The Student Room Group

Personal Trainers

Absolutely extortionate. Had 3x free introductory sessions at my new gym (just moved to London), and they were pretty good to be fair. I was pushed an extra 30% I guess. However, I am an avid reader/researcher and nothing they advised me or showed me was particularly unique or eye-opening.

Anyway, the price?....

£56 per hour session.

Does anyone actually pay this for a PT?!
Because people are morons, as are most personal trainers. They learn nothing but things from books which anyone could find on youtube anyway. The only time I'd ever hire anybody for fitness/bodybuilding is a coach for a contest prep, and even then it's more focused on diet/workout rather than form and running machines.

As for them pushing you 30%(?) then you have bad focus to start with.
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 2
You train at 100%, all the time?

Motivation from an outsider is very helpful for getting the best out of some people. I wouldn't dismiss a stranger as having bad focus out of hand.
I train at more than 90% most of the time. Probably those pre-workouts though.
Personal trainers are a joke. Exercise science is a joke. If you need motivation, get to know serious people in your gym and start training with them.
Reply 5
£56/hr is absurd. PTs are often equally absurd. There's a female PT at my gym who squats 140kg at about 85kg, when training women she has them squatting the silly little fixed bars and telling them they don't want to go too heavy because they'll get bulky. She has the sort of body that if she told them she squats heavy the clients would all start doing it. At a previous gym there was a PT who (claims to) compete in strongman but tells clients not to do overhead pressing because it's unsafe and bad for your shoulders and he never does it and has developed fine. I really don't understand what the **** is wrong with these people.

Motivation for me is about accountability to my programme, trying to beat myself and knowing that if I don't keep my arse in a reasonable gear then I'll never get strong. If you need external motivation then find a good training partner.
£56 an hour is very expensive.

I can understand why some people who use them, and I have had help with diets in the past from trainers.

Depends on the individual, I would recommend if you can find someone reputable and reasonably priced (and you can afford).
Original post by BKS
£56/hr is absurd. PTs are often equally absurd. There's a female PT at my gym who squats 140kg at about 85kg, when training women she has them squatting the silly little fixed bars and telling them they don't want to go too heavy because they'll get bulky. She has the sort of body that if she told them she squats heavy the clients would all start doing it. At a previous gym there was a PT who (claims to) compete in strongman but tells clients not to do overhead pressing because it's unsafe and bad for your shoulders and he never does it and has developed fine. I really don't understand what the **** is wrong with these people.

Motivation for me is about accountability to my programme, trying to beat myself and knowing that if I don't keep my arse in a reasonable gear then I'll never get strong. If you need external motivation then find a good training partner.


They're running a business.

People don't want to train, they want to exercise. The two things are very different.

Most people think of exercise as something they have to do and it has to be an unpleasant experience otherwise it won't achieve anything. Trainers push this 'exercise experience' complete with all the myths and misinformation because it sells to the mass market and they need to make a living.

There is nothing inherently wrong with this.

Why go to the effort of challenging and completely changing someone's outlook when it comes to training, teaching them how to do the big lifts properly and getting them to follow a long term, slow progress routine when they can just get them to do some circuits and pound a few isolation movements in a high volume/low intensity fashion.

With the latter, the client will feel like they've achieved something that day (even though they haven't, but that's beside the point) haven't had their belief system challenged and haven't gotten hurt.

Most trainers I've run into know their **** and apply it to their own training but when it comes to your average PT client stupid routines and myths abound because that's what the client expects.
Reply 8
Original post by Old School
They're running a business.

People don't want to train, they want to exercise. The two things are very different.

Most people think of exercise as something they have to do and it has to be an unpleasant experience otherwise it won't achieve anything. Trainers push this 'exercise experience' complete with all the myths and misinformation because it sells to the mass market and they need to make a living.

There is nothing inherently wrong with this.

Why go to the effort of challenging and completely changing someone's outlook when it comes to training, teaching them how to do the big lifts properly and getting them to follow a long term, slow progress routine when they can just get them to do some circuits and pound a few isolation movements in a high volume/low intensity fashion.

With the latter, the client will feel like they've achieved something that day (even though they haven't, but that's beside the point) haven't had their belief system challenged and haven't gotten hurt.

Most trainers I've run into know their **** and apply it to their own training but when it comes to your average PT client stupid routines and myths abound because that's what the client expects.

I don't entirely blame the individual for making their living but imo there is something inherently wrong with it. People hire a PT to achieve a result, the client might not know better but the PT does and sells them lies (though some may well just be idiots).

It annoys me even more when it's people who look good and are fit and strong because they have a position of legitimacy and authority that really could lead to people being educated.

PTs obviously aren't the only ones to blame here but at the same time there are a good few out there who make a living whilst educating people about really achieving results and making a real lifestyle change. I've seen PTs work with old disabled people to find a safe way for them to get fitter and stronger or take the time to teach a young guy to power clean for sports training. It's not like these sort of things are impossible, clients aren't that stupid (mostly).

