How to find a good personal trainer

Most of us (me included) came to a gym with a vision of gain some muscles, loose fat or just to find out what my friends are talking about. When I stepped into a gym first time 26 years ago I just mostly watched the massive guys around me lifting such a weight and tried to copy them without any tactic or training plan. I knew nothing about bio-mechanics, programming or types of workouts. Lucky for me that time Personal Trainers (PT) were keen on helping me without paying anything extra as it was their job anyway. They were employed, and in some gyms still are, so they looked after any visitors automatically.

My first PT was Pavol Jablonicky ( 2 times world champion in bodybuilding, 6 times participated in Olympia) who worked and still works as a PT in Prague. He gave me the basics understanding of bodybuilding, he introduced me different types of workouts, he explained me how the body works during movement and much more. I must honestly say I still mainly use his knowledge for my clients to achieve their goals. How did I actually find him? Or was I lucky enough just because I used the gym where he works? NO!! As I mentioned above I had no clue whatsoever what to expect in a gym and as being participated in completely different sport I knew no one single bodybuilder in my country. What I want to say is that he actually found me!! He was the person who came to me and told me I do some rubbish movements, that I should do more complex exercises rather then trying to pump my biceps for an hour in front of a mirror.

Over the time I used several gyms around Europe and met a lot of PTs and as probably everyone in the business I tried lots of styles and made lots of mistakes. But the basics did not change.

The whole fitness industry however changed a lot. I miss the personal welcome from the staff when I come into a gym, the natural help from a PT when I struggle under the barbell or the correction my movement during squats.

I would like to point a few basic signs, how to recognize a good PT to help you with orientation in the fitness industry.

1) PT should look like a personal trainer!! He will be your mentor, your leader. He should looks healthy and probably have his body composition as close as possible to your ideal. There is nothing worse then overweight coach teaching you loosing fat.

2) He/she is busy! If you see a trainer hanging around, chatting about the party last night, this is not what you need! A good PT is probably busy with his clients or helping other visitors with weight or talking about workout, sport events, nutrition or supplements.

3) He/she will find you! If you train hard but your technique is not great, a good PT will stop you and offer you advice. He will introduce himself and probably show you your mistakes and advice you how to correct them. He might give you his business card but he will definitely not push selling his services.

4) Watch him/her working with a client! This is very important. How he provide session with his client, probably similar session you can expect. If he is talking, laughing, siting next to client or even worse being on his phone during the session - THAT PT IN NOT FOR YOU!!!! A good coach is focused on what his client is doing, observes him from different angles, encourage his client and makes sure the client gets what he pays for.

5) Ask your friends? There is nothing better then recommendations from your friends. Online feedback's or testimonials usually say how great the coach is, how he helped achieved goals etc.

They are all same.

I hope this short article will help you to find the right person who will help you to achieve your goals. I know a few very good PTs, most of them specialized to specific type of sport (which is another good sign of professionalism) and I will be more then happy to navigate you to the correct direction.