Well, that's quite a mixed reaction and let me clear up the points succinctly.
A. My boss has nothing to do with me being on Mumsnet, which I did for my own distraction and engagement, so advertising my boss is not on any 'thread' of any description and it's not some veiled marketing campaign either, so you're way off target there Handbag.
B. My boss doesn't have any forums at all.
Being 'happy' with a trainer can be all very well , but there's a lot more required than that.If you push yourself without the precise physical analysis required beforehand, the 'real results' you see in the immediate sense, could well have set hidden physiological problems in motion and you'd never be aware of it at the time.......until, often quite a long time afterwards, but often long enough to not associate those aches or 'probs' with the pushing you did originally. That.... is certainly an 'issue' worth being aware of.
The term 'personal' in personal training is a lot more than just working with one person, face to face and being the centre of their attention. Personal training must be truly personal in the wholly professional sense and from just the aspect of Exercise Biomechanics, if it is not, then it can steadily, little by little actually damage you long term and you'd never realise it was going on.
It's called 'sub-clinical micro-trauma' and it develops until you know about it and is then called 'clinical' damage.It is often caused by being given the 'wrong' exercise prescription, which is unsuitable for that unique individual. When it does happen,both the trainer and the client are usually unaware of the origin!!
Again ladies, this is not a veiled ad or campaign, as the boss certainly has no need of me 'touting' for him on Mumsnet. He's in Oslo assessing personal trainers at the moment and not due back until Saturday. I will never mention his name as I'm advising you here on the 'real' Mckoy and you'd all be surprised at just how little training , some veeeery high profile 'personal trainers ' have behind what you see,
I have an Hons 1st Sports Science degree and did a talk at a Rotary club in Hampshire on precisely the subject of personal trainer credibility. It was no surprise at all that the 7 people there who used personal trainers, had received no Range of Motion Test of any description and when I asked some questions, four of them were doing more or less the very same exercises, exactly the same way and there was an appreciable difference in height and build!
And by the way.....I am not for hire, so its not a campaign for me either, before more conclusions are jumped to!
A 'real' Personal Trainer must be able to finely analyse the personal Biomechanics of any individual and through the results, produce exercise formats that will not sub-clinically; damage that person and allow them to progress safely, without any hidden 'costs' developing under the surface. That...is one of the proper definitions of the 'personal' in personal training.
Vast amounts of people only get 'supervised exercise' instead, applied without any pre-analysis at all, which renders them much more susceptible to the possibilities of hidden, steadily increasing problems taking place.
A real personal trainer is quite simply an expert in Exercise Biomechanics,Injury and Nutrition.
All three must be at a very accomplished level, as in develop, heal and nourish the body and also allied exactly to the precisely differing unique physiological/nutritional boundaries that each person has.
All learning is obviously a very good thing, but lets 'get real' here. In just one of the areas alone...say Biomechanics, just how long do you think it takes to become expert in such an involved science? To enable the trainer to fluently analyse the way his or her client positively moves, bends, stretches and reacts to some exercises and negatively to others.
To then assess the large and small variations in that person's fully comprehensive flexibility levels, head to foot and match them to the ROMS ( Ranges of Motion)of the appropriate exercises. That's just one area I'm referring to, never mind advanced injury and nutritional expertise as well!
It takes literally years in just one area alone, which is why 'real' Personal Trainers are so few. If you speak to any number of your friends who've had, or are using personal trainers, just ask them if they had a 'ROM Test (Range of Motion)before they did any exercise at all and if so, how long it took?
A 'real' one takes a little over an hour at least. If they didn't get one at all, then the personal training is not 'personal' and any fifty other people who were overweight or needed to tone or need to shape up, could be given exactly the same exercises in exactly the same order at exactly the same level of demand. Supervised exercise done on your own isn't personal training.
Your first session with a 'real Personal Trainer last around three hours and 'real' ones don't do freebie taster sessions.
You have a body composition test which requires you to observe some pre-conditions 24 hrs before the test, such as food, drink and exercise limitations, including having your period affecting the calculations.
Credible body composition testing methodology is not found in Argos, such as stand on scales, hand held gadgets and plastic fat calipers. 'Real' personal use something called Bio-Electrical Impedance units.
You should fill in a Health and Nutrition Questionnaire, which needs to be at least 6 pages of A4 to contain all the necessary topics such as Allergies, Glucose Tolerance, Stress Levels, Immune Function etc, etc. My boss' questionnaire is 10 pages and every topic requiring answers is a necessary matter.
Then the Range of Motion Test, to discover head to foot, how you uniquely move, bend stretch, stride, rotate and turn etc, etc, which takes an hour or a little over depending on the problems that manifest themselves as being in play. They're happening, often without the person's knowledge, but betrayed to the trainer's eye by the way they move and they're often so subtle,it's only when they're pointed out by the trainer that the person sees and appreciates what's actually happening.
The questionnaire answers are discussed in depth and the person takes away a diet diary to religiously keep for one week. Everything taken in, in liquid and solids over that week requires precise recording, including the times they were eaten and drunk, as unique differences in individual metabolic rates makes this timing process very important.
That's how a first meeting with a 'real' Personal Trainer takes place and what expert personal training really means.