What is it like being a Personal Trainer?

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Shell said:
Why is it stressful?

To gain as many clients as possible, or the pressure clients are placing upon you as a PT?
Click to expand...
Can be a bit of both.
I've just had a new client for example. Lady who is 180KGs.......

When i had my initial chat with her she was talking about the past trainers she'd had, from another local gym, how they weren't up to scratch, didn't know what they were talking about etc, saw my profile and asked for me specifically....

I've started training her, she only wants to really powerlift, has a range of injuries.... after 2 weeks refuses to fill out a food diary or log her eating into myfitness pal as she "doesn't have the time..."

On the days she does.... theres days of 5/6 mother drinks per day or lattes, a jumbo bag of red frogs, all you can eats... etc

She only lost 2 kgs in 5 weeks... At that weight, a basic diet clean would have had weight fall off.
Clients like that are stressful, unless you're happy just collecting the extra coin. Then when i tell her its not really working for us or she decides to see someone else, i'll probably get hit with the same bad talk to the next trainer stuck with her as she has with past ones.
 
SnakeMan86 said:
Can be a bit of both.
I've just had a new client for example. Lady who is 180KGs.......

When i had my initial chat with her she was talking about the past trainers she'd had, from another local gym, how they weren't up to scratch, didn't know what they were talking about etc, saw my profile and asked for me specifically....

I've started training her, she only wants to really powerlift, has a range of injuries.... after 2 weeks refuses to fill out a food diary or log her eating into myfitness pal as she "doesn't have the time..."

On the days she does.... theres days of 5/6 mother drinks per day or lattes, a jumbo bag of red frogs, all you can eats... etc

She only lost 2 kgs in 5 weeks... At that weight, a basic diet clean would have had weight fall off.
Clients like that are stressful, unless you're happy just collecting the extra coin. Then when i tell her its not really working for us or she decides to see someone else, i'll probably get hit with the same bad talk to the next trainer stuck with her as she has with past ones.
Click to expand...

Wow yeah at that weight, it should be coming off easy.

Obviously she's a sweet tooth- and just refuses to cut back. Like im no expert at all, but thats the approach i'd be taking- cut back on that stuff bit by bit. Aint no way i could go cold turkey off my chocolate and stuff.

She just needs to understand that it'd take longer, and also- you cannot out train what you eat.
 

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Shell said:
Wow yeah at that weight, it should be coming off easy.

Obviously she's a sweet tooth- and just refuses to cut back. Like im no expert at all, but thats the approach i'd be taking- cut back on that stuff bit by bit. Aint no way i could go cold turkey off my chocolate and stuff.

She just needs to understand that it'd take longer, and also- you cannot out train what you eat.
Click to expand...
Oh for sure. At that weight theres obviously addiction issues.But when i quizzed her on the whole bag of lollies, she was like.. i needed a sugar and energy hit...
1. So you ate a whole jumbo bag? lol
2. What person, who drinks 6/7 energy drinks/coffees "needs" such a energy hit.
 
SnakeMan86 said:
Oh for sure. At that weight theres obviously addiction issues.But when i quizzed her on the whole bag of lollies, she was like.. i needed a sugar and energy hit...
1. So you ate a whole jumbo bag? lol
2. What person, who drinks 6/7 energy drinks/coffees "needs" such a energy hit.
Click to expand...

I've had a sip of red bull. Never again- that was enough, disgusting stuff. Coffee- usually its 1 a day. But sometimes can be none, sometimes 2/3.

Oh man the lollies.... back when I was depressed this year- my Sunday breakfast tradition (and sometimes Monday...)- was a whole bag of strawberry and cream lollies. I almost feel sick thinking about that now. I still like them, just eat a few at a time now.
 
Cuzz09 said:
Ive seen a couple of PTs that are fat.

Im like "really?"

Same with doctors.

Surely you are trying to practise what u preach.
Click to expand...

Eh i wouldnt be so quick to judge- you dont know if they've recently had an injury, medical condition, etc.
 
Shell said:
I've had a sip of red bull. Never again- that was enough, disgusting stuff. Coffee- usually its 1 a day. But sometimes can be none, sometimes 2/3.

Oh man the lollies.... back when I was depressed this year- my Sunday breakfast tradition (and sometimes Monday...)- was a whole bag of strawberry and cream lollies. I almost feel sick thinking about that now. I still like them, just eat a few at a time now.
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Yeah Rona brought back my love for Darrel lea white choc Raspberry bullets... easy a bag of those with a crap movie when i was feeling lockdown depressed/alone.