I don't understand why anyone would pursue a career selling lies. To me it's the same thing as salespeople who sell people crap they don't need by being pushy. These are rarely people with no other options open to them, they'd find something else if they really wanted, but they choose that bull**** year after year. That's my main "I really don't understand what the **** is wrong with these people."
Original post by BKS
I don't entirely blame the individual for making their living but imo there is something inherently wrong with it. People hire a PT to achieve a result, the client might not know better but the PT does and sells them lies (though some may well just be idiots).

It annoys me even more when it's people who look good and are fit and strong because they have a position of legitimacy and authority that really could lead to people being educated.

PTs obviously aren't the only ones to blame here but at the same time there are a good few out there who make a living whilst educating people about really achieving results and making a real lifestyle change. I've seen PTs work with old disabled people to find a safe way for them to get fitter and stronger or take the time to teach a young guy to power clean for sports training. It's not like these sort of things are impossible, clients aren't that stupid (mostly).

I don't understand why anyone would pursue a career selling lies. To me it's the same thing as salespeople who sell people crap they don't need by being pushy. These are rarely people with no other options open to them, they'd find something else if they really wanted, but they choose that bull**** year after year. That's my main "I really don't understand what the **** is wrong with these people."


I'd argue that basically everyone who consults a PT in a commercial chain doesn't really care about training that much. If they did, they wouldn't need one given the amount of free information that is readily available everywhere.

I think what people like us forget is that most people don't care about training like we do and it's really, really far down their list of priorities. Personal training is a largely unnecessary, luxury item. Most PT's fill the gap in the market for 'hard' but safe exercise sessions that play up to people's expectations.

Not every PT has the attitude or aptitude to train people in the barbell lifts to a high standard either. Just because they can do them themselves doesn't mean they can teach them. The dearth of proper strength training material in most PT courses doesn't help this situation either.

Also, not everyone can coach people who need a PT for sports either. These kids/young adults have their own trainers at their facilities or colleges and those vacancies are few and far between.

A good mate of mine makes a point of only training people who care and training them properly- he has to work nights stacking shelves in Tesco to make ends meet.

You're right though- there is too much bull**** in the fitness industry and most PT's are sellouts. I'm currently saving enough cash to get a REPS level 3 qualification, once I've got it I will also sell out and peddle myths and provide a 'fitness experience'. I don't want to do this but real life will force me to. Principals are all fine and dandy until you need to put a roof over your head and food on the table.
Reply 10
Original post by Old School
I'd argue that basically everyone who consults a PT in a commercial chain doesn't really care about training that much. If they did, they wouldn't need one given the amount of free information that is readily available everywhere.

I think what people like us forget is that most people don't care about training like we do and it's really, really far down their list of priorities. Personal training is a largely unnecessary, luxury item. Most PT's fill the gap in the market for 'hard' but safe exercise sessions that play up to people's expectations.

Not every PT has the attitude or aptitude to train people in the barbell lifts to a high standard either. Just because they can do them themselves doesn't mean they can teach them. The dearth of proper strength training material in most PT courses doesn't help this situation either.

Also, not everyone can coach people who need a PT for sports either. These kids/young adults have their own trainers at their facilities or colleges and those vacancies are few and far between.

A good mate of mine makes a point of only training people who care and training them properly- he has to work nights stacking shelves in Tesco to make ends meet.

You're right though- there is too much bull**** in the fitness industry and most PT's are sellouts. I'm currently saving enough cash to get a REPS level 3 qualification, once I've got it I will also sell out and peddle myths and provide a 'fitness experience'. I don't want to do this but real life will force me to. Principals are all fine and dandy until you need to put a roof over your head and food on the table.

I suspect people struggle with what to trust on the internet or don't know where to start so see PTs as an expert who can get them started right.

I think that there's a form of (real) exercise that everyone will enjoy, no matter how much of a lazy ****er they seem to be, though I don't think that is a gym for most people. To that end gyms are terrible things for putting so many people off proper exercise and monopolising people's idea of being fitter and stronger (most people don't need to be actually strong).

If a PT works with someone then it'll take a good few sessions to know if they are a gym person. But if they aren't then the PT should have educated them so they are more likely to go do something else. It will loose them a bit of business but really most people who hate the gym don't stick it long anyway so I doubt they'd loose that much business.

All mainstream gyms are within the spectrum of Planet Fitness' business model- though I'm not aware of anyone else going quite so far as pizza. A few people stick but mostly they survive on the thoroughfare of people who try, don't enjoy it, don't see much results and quit. The decent thing to do would be pointing these people in the right direction and help them leave having gained something.

If an individual PT can't make a living (to a standard they accept) without selling bull**** then to me their job shouldn't exist and they shouldn't do it. I accept that from time to time we all need to do things that aren't inkeeping with our principles but I think choosing that as a career or realising you've got stuck in that and choosing to not try to get out is wrong.

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