7 Things Personal Trainers Do That You Wish They Would Stop
By admin
I’m not one of those uptight ladies that can’t laugh at herself from time to time.
I know I do things that irritate people and I know that I do things that are just downright ridiculous… of course not often (ha!), but it happens. Just ask my husband.
Originally, I thought about doing a post on “Things You Do That Personal Trainers Wish You Didn’t” but after some thought, I decided it would be so much better to highlight the things that I do (and 99% of other trainers) that drive clients mad.
If you’re a trainer, if you’ve been trained, or if you’ve just seen the Biggest Loser then you can totally get these and hopefully chuckle along.
Let’s start the week off with a good ole’ light hearted post, what do you say?
Things Personal Trainers Do That You Wish They Didn’t
This classic comment comes out of our mouths every time we see you wanting to slow down or stop short of the goal. You most likely are nowhere near done, yet we think that telling you this lie will help you to dig deep and keep going.
You know you’re not almost done, so you of course roll your eyes, yet continue on so that you don’t have to listen to our cheap lies.
I once said this to a client who responded back with “I still have 30 more reps left!”
To which I responded back with, “Well, that’s a lot closer to the end then when you started… so you’re almost done!”
I get eye rolls a lot. It’s fine.
Every time I hear these words come out of my mouth I feel a twinge of guilt, so I can completely see why you don’t like us saying this.
“We” infers that together, you and I, will do whatever the workout calls for.
But nope, that’s not the case… you’ll do the workout and I’ll stand nearby making sure your form is spot on and yelling things like “You’re almost done” as YOU work your way through the task.
It’s almost like hearing a man say, “we’re having a baby!”. No, no “we’re not”… your wife is having a baby, you’re watching.
Oh how bad do you want to slap a trainer when they keep adding time or reps on?
Just 5 more reps… Okay, you look amazing… you’ve got 3 more in you… One more to end!
It’s the set that just doesn’t end.
Of course we do it because we want to take you to the intensity that you deserve, but dang is it annoying.
Am I right?
Dan is KING of this pet peeve. Me? I don’t add reps often, that’s just mean, but I will lie about time and make it drag on longer than originally planned. My clients call this “Taylor Time”.
I love it when we do timed intervals and someone will ask… are we doing this REAL time, or TAYLOR time? Bahaha.
You watch your trainer demonstrate an exercise… it looks effortless and simple enough.
Then it’s your turn.
That move that they made look so smooth and graceful, now feels anything but when you do it. Damn those trainers.
For clients, it’s both frustrating and motivating. I get it. But remember, trainers get paid to make those moves look good… even if they just have to demonstrate 2-3 reps. Those 2-3 reps better looks awesome, otherwise what kind of trainer do you have?
You’ve just made it through 60 minutes of the hardest workout of your life. Your face is red, sweat is dripping off your nose, you can’t see because your eyes burn but you’re not sure if it’s from tears or salty sweat, and you can’t talk because your lungs are trying to burst out of your chest.
Then your trainer does this… Tells you that you look awesome!
Really?
You look a lot of things: tired, worn out, sore, sluggish, sweaty, and beet red. But awesome? No.
Shakes… salads… chicken… eggs. This is what most people thing we love to eat all the time!
This isn’t me, as I am 100% honest with you and my clients. But I can see from looking through a window how annoying trainers look….
They eat perfectly all the time, never have to deal with bad cravings, workout and actually enjoy working out, and of course have the perfect body.
Again, it’s our job to represent a healthy lifestyle of fitness and clean eating. That doesn’t make us perfect… we struggle. There are times when I don’t want to workout, times when I eat cookies even though I know I don’t need them. And when I look in the mirror, I too see cellulite bumps on my bum.
So just know, as annoying as we might come off, we have our struggles too. And even trainers have trainers!
Wow, we can be such pains in the ass… literally.
At the start of each workout, I ask clients if they were sore from the previous workout.
If they say yes, I smile. All trainers love knowing that they pushed their clients to new limits and challenged them in new ways.
But it’s annoying regardless right? I mean, the fact that we find happiness in knowing you had were taking the stairs a bit slower or that each time you brushed your hair your arms reminded you of us.
It’s sick, right? Ha!
Well, like I said at the beginning… these apply to me just as much as the next trainer. But if we didn’t do these 7 things, would our gorgeous and awesome clients work to their potential to get stronger, leaner, more confident?
What can I say… I’m more than a workout designer! 
Let’s chat…