then a 27-year-old dentist, decided it was time she improve her health and hire a personal trainer. Her random assortment of exercises, she realised, was just not going to be enough. “Two months and 24 sessions later, I was a lot less rich and only a kilo or two lighter,” says a still-grumpy Shreya. After this disappointing stint, for which she blames the undeniable incompetency of her trainer, she took control of her fitness again. Taking assistance from people more informed, reading fitness books and becoming more aware about the general science which informs training, all helped her control the damage done earlier.
The problem of trainers being downright inept is made more acute by the fact that many a time fitness enthusiasts are not aware if the time they are spending at the gym is aiding or hampering their growth. To know if you’re struck with the wrong trainer, you’ll have to try and spot these tell-tale giveaways.
Try digging for degrees
History has perhaps been witness to the many exceptions who disprove the rule that education is an essential prerequisite for success. But given that we place our health in the hands of the trainers in a manner similar to the faith we place in doctors, we should perhaps come to expect a minimal qualification that ensures an instructor isn’t a quack. Fitness, as earlier stated, is a process driven by science, and those who believe they can do it without caring for basic knowledge, are inarguably not suited for this role.
Highlighting the hiring processes prevalent in gyms, Ritesh Shaiwal, senior fitness manager at Fitness First India, reveals, “Trainers attend a foundation course on the lines of international certifications, and are given three attempts to pass an internal exam. Meanwhile, they’re kept on the floor to assist members generally,” he says.
“Permission to train clients individually is granted on passing the exam, failing which they’re asked to leave,” adds Ritesh, admitting that though the preferred choice is to hire a certified trainer, the nascent field doesn’t attract many applications that meet the desired requirements stated.
Telling backs from elbows
A popular gag, which recently became quite the rage on social media, had suggested that people who execute only half-range squats should give up training and do the Zumba instead. The joke, which obviously did not go down well with Zumba-lovers, actually intended to highlight a ‘lazy’ form of squatting. But the inability to execute a complete squat isn’t merely a matter of willingness or lack of strength. It could be attributed to factors like inflexible hips and legs, or a weak back, and no amount of high pitched rants from your trainer, like ‘Squat deeper … Go lower … Don’t bend your back’ can fix those more inherent issues. It might, in fact, exacerbate them. What can help is a well-crafted programme that works on increasing flexibility or strengthening the assisting muscles. Do you think your trainer recognises these limitations?
A personal trainer must be able to design a programme exclusively for you after having studied your shortcomings. He or she can, after all, only help you overcome a weakness they are able to spot. “Trainers are recommended to conduct a functional movement screening for clients where basic movements are analysed to identify weak points,” says Ritesh, while stressing the importance of structured workout plans. “Fitness doesn’t follow a onesize fits-all policy. Trainers need to create programmes keeping in mind the individual’s lifestyle. It is their lifestyle which always determines the need of clients,” adds Vinata.
The ever-evolving field of fitness introduces new researches frequently. A fact that was once the holy grail of training can be reduced to nothing more than a myth tomorrow. If your trainer’s education stopped with his or her mastery of the crunch, you probably haven’t been exposed to newer methods. If you think your trainer uses the same training format with 24-year-old and 60-year-olds, you have reason to worry. “We have professionals whose sole intention is monetary gain. They choose to freelance with limited experience and their disinterest in educating themselves limits the profession’s growth,” says Ritesh.
You also want to be wary of mindless repetition. “My trainer gave me an insightful explanation on the importance of isometric workouts for abs during our first session, and that left me mighty impressed. But then, he repeated the same thing during every other session. It was the only meaningful message he ever gave me. It seemed like he’d heard about it in a passing conversation and set it on record,” says 26-year-old Varun Jaisingh, who has been training for two years, and is dismayed by the fact that trainers are never held accountable for the lack of results they produce.
As human beings, we are all naturally driven by curiosity. What is the purpose of a high-intensity workout? Can you skip it altogether if you dislike it? Why do you need to weight-train if you simply love running? These questions have answers which only good trainers can ably explain to their clients. Much like great doctors who teach patients about their condition, a trainer should be able to motivate clients with reason.
A fine balance
Trainers with little knowledge will make you execute the same exercises day after day. Trainers with far too much exposure to YouTube can, on the other hand, experiment with something new every day. Neither of the two methods is appropriate. A well-drafted fitness programme stretches across months, and every individual training session should bring you closer to the programme’s ultimate goal. To get better at exercise, a movement must be repeated often, not daily. So, if you happened to do a unique exercise with a kettle bell as long as three weeks ago, you’ve probably lost the benefits of that individual session by now. These are some basic fitness essentials that all instructors and trainers must always keep in mind.
If you have three training sessions per week, you still have another three days of exercise to fit in on your own, all of which are extremely vital when you are aiming to achieve a fitness goal. To ensure you make the most of them, your trainer must spell out the required exercises you should be carrying out. Of course, even a great fitness trainer can do little to help you if you fail to be sincere with your diet. Yes, you are on your own for the 23 hours you’re out of the gym. There’s no reason for you to feel alone when in it.
Your desire for a great physique often makes you desperate enough to settle for a bad personal trainer. The results of this compromise can be not just unsatisfactory, but also dangerous.