Yeah im a caffeine addict. I have to be with 5am wake ups lol. Cant do energy drinks either... well thats a lie, i am partial to a skittle bomb when im having a few drinks :tearsofjoy:
 
Re. Corona and lockdown. I was srsly shocked at how little weight i put on. I mean i put on some for sure (cant zip up any dresses atm- but everything else is fine)- but i was doing 0 exercise (just the occasional walk when my mum dragged me out of the house). And eating s**t.


Am really lucky most of my clothes still fit.

Anyway, will be back into it next week, once i get home from holidays.
 
Cuzz09 said:
Ive seen a couple of PTs that are fat.

Im like "really?"

Same with doctors.

Surely you are trying to practise what u preach.
Click to expand...
I was 'Fat' when i first started.. i was going through bad stress and depression when i was studying and stacked the weight on. You never know what's going on with someone's home life.
Like Shell said, medical conditions as well. One of our trainers is one of the smartest trainers i've ever met, but has broken out with chronic hives and had them on and off for months, and the anti-histamines she's been prescribed have caused her to put on weight no matter what she does
 
I just picture PTs as Prime Glen Jakovich beasts who will make you run 10kms while berating you and punching you in the face if you even look at a mini size flake.
 
Shell said:
Re. Corona and lockdown. I was srsly shocked at how little weight i put on. I mean i put on some for sure (cant zip up any dresses atm- but everything else is fine)- but i was doing 0 exercise (just the occasional walk when my mum dragged me out of the house). And eating sh*t.


Am really lucky most of my clothes still fit.

Anyway, will be back into it next week, once i get home from holidays.
Click to expand...
I lost 7kgs during lockdown and was devastated.... But when i try to explain how sad i am about it to my work bestie she punches me and tells me to get farked :tearsofjoy: :tearsofjoy: :tearsofjoy:
 

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SnakeMan86 said:
I was 'Fat' when i first started.. i was going through bad stress and depression when i was studying and stacked the weight on. You never know what's going on with someone's home life.
Like Shell said, medical conditions as well. One of our trainers is one of the smartest trainers i've ever met, but has broken out with chronic hives and had them on and off for months, and the anti-histamines she's been prescribed have caused her to put on weight no matter what she does
Click to expand...

Oh man hives... i know them. I think im allergic to coedine- i cannot take cold and flu tablets. They make me break out into hives and make me feel so ill. Like ill on top of ill. Poor woman.
 
SnakeMan86 said:
Can be a bit of both.
I've just had a new client for example. Lady who is 180KGs.......

When i had my initial chat with her she was talking about the past trainers she'd had, from another local gym, how they weren't up to scratch, didn't know what they were talking about etc, saw my profile and asked for me specifically....

I've started training her, she only wants to really powerlift, has a range of injuries.... after 2 weeks refuses to fill out a food diary or log her eating into myfitness pal as she "doesn't have the time..."

On the days she does.... theres days of 5/6 mother drinks per day or lattes, a jumbo bag of red frogs, all you can eats... etc

She only lost 2 kgs in 5 weeks... At that weight, a basic diet clean would have had weight fall off.
Clients like that are stressful, unless you're happy just collecting the extra coin. Then when i tell her its not really working for us or she decides to see someone else, i'll probably get hit with the same bad talk to the next trainer stuck with her as she has with past ones.
Click to expand...

These type of clients are never worth your time.
I had one (as a myo) who preceded the appointment with “I hope you’re not going to give me exercises to do because I’m not going to do them”.
Said to them if that was the case we’d be better off stopping now and not wasting each other’s time then sent them on their way.
Their look of shock/surprise was pretty funny.

A pretty well known physio clinic a couple of my lecturers work(ed) at even go so far as to make their clients sign a contract saying they’ll do their home rehab or the clinic will terminate their professional relationship.
I suspect it’s more of a huff and puff thing but at least it lets people know what’s expected of them.
 
Aeglos said:
These type of clients are never worth your time.
I had one (as a myo) who preceded the appointment with “I hope you’re not going to give me exercises to do because I’m not going to do them”.
Said to them if that was the case we’d be better off stopping now and not wasting each other’s time then sent them on their way.
Their look of shock/surprise was pretty funny.

