I am a personal trainer and am proud to be one.I am also probably not what you’re current conception of a personal trainer is.

To the unqualified majority in my professional arena,a sarcastic Thank You for making me have to explain myself further.

PERSONAL – particular to a given individual ; intimately concerning a person’s body or physical being

TRAIN - undergo instruction in preparation for a particular role ; educate, teach or refine to be discriminative in taste or judgment

according to the above definitions

PERSONAL TRAINER – one who educates, teaches, and/or refines, particular to a given individual and intimately concerning a person’s body and/or physical being, in preparation for a particular role

OK, sounds good so fareven though this doesn’t sound like most in my industry

so let’s clean this up a bit

i will highlight some arbitrary or seemingly irrelevant termsand explore them according to the current status of my profession

“one who educates, teaches, and/or refines, particular to a given individual, and intimately concerning a person’s body and/or physical being, in preparation for a particular role”

yes, i highlighted everything but the three words a PERSON”S BODYbecause those three words seem to be the only thing people correctly associate with personal trainingwhich is that, yes, your body will be involved in the process

now that i can agree with you on one conception of personal training,that your body will be involved in the process,let me help you with the rest

“one who educates, teaches, and/or refines“to be educated or taught means that you leave with more applicable knowledge,i.e. leave with more actionable items, than when you arrivedif you are not progressively more in control of your programyou are NOT being trainedyou are being controlled

“particular to a given individual“if you are doing the same exercises, stretches, poses, reps, weights,as your “trainer”, clients, or everyone in your age group, workout group, class, or “gym”if you are eating the same diet, same caloric, fat, carb, or protein intakeas your “trainer”, clients, or everyone in your age group, workout group, class, or “gymif you are keeping the same sleep hours and supplement protocols, etc, etc, etc…as your “trainer”, clients, or everyone else in your age group, workout group, class, or “gym”it has NOTHING to do with individual particularityand everything to do with the personal trainers 3 defining characteristicsIndolence, Ignorance, and Incompetence

“intimately concerning a person’s body“intimate means being marked by a close acquaintance and familiaritynow please think about this short and easy(yes this is such a stupid rhetorical question that i didn’t say long and hard)is there ANYTHING or ANYONEthat you are more intimately acquainted and familiar with than yourself?..I didn’t think so!So regardless if your “trainer’s” initial assessment is 3 minutes or 3 daysthat is in NO WAY approaching the breadth and depth that you know yourselfif you are learning to follow what your “trainer” says and not what your body saysthen your program is decreasingly empowering to you and your healthand increasingly ineffective and dangerous

“physical being“said another way, your Physical Existencetry these out for descriptors of your physical existenceunhappy, unsatisfied, hungry, tired, sore, hurt, injured, and in painand if your program ever elicits the aforementioned adjectivesyou are not a client in pursuit of better health and a better body with a personal traineryou are a masochist and your “trainer”, a sadist(i guess that would make the gym a dungeon?)

“in preparation for a particular role“The role, Sustainably Lean, Peak Performing and  Optimally Healthy YouWhat qualifies you to play that role?Competence and Autonomy in exercise, eating and life!How do you acquire them?Personal Training, also known as What I do (not what most do!)

Personal Training – The Final Distillation

if you are not constantly learning and refining how you eat, exercise and live,if you do not leave better equipped than when you arrived, EVERYTIME,you are not personal training

if your exercise form and dietary intake looks remarkably like everyone around you,if you are NOT eating and exercising specifically to the uniqueness of youyou are not personal training

if you are learning to rely on someone besides yourself about what is and is not good for you,if you are NOT becoming Decreasingly dependent on your “trainer”and increasingly dependent on yourself,you are not personal training

if you are not in constant pursuit of bettering your physical existence each and every moment,if you are purposefully doing ANYTHING that makes you unhappy, hungry, tired, sore and hurtyou are not personal training

so if you want to call yourself my peerprove to me that these are not your clients primary descriptions of your “work”

and if you are interested in personal training or currently receiving “personal training”wouldn’t  you agree that these would be necessary componentsof a competent professional and a successful program?

“give a man a fish, feed him for a day.Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.”

-ck