Finding the right mentor can be the key to achieving your health & fitness goals. Knowing the right questions to ask your personal trainer is crucial to picking the right one. There are certain characteristics that you should look for in all trainers – professionalism, knowledge, etc. Once you’ve established that a PT is worth their salt, you’ll also need to ensure that they are the right person to help you as an individual to reach your targets.
We’re all different, some of us respond best to militaristic discipline and a little tough love, while others prefer a lighter touch. Having some common interests and sharing at least parts of your worldviews will also make building a productive relationship and enjoying sessions more likely. Remember, when you choose a trainer, you are employing that person to provide a service. In that sense, there is nothing wrong with approaching your first interaction as you would a job interview. If you’ve never been the one asking the questions, enjoy!
Here are the 5 important questions to ask your personal trainer that will help you to determine if they’re right for you.
1) What are your main areas of expertise?
There are so many aspects to health and fitness that most personal trainers choose to specialize in just a few, or even one. Of course, there are also generalists that have a broad knowledge base, but this often means sacrificing the ability to achieve highly specific goals. Once you’ve determined your own ambitions, it’s important to find a trainer that has the skillset to help you achieve them. That’s why this is one of the first questions to ask your personal trainer and one of the most important to consider when making your final decision.
2) What qualifications do you hold?
While qualifications and certifications are not the be-all and end-all when it comes to choosing a personal trainer, they certainly demonstrate a level of professionalism and commitment that is important for something as important as your health & fitness. They are the simplest way to prove that the trainer you choose does actually have the knowledge and expertise they claim to have.
Working with a trainer that has the backing of a recognized organization will also give you confidence that you’re in safe hands, which will be all the more important the first time they challenge you to do a weight or exercise that is outside your comfort zone.
3) How would you describe your training style?
As mentioned above, this is one of the most important questions to ask your personal trainer. While it’s important to have a trainer with the correct skillset to match your ambitions, it’s equally vital to find someone with a personality and training style that you will respond to. How does the potential trainer structure their sessions? Will they attempt to motivate you using kind words or harsh truths?
4) What are your views on diet, nutrition and lifestyle?
It goes without saying that the type of fuel (and toxins) that you put into your body is a crucial aspect of health & fitness. It’s often also a very personal subject, especially for those who require or choose to follow specific diets. While your personal trainer doesn’t necessarily need to be an expert in this area, it’s helpful if they a good knowledge about nutrition and healthy lifestyle practices. This is especially true if you want to want to achieve specific goals while also maintaining a specialized diet such as plant-based or keto.
5) Can you tell me a little bit about yourself as a person?
While it may not seem as obvious as the first four, this is definitely one of the most important questions to ask your personal trainer. In this field and almost all others, being able to build a personal relationship with your associates that is based on shared morals & values and a similar worldview will drastically improve your chances of success and ensure that time spent on your chosen activity will be more enjoyable.
Obviously, you don’t have to agree with everything other people say. In fact, respectful discussions and arguments are a great way to expand your horizons and open up to the idea that being different is OK. But it’s also true to say that most of us would prefer to avoid neo-nazis, psychopaths and religious extremists. Outside of those types, just about everyone is fair game.
Finding a personal trainer on Heck Yeah
When you connect with trainers on Heck Yeah, you can rest assured that we have already done a lot of the hard work for you. The pros that offer their services on the app are all qualified, experienced and handpicked by us. All that’s left for you to decide is which one is right for you.
