Why Your Last Personal Trainer Left You Frustrated

Posted in: Exercise
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Susan Ohtake, CPT

Before I go any further, I just want to let you know:

I have nothing against the young, ambitious, 20-something (or younger) personal trainers and group-ex class leaders out there working at the big box gyms while they go through school.

Years ago, a younger version of me would be right there along side of them.

But here's the reality...

What 20-Something Trainers Don't Know About 40-Something Bodies

I'm not saying you have to have been there to know what sluggish results and a stubborn metabolism feels like.

But it does help.

Young adults in their 20’s have a different idea of how to be fit and train other people. It’s very difficult for a 23 year old’s workout regimen to be successfully implemented into a 30 or 40-something woman’s daily routine.

You can’t expect them to understand that you have a husband, kids (maybe even grandkids) that you take care of on a daily basis while maintaining your full time job. They do things a lot differently than we do, and their workout routines aren’t the best.

Our bodies are different. Our metabolisms are different. Our schedules are different. And I know it seems obvious BUT...

The Truth About Certifications

The sad truth about the fitness industry is that anyone can be a personal trainer. You don’t need a degree. You should have a certification from an accredited organization, but many people get by with a weekend certification, or worse, none at all. Then there’s the younger generation of social media fitness “coaches” who are nowhere near trained but get by on selling you products and workouts that “really worked for them.”

You could certified in a weekend, with ZERO prior knowledge...ONLINE, with an open-book, someone helping over your shoulder test.

Anyone can get letters after their name.

Yes, there are some trainers that are educated and have a bachelors degree in the subject matter who totally know what they’re doing, but unfortunately for these rare people and the reliability of the fitness industry, the vast majority of personal trainers are not properly trained or educated, so you may want to avoid them altogether.

They LIVE at the Gym (Will You?)

For most young adults, they are lost in life, when their dream job doesn’t work out or they don’t know which direction to go, they fall back on their next favorite thing- fitness. The younger generations will spend hours in a gym. Who has time for that? If you’re like me with a job, kids, or both then you probably don’t. The truth is you don’t need hours in a gym lifting the heaviest of weights, you simply need a more efficient workout.

Younger trainers tend to focus on one or two body groups at the same time. You may have heard them in the gym yelling, “Leg day!” They have leg day and arm day, “chest and tri’s,” core and cardio, or even worse, every day is arm day.

These kids, especially the “everyday is arm day” types have no idea what they’re talking about. Their routines may work for them, but they are younger, their bodies and muscles can still recover quickly and adapt to a workout. The older you get, the harder that becomes. However, young or old, you don’t need to spend hours in a gym, despite what the younger trainers tell you. You can do a full body workout with compound exercises and save yourself a lot of time while still getting all the benefits of split workouts, if not more!

PLUS: Metabolic Reality Sets In

Look...

We all know what it was like to be 20-something...back before our metabolisms slowed and all those bad choices caught up to us.

Do you remember when you could workout for a few short weeks and feel fitter than ever? Or when results seemed to come fast...no matter what you did or how you trained?

Younger personal trainers still live in this world of youth hormones, lighting fast metabolisms, and quick-firming muscles.

It's hard for them to understand what you're going through even at 30...much less 40 and beyond!

And I really believe this is one of the reasons today's most popular training programs, group exercise classes, and guided gym sessions really fail to help.

There's a disconnect.

I'm not saying it's the trainer's fault. I'm not saying it's the gym's fault. That's just the way it is.

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