A pretty well known physio clinic a couple of my lecturers work(ed) at even go so far as to make their clients sign a contract saying they’ll do their home rehab or the clinic will terminate their professional relationship.
I suspect it’s more of a huff and puff thing but at least it lets people know what’s expected of them.
Click to expand...
Yeah I should have gone with my gut straight away, I had vibes she was going to be like this.
I like the contract with the Physio lol, god knows the amount of rehab PT clients i've had stop, or had to stop myself because there recovery wasn't quick enough for them... even though they couldn't be bothered, or kept "Forgetting" to do there stretches, core work or mobility stuff at home, or water exercises
 
Aeglos said:
These type of clients are never worth your time.
I had one (as a myo) who preceded the appointment with “I hope you’re not going to give me exercises to do because I’m not going to do them”.
Said to them if that was the case we’d be better off stopping now and not wasting each other’s time then sent them on their way.
Their look of shock/surprise was pretty funny.

A pretty well known physio clinic a couple of my lecturers work(ed) at even go so far as to make their clients sign a contract saying they’ll do their home rehab or the clinic will terminate their professional relationship.
I suspect it’s more of a huff and puff thing but at least it lets people know what’s expected of them.
Click to expand...
I do Chiro specifically because i wont do the physio rehab.

If both parties are honest you can make a decision about the viability.

My chiro knows i come in every 6-8 weeks for a 15 minute crack. Mix that in with a massage every 6-8 weeks and i see it as body maintenance.

Years of physio, even doing the exercises, didnt heal me and its just not feasible to do the stuff thats set sometimes.
 
Cuzz09 said:
Ive seen a couple of PTs that are fat.

Im like "really?"

Same with doctors.

Surely you are trying to practise what u preach.
Click to expand...

One of my CrossFit coaches is overweight. He's actually really fit and strong as *. His back squat is about 200kg. He said he's tried all sorts of diets but nothing will shift the weight.
 
An obese middle-aged colleague is always bringing desserts and cakes etc in for the staff to share. I never have any, much to her chagrin. Not sure why it bothers her. But then she'll make comments like, "I'd love to be your weight" and s**t like that. Yeah well it's not going to happen sitting around eating cakes and desserts.
 
raskolnikov said:
One of my CrossFit coaches is overweight. He's actually really fit and strong as fu**. His back squat is about 200kg. He said he's tried all sorts of diets but nothing will shift the weight.
Click to expand...

So he basically just admitted to you that despite being a fitness coach he doesn’t know how nutrition and caloric deficits works? Ahaha fmd.
 
12Chill said:
So he basically just admitted to you that despite being a fitness coach he doesn’t know how nutrition and caloric deficits works? Ahaha fmd.
Click to expand...

Lol. What? How did you arrive at that?
 
raskolnikov said:
Lol. What? How did you arrive at that?
Click to expand...

If I have misunderstood you I apologise.

thought process:
the original post was talking about fat PTs.

you said this coach was strong but “overweight”.

and that apparently his weight won’t shift despite trying a bunch of things -so assuming I read your post right, he has tried to diet off some of the excess fat but can’t shift his weight?

If I’ve got all that right than I stand by my statement. I’m a coach myself. Sorry, but losing weight is not a complex task. Saying “I’ve tried everything and nothing works” is fine for a gen pop client because they might not have the knowledge on how to address things or do them correctly. As a coach there is no excuse in saying “nope I just have this extra fat on me and nothing I can do will get rid of it”.
It’s not rocket science - especially as a coach who should know.
 
12Chill said:
If I have misunderstood you I apologise.

thought process:
the original post was talking about fat PTs.

you said this coach was strong but “overweight”.

and that apparently his weight won’t shift despite trying a bunch of things -so assuming I read your post right, he has tried to diet off some of the excess fat but can’t shift his weight?

If I’ve got all that right than I stand by my statement. I’m a coach myself. Sorry, but losing weight is not a complex task. Saying “I’ve tried everything and nothing works” is fine for a gen pop client because they might not have the knowledge on how to address things or do them correctly. As a coach there is no excuse in saying “nope I just have this extra fat on me and nothing I can do will get rid of it”.
It’s not rocket science - especially as a coach who should know.
Click to expand...

He's told me that he's tried several different diets, most of which, I would presume, involve some kind of caloric restriction. He said that nothing seems to have worked. Some people, not matter what they try, find it extremely hard to lose weight. I did before I started keto. Before keto I was on a caloric restriction diet and failed to budge any weight. It was only when I went keto that I started to lose anything.
 
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