Personal Trainers Pretty much Suck on Average?

Don't get me wrong, I respect a good personal trainer that has developed a decent physique and/or a solid amount of strength and trains his clients well and gets them results. But every gym I have trained at has had lameass personal trainers. It's a joke. The gym I go to now is one of the best in the area and the PT's look like they barely lift! They are usually young, cocky guys that try to look like Brad Pitt or something and have about as much strength as your old grandpa has if he got real psyched up after a win at a local bingo tournament. They have decent builds, but no SIZE whatsoever. Not unless you consider a 15" muscular arm big on a guy that's been training for years and has several training certifications and acts like he's the shit.

Also, I see them making their clients do the dumbest looking exercises all the time and I wonder, what's the point of that? Like today, as I'm walking out of the bathroom at my gym on my way to my car I see one of the REAL COCKY PT's having his female client do unweighted calf raises against a wall. HMM? Oh ya, he has her leaning on a stability ball that's on the wall pressing on her chest as she's doing her calf raises on the ground with no weight, no block for the stretch, and she's doing them with both legs, not one leg at a time. Try and picture the rediculousness ofthat image in your mind. I think it's safe to say she'd get a better workout walking up a nice size set of stairs in high heels carrying her purse. AS a bonus, at least she wouldn't look stupid, and at least the PT wouldn't be embarassing himself. What a joke!

Last week I saw one of the PT's having his male client do 45 degree leg presses with 50lbs. That's no typo. "50" heavy ass pounds. His client probably weighed 160lbs and even on his first workout could probably handle 180lbs no problem.

Finally, the biggest problem I see is these guys barely seem interested in their clients when they are doing their sets. They always have them use too little weight and not enough intensity. Not once have I seen a single PT at my gym put a client through an even moderately demanding workout.

Anyone have any stories of some lamo PT's you've seen, and some of the stuff they have their clients do that defies all possible logic and reason?

P.S. Good PT's are a great thing and valuable to a good gym. Bad PT's just suck worse than suckass.

I used to be a pt, sort of

Basically pt's don't need to be knowledgeable, just confident. Most people joining a gym don't know shit about working out, and they just want someone to tell them exactly what to do. Many are willing to pay for this.

It's sad, but to be a successful (loose definition) pt you just have to be a good salesman and seem like you know what you're talking about.

Of course, to be a GOOD pt takes much more.

Im sure there are good Pt's somewhere..My gym is exactly the same..for instance this trainer is training a younger kid prolly 20 so friday theyre benching first set is 135 (i guess thats a warmup) then 225 and the trainer strained his back pulling up the weight numerous times!!! then they load 275 on the bar after barely getting 225????so 275 for 2 very heavyy assisted reps..yesterday im in te gym and theyre benching again...this kid is like 150 soaking wet..they just have no clue..Also i dont think you can equate a good physique with someone being a good trainer..it would help as advertisement..but we all have different ideas of what we want to look like..to me someone 200 or less even if theyre ripped i would consider small but thats just me

Ill give ya all the low down on the PT scam.....I mean business. To sum it up fast if its a trainer working for a gym all they are paid to do is sell more training,Im tellin you right now as a gym owner myself I would hire a good salesman as a trainer before Id hire a jacked knowlageable person thats just business, and If it is someone that is a serious client and they buy training usually I just train them but thats only happend once. thats why you see trainers useing the a balls and other things, See that way the workout is so complicated that there is no way they could train without you. If you want a real trainer find one that works for themselves and there income depends on you seeing results. Training isnt a service to members in a gym its a PROFIT CENTER bottom line.

BIGDHO said:

Ill give ya all the low down on the PT scam.....I mean business. To sum it up fast if its a trainer working for a gym all they are paid to do is sell more training,Im tellin you right now as a gym owner myself I would hire a good salesman as a trainer before Id hire a jacked knowlageable person thats just business, and If it is someone that is a serious client and they buy training usually I just train them but thats only happend once. thats why you see trainers useing the a balls and other things, See that way the workout is so complicated that there is no way they could train without you. If you want a real trainer find one that works for themselves and there income depends on you seeing results. Training isnt a service to members in a gym its a PROFIT CENTER bottom line.

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yeah, i didnt like the pt thing, i wasnt a great salesman
i gave my clients workouts that they could continue on with themselves and get results, then would scheduel a session at like 3-4 weeks to see if anything needed to be tweaked, not huge revinue generator for Balleys

they major in macking on chicks but you know what, they almost all suck but they're not there for us.. they're there to get housewives and college kids working out. Sure, we know they're dorks but unless they offer me advice I could give a shit about polo-shirt boy and his 180lb bench.

The ones I see always seem to be training women on the leg curls. Hmmmm. Nothing beats a hot chick on a leg curl . Except pull throughs, but I don't get to see that.

I see the same bullshit described above at most of the gyms Ive been to also. At one Gold's I used to train at, the trainers had thier clients doing some of the most rediculous shit Ive ever seen. One trainer would attach cables to the power rack, usually when I was deadlifting, so Id be sure to drop alot of weight and scream, sometimes in excess of 700lbs on the beast lifts, just let it slam at full force. Once the cables were attached he would have his client throw punches with the cables around his hands. Then some bullshit where he walks forward with the cables, until thier fully stretched. Then some more shit on the rubber ball. It was fucking rediculous. The people who pay them must be fucking stupid or some shit.

Good stuff! I knew I wasn't alone in my thoughts! Keep it coming.

Oh ya, here's another observation of mine. I've noticed that the PT's train most of their clients on machines. Especailly the girls. Now I think a few pieces of Hammer Strength equipment and a few pieces of TRU equipment is good, but only as supplement to a few different exercises. These PT's almost always have their clients working on those crap machines that you never heard of that you know SUCK. It's really sad.

As to the guy that's a gym owner, thanks for being honest. It just confirms what I already thought.

to the guy that's a gym owner, thanks for being honest. It just confirms what I already thought.[/QUOTE]



Yep its sad but true. Truth be told fitness centers hate guys like us because we use all the weights that are heavy we demand hi quality equipment, we USE our membership not just once or twice a week, and we know better than all the b.s most gyms are pushing on there members ie Apex sups.,p.ting, stablity balls ext. Most everything at most gyms are geared for the middle aged upper middle class people that still think that if you do 100 sit ups a night you will get a six pack..........sad but true.