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MOST ASKED QUESTIONS.............
What should I expect from a Personal Trainer?

• Motivation
• Enthusiasm
• Professionalism
• Politeness
• Punctuality
• Relevant Qualifications
• References/ testimonials
• Insurances to safe guard a client & a clients property (Public liability Insurance)
• Be associated to governing bodies (REPs &/or NRPT)

What Qualifications should they have?
It is important to ensure your trainer has qualifications. Few or many.
Trainers may have university degrees (hons), recognised qualifications with premier international, or may have a basic qualification. It is important to identify that they have qualifications from day one, to safe guard yourself and your property as un qualified trainers or gym instructors without correct training for personal training cannot get insurance. Anyone can call themselves a personal trainer, but is it worth the risk?
From experience with many clients it is crucial for a client to find someone they feel confident and comfortable to work with as opposed to all the qualifications in the world. There are many highly trained personal trainers who don’t know how to run a business nor do they have great time keeping or people skills etc. So it’s equally important to ensure the qualified trainer has the qualities you’re looking for.

How much should I expect to pay for a Personal Trainer?
Prices, especially now in these hard times vary. However don’t let cheap hourly costs be the deciding factor for your trainer, go with what you can afford.
I class cheap trainers as charging under the hourly rate of £25 per hour, there can be a few problems with going with the cheap trainer;

• They may not have the right insurance
• They may not have a business & treat it like a hobby or part time job. (putting the customer last if a better job comes their way)
• If their full then it shows that they’re in demand and they must be doing something good, however quiet trainers may not be able to prove testimonials & it says something about them.
• Cheap trainers are 90% of the time newly qualified, inexperienced, or none qualified.

In the midlands unless they are a celebrity trainer, pay no more than £45 per hour (based on a single session with one person) if they are located close by. Obviously if they live some distance away, be prepared to incur travelling costs for extra time and fuel allowances.
Many trainers may offer cheap introductory prices to hook you in and then would hike prices up after the first initial course (so please be aware of this)

Do they have insurances (public liability insurance) & what is this?
Public Liability Insurance (PLI) is a compulsory insurance required by all of the personal training governing bodies in the UK and Worldwide. This is a must, as a trainer has to produce evidence of qualification to the insurer. PLI also covers the client in the case of an incident occurring i.e. injury or worse. PLI the majority of the time will cover a client’s property in case of possible damage as of a result of the training.

 

Are they part of any governing, fitness associated organisations? Such as REPs (Register of Exercise Professionals) &/or NRPT (National Register of Exercise Professionals).

Anyone can advertise their services in a yellow pages, magazines or local newspapers, however to be on the REPs or NRPT register a trainer must comply with the policies of the register.

• Trainers must prove qualifications
• Trainers must prove insurance documentation
• Trainers must follow strict guidelines & follow a code of practice.

Do they have testimonials?
Isn’t it great looking at Personal trainer’s websites whereby they have 1 – 3 testimonials which look as if the trainers wrote them out themselves or their friends have done them? But how embarrassing is it when their any testimonials cannot be contacted by new potential clients as a reference, they are the very people who they work for!

Do they have references to share?
Again this is an important subject, it is crucial that a new client has seen either testimonials that exist or speak to one or few references, this gives the trainer credibility & proves their worth.

Do they offer a free no obligation session /or consultation?
Some do, and all should. Unless a client has a one off training session or small period of training with a trainer a free no obligation session or consultation should be available (especially if you picture yourself with this trainer for many months or years), I have many clients I have seen for many years now and they are worth thousands to my business each year, so the initial free taster session is priceless in my eyes to any trainer.

 

Have they been in business for long?
If the trainer is new and has no business experience and have little or no experience in managing a diary & / or business do you really think they could provide you with the best possible service?

Treat it like an interview; after all you’re the customer!
Use all of the information ive provided to help identify which trainer is best for you, then interview the trainers, perhaps interview 2 or 3 trainers (if your looking at a long term plan) there you will see who is the most professional and shares the qualities you are looking for.

• Write down all of the possible questions you want answered before you meet, after all you won’t get the answers you want if you don’t ask the right questions.
• See copies of their qualifications
• See a copy of (in date) insurance certificates to protect you (public liability insurance).
• Look at their details for the registered bodies (REPs or NRPT)
• Be clear to exactly what it is you want. If the trainer is good they would address and accept your needs or desires & also add suggestions to better one self.

I hope this information was useful, any questions please email me

Yours in health

Gavin Townsend

www.GTPT.co.uk

 

If you have any comments or queries do not hesitate to contact me via our online form.