What to Look for in a Trainer
(And Why It Matters More Than You Think)
Last week we discussed why I might not be the trainer for you. This week I’m going to discuss what to actually look for in a trainer and red flags to avoid.
The right trainer isn’t the loudest one, the fittest one or the one who has the perfect videos or largest Instagram following. The right trainer is the one that actually fits you.
Your Goals
Your Season of Life
Your Energy
Your Reality
If you are a woman who wants strength, confidence, and a realistic plan that you can stick with, here is what you should actually be looking for in a trainer.
Someone Who Listens to Your Goals (Not Pushes Their Own)
No one likes a know it all. If you’ve ever encountered one you know that its like to feel like you are talking to the wall. A trainer whose only interest is pushing their own beliefs and agenda isn’t a trainer that you want. Often times its looks like you asking to build strength and them pushing a fat-loss-only plan. It can also look like promoting extremes, pushing you beyond your limits when you want to create balance.
Your goals matter. They should be heard.
Someone Who Teaches You- Not Just Tells You What to Do.
Over the years I’ve had women come in for their consultation after working with other trainers for years not even knowing what a movement is called or what weight they had been lifting. Most of the time they say “I don’t know, I just showed up and they told me what to do.” This to me is always the biggest red flag as far as trainers go. Trust me I get it, sometimes the best part of hiring trainers is that you don’t have to think, but that shouldn’t be every session. Learning and understanding the workouts, why you are doing them and where the limits of your body should be the bare minimum. I always want to be a resource for my ladies but at the end of the day I also want them to fully get what they are doing, watch them grow, and flourish without me in their own journey. In my opinion that should be the mission of every trainer.
You deserve explanations, you deserve the “why” and you deserve someone who wants you to understand your body, not rely on them forever.
A good trainer builds independence, not dependence.
Personalized Programming (Zero Cookie-Cutter Workouts)
There are plenty of premade programs that you can get from any trainer on the internet. Truthfully they may even get you good results. But, you aren’t paying a trainer your hard earned money to give you the same thing they give to everyone else. You hire a trainer to give you customized coaching, looking at the full picture of your lifestyle, goals, limitations and experience level. You hire a trainer for customization, and thats exactly what you should be given, a plan that works for you not a plan that you have to work somehow into your life.
A good trainer programs for you, not for their while client roster, not for social media and not for a “one size fits all.”
A Coach Who Builds Confidence, Not Shame.
There is nothing worse than the anxiety of starting with something new and being worried about feeling embarrassed about where you are. You’ve hired a trainer for a reason, to learn, be supported through this journey. I know lots of people who feel shame works, but the research around it just doesn’t fit into that narrative. Go ahead and listen or read Brene Brown a little, shes a shame researcher, the results are obvious.
Each session that you have and leave, should make you feel empowered and confident, not judged, talked down to or made to feel like a loser for not knowing what you are doing. Every person in the gym has started somewhere. If your trainer can’t meet you where you are, and support you on this journey then, to put it bluntly, they need to be fired.
Someone Who Focuses on Long-Term Results
The one thing great trainers loathe is when a new client comes in and wants to lost 25 lbs in 6 weeks. We are constantly sold quick fixes online especially by influencers trying to sell you their lates supplement or program that guarantees results in 30 days. Any trainer that tries to is pushing detoxes, extreme diets or build 20 lbs of muscle in 12 weeks, is literally filling you full of shit. End of story.
When looking for a trainer, make sure to find one that looks one who believes in strength, nutrition that makes sense, is sustainable lifestyle changes. A trainer that focuses on consistency, habits, balance, recovery and real-life-friendly workouts.
A Trainer Whose Specialty Lines Up With Your Goals
You wouldn’t hire an electrician to do the plumbing in your new house. Sure, each one might know a little about the other job, but they have a specialty and know the most about their skill. The same goes for trainers. Each one of us has our specialty, something were good at the most. I wouldn’t hire a powerlifting coach to get me through a bodybuilding competition just like I wouldn’t hire a strength coach to help me run a marathon. While most trainers have common knowledge to get you an amazing general fitness routine, there are coaches who specialize in modalities that will not only get to your goal, but know exactly what the road looks like to get you there.
Personally, I love working with women. Specifically I love working with women in their 40s - 60+ who want to build muscle and focus on thier managing stress, sleep, recovery to age gracefully. These women generally love home workouts, or working out in a more quiet and intimate setting.
A trainer should understand your goals and know when to refer you out to another coach or trainer who may know more about a specialty or modality than them.
Someone You Actually Like Being Around
Energy matters, vibes matter and feeling like you can be you, comfortable in your own skin matters. If you can’t stand the person that is guiding you on what I think is the most important journey of youre life, then fire them.
You should feel your trainer is in your corner and not judging you. So if you get a bad feeling before every session or are dreading showing up, then maybe that person just isn’t for you.
You’re not supposed to be for everyone, and your trainer shouldn’t be either.
You need the right one. Someone’s whose style matches you and feels like a breath of fresh air. Someone who cares, someone who keeps it real, someone who wants you strong, sculpted and confident not burnt out and miserable.
And if that’s what you're looking for, then you’re in the right place. xoxo
Happy Lifting,
Kelley Lynn
