Knowledge
Check out which qualifications they have. Personal Trainers can be operating without any qualifications: there’s no official body checking on your behalf as a client. Knowledge is King, but don’t let them confuse you with jargon. As a qualified PT, they will know all about ATP-PCr, glycolytic and metabolic pathways, you need to feel comfortable with the terminology their using. Do you understand what they’re telling you, or is it all a bit confusing? One of the key skills your PT should have is communication – making sure you understand everything you’re doing and why.
Here at Body Happy Jenny, Mark and Paul have a variety of qualifications between them:
Fitness Instructing Level 2, Advanced Instructors and Personal Trainers, Pre and Post Natal, Sports Massage, Myofascial Release, Accredited Strength and Conditioning Coach (ASCC) and undergraduate degrees in Health and Fitness Management and an MSC in Sport and Exercise Science.
Motivation
Like any coach, manager or teacher, PTs will all have different personalities. They may shout encouragement at you as you are pushing out the last rep, or might be quieter and give small cues and feedback as you are performing an exercise. You need to make sure you are comfortable and motivated by their style of training, and always ensure that you are carrying out the exercise in a safe and fun environment. Find a trainer who gets YOU as an induvial and how you are motivated to achieve your goals and targets.
Book in an appointment with us, where we will gather as much information as possible on you based on your previous training experiences and where we can chat about your goals. During this initial stage of the assessment you can see how we are as trainers – and if you like us!
Be aware
Your PT should never try and sell you products for the sake of it. If you are new to the gym and to training, you will find that simply changing exercise, eating and sleeping habits and staying hydrated will be hugely beneficial to your life – even more so than taking supplements that your PT is trying to sell as a side project.
Here at Body Happy we are not representatives of any brand of company, but we have links to chiropractors, sports masseurs and nutritionists. We work with experts, with a greater understanding in some areas, so will point you in the direction of these if we feel it is necessary for your progress.
Specialities
You may want to consider what the PT specialises in. Does this suit your goal? Some offer services such as fat loss, strength and conditioning for sports, bodybuilding and pre or post-natal exercise.
At Body Happy we are three trainers specialising in different key areas of training and we meet the needs of the majority of people.
A personal service
Do you feel looked after by your PT? Are all your sessions based on your exercise history, your movement ability and always moving towards your goals? Is the trainer listening to you? You should feel that the exercises that you are doing each session reflect what you asked for in your initial consultation – for instance, if you wanted to get stronger for running, and your PT has you doing lots of bicep curls, you might want to check in that they are really focused on YOU.
At Body Happy this is what we use our initial assessment screening for, to analyse your body and to find out what your short, medium and long term goals are. We’ll create your program based on what we have found in the assessment and what you’ve discussed with us. We will also talk you through why we are training you the way we are: to make sure you know what’s going on too! We always want you to feel confident in the way we are training you; to be confident in why you are doing certain exercises.