It had been a while since the concern over her bulging waist had slowly begun to plague her. Eventually, when her regular pair of jeans refused to button up, the alarm bells finally grew too loud to ignore. Shreya Jain, then a 27-year-old dentist, decided it was time she improve her health and hire a personal trainer. Her random assortment of exercises, she realised, was just not going to be enough. “Two months and 24 sessions later, I was a lot less rich and only a kilo or two lighter,” says a still-grumpy Shreya. After this disappointing stint, for which she blames the undeniable incompetency of her trainer, she took control of her fitness again. Taking assistance from people more informed, reading fitness books and becoming more aware about the general science which informs training, all helped her control the damage done earlier.
“The ability to empathise with a client must be of primary importance for any trainer. The definition of fitness is different for different clients, and trainers must be able to mould themselves in order to accept and understand that. They mustn’t ever force their own opinion on the client,” says Reebok Master Trainer, Vinata Shetty. She adds that in India, boundaries of the profession are not clearly defined and individuals specialising in one field, often teach multiple modules in other fields, without certifications.
The problem of trainers being downright inept is made more acute by the fact that many a time fitness enthusiasts are not aware if the time they are spending at the gym is aiding or hampering their growth. To know if you’re struck with the wrong trainer, you’ll have to try and spot these tell-tale giveaways.
Try digging for degrees
History has perhaps been witness to the many exceptions who disprove the rule that education is an essential prerequisite for success. But given that we place our health in the hands of the trainers in a manner similar to the faith we place in doctors, we should perhaps come to expect a minimal qualification that ensures an instructor isn’t a quack. Fitness, as earlier stated, is a process driven by science, and those who believe they can do it without caring for basic knowledge, are inarguably not suited for this role.
Highlighting the hiring processes prevalent in gyms, Ritesh Shaiwal, senior fitness manager at Fitness First India, reveals, “Trainers attend a foundation course on the lines of international certifications, and are given three attempts to pass an internal exam. Meanwhile, they’re kept on the floor to assist members generally,” he says.
“Permission to train clients individually is granted on passing the exam, failing which they’re asked to leave,” adds Ritesh, admitting that though the preferred choice is to hire a certified trainer, the nascent field doesn’t attract many applications that meet the desired requirements stated.
Telling backs from elbows
A popular gag, which recently became quite the rage on social media, had suggested that people who execute only half-range squats should give up training and do the Zumba instead. The joke, which obviously did not go down well with Zumba-lovers, actually intended to highlight a ‘lazy’ form of squatting. But the inability to execute a complete squat isn’t merely a matter of willingness or lack of strength. It could be attributed to factors like inflexible hips and legs, or a weak back, and no amount of high pitched rants from your trainer, like ‘Squat deeper … Go lower … Don’t bend your back’ can fix those more inherent issues. It might, in fact, exacerbate them. What can help is a well-crafted programme that works on increasing flexibility or strengthening the assisting muscles. Do you think your trainer recognises these limitations?
A personal trainer must be able to design a programme exclusively for you after having studied your shortcomings. He or she can, after all, only help you overcome a weakness they are able to spot. “Trainers are recommended to conduct a functional movement screening for clients where basic movements are analysed to identify weak points,” says Ritesh, while stressing the importance of structured workout plans. “Fitness doesn’t follow a onesize fits-all policy. Trainers need to create programmes keeping in mind the individual’s lifestyle. It is their lifestyle which always determines the need of clients,” adds Vinata.
The ever-evolving field of fitness introduces new researches frequently. A fact that was once the holy grail of training can be reduced to nothing more than a myth tomorrow. If your trainer’s education stopped with his or her mastery of the crunch, you probably haven’t been exposed to newer methods. If you think your trainer uses the same training format with 24-year-old and 60-year-olds, you have reason to worry. “We have professionals whose sole intention is monetary gain. They choose to freelance with limited experience and their disinterest in educating themselves limits the profession’s growth,” says Ritesh.
You also want to be wary of mindless repetition. “My trainer gave me an insightful explanation on the importance of isometric workouts for abs during our first session, and that left me mighty impressed. But then, he repeated the same thing during every other session. It was the only meaningful message he ever gave me. It seemed like he’d heard about it in a passing conversation and set it on record,” says 26-year-old Varun Jaisingh, who has been training for two years, and is dismayed by the fact that trainers are never held accountable for the lack of results they produce.
As human beings, we are all naturally driven by curiosity. What is the purpose of a high-intensity workout? Can you skip it altogether if you dislike it? Why do you need to weight-train if you simply love running? These questions have answers which only good trainers can ably explain to their clients. Much like great doctors who teach patients about their condition, a trainer should be able to motivate clients with reason.
A fine balance
Trainers with little knowledge will make you execute the same exercises day after day. Trainers with far too much exposure to YouTube can, on the other hand, experiment with something new every day. Neither of the two methods is appropriate. A well-drafted fitness programme stretches across months, and every individual training session should bring you closer to the programme’s ultimate goal. To get better at exercise, a movement must be repeated often, not daily. So, if you happened to do a unique exercise with a kettle bell as long as three weeks ago, you’ve probably lost the benefits of that individual session by now. These are some basic fitness essentials that all instructors and trainers must always keep in mind.
If you have three training sessions per week, you still have another three days of exercise to fit in on your own, all of which are extremely vital when you are aiming to achieve a fitness goal. To ensure you make the most of them, your trainer must spell out the required exercises you should be carrying out. Of course, even a great fitness trainer can do little to help you if you fail to be sincere with your diet. Yes, you are on your own for the 23 hours you’re out of the gym. There’s no reason for you to feel alone when in it.
