10 Commandments For Personal Trainers

Below is a list of rules and guidelines all personal trainers should adhere to and all clients should hold their trainers accountable for. I have been in the fitness business for many years and have not only hired personal trainers for myself for specific goals but when my wife and I owned Urban Fitness in Galveston Texas we also hired many trainers to work in our fitness facility.

If your trainer does not abide by these basic and ethical rules you need to ask yourself are you really getting what you are paying for and does your trainer have your best interest at heart.

1. Thou shalt not answer thy cellular phone or text during clients session.
Personal Trainers should never answer their cellular phones or text during your training session (except in the event of an emergency). You paid for your session what right does your trainer have to talk to friends, family or even other clients on YOUR TIME?

2. Thou shalt not leave thy client alone during thy clients session to speakith with others.
During your training session your Personal Trainer should never walk off and leave you to complete your "set" or turn to talk to other people in the gym while you are exercising. You paid for that whole session and every time a trainer walks off or turns to talk to his friends he has taken the focus off of you and isn't this what you paid for?

3. Thou shalt not act is if thy are God and raise thy voice for thy glory of oneself.
Unless you have specifically asked that your personal trainer yell at you like you are in basic training your trainer should never raise his voice, huff and puff like you are annoying him even if you have to be shown how to do the same exercise 100 time. You pay your trainer to help you and to make sure you do everything correctly.

4. Thou shalt not show up late to thy clients training session nor cancel at the last moment except in dire emergency.
Your trainer should be on time and ready before your sessions starts. You should never accept that your trainer comes in late or does not show up at all. Yes, emergencies do happen but your personal trainer should be in contact with you at the first sign that they may be late or if they may need to miss your session.

5. Thou shalt hold thy tongue from thy use of language to which could be heard by a fair maiden.
Foul language should never be used. I know we workout in a gym but no matter how dirty and foul the location there could still be ladies (or guys) present that just don't care to hear that type of language.

6. Thou shalt give praise and salutations to thy client as thy need to have encouraging words bestowed upon them.
Your personal trainer should always be encouraging and helpful. People have the tendency to want to work harder when they feel they are special and receive praise, this is true in all aspects of our lives. A trainer should never "candy coat" (see # 7) your workout, goals and progress but they should be there to tell you when you are doing well.

7. Thou shalt not fib nor tell falsehoods to thy client to bring false hope to whit knowing a goal shall not be attainable.
A good trainer is not one that will "candy coat" issues and they need to be upfront with their clients about any questions they may have about goals. If you ask can I lose 100lbs in the next 2 months and the obvious answer is no... that is what your trainer should tell you but explain why not and what a workable goal for you will be. Don't accept being told what you want to hear your trainer should be very upfront in regards to how fast you should expect to lose weight and how fast you will see gains in strength and muscle.

8. Thou shalt have a strong shoulder to lean for tears of sorrow and joy yet hold thy tongue to thyself and never gossip.
social therapist but when you work very closely with people you will create a bond with them and a trainer should be a good listener. On the same token they should never share your information with anyone. A persons emotional state has a lot to do with their physical well being.

9. Thou shalt never make unGodly advances toward thy clients nor make lustful observations about thy clients body.
Trainers should never make vulgar sexual jokes or innuendos about their clients. Giving a compliment such as "Wow, you look great I bet you will turn some heads this summer" is okay. Saying something inappropriate such as "Wow, you sure have a hot @ss now, I would like to see that in a bikini" a comment like this is very wrong and should not be tolerated.

10. Thou shalt be ready to assist thy client at a moments notice as thy client compensates for thy trainers full services.
As a trainer our job is to help you become more fit and healthy. Our job is also to focus all our attention on you during your session as well as be available 24/7 for any questions that should arise. If your trainer does not answer questions other than just during your session you need to ask yourself why? Are they only training you for the money or are they in the business to help people?

If your trainer is breaking any of the above rules you should consider talking to a trainer that is ready to truly help you and to answer all of your questions.