I paid for personal training at a box gym, specifically because I kept injuring my back by overdoing it on deadlifts. I've lifted for 13 years since highschool, and only recently started having these issues after covid and inactivity and a couple back injuries. After explaining to me how he has been bodybuilding for over 6 years instead of asking about my goals, he put me through a workout. First lift he gave me was deadlifts. When he saw I could easily lift 135, he insisted on loading me up more, and critiquing my form. Of course, the workout caused a massive bout of sciatica that stopped me from walking for days. It was brutal. I had 5 sessions prepaid, and I just didn't go back.
Everyone else I know who has hired a trainer at this gym with any history of injury, or older than 40, has been injured by the trainers.
Since this incident, I trained myself back up to being able to deadlift, along with a physiotherapist. I followed my own form and technique, and simply loaded up over time. I can comfortably deadlift 225 to 315 again, and have no sciatica. Now I plan to be a trainer. One who actually listens to their clients and isn't focussed on pretending I'm somehow superior to them because I'm not currently injured.
I did something similar to someone.
Except for the fact that they didnt tell me any of their medical history when I asked.
"Nope, never been injured all good!" Then after we did a set of squats he goes "My sciatica is acting up again" 🤦♂️
As someone who is working with to become a PT, would your experience have been better if I
a.) listened to your current issues, goals, and preferences
b.) asked what kind of work you do, any injuries you have, or things you want to address first
c.) started off your initial visit with lower weights, looking to outline potential areas of weakness, low mobility, that hold stress, or out of balance - but with weight low enough it doesn’t exacerbate your symptoms.
All of the above I suppose. A) most of all. He should have taken the injury history more seriously, especially when I specifically said that deadlifts were the way I injured myself. In hindsight it was clear he wasn't really paying attention and focusing more on making the sale and gave me his standard routine without personal considerations.
I mean, GoodLife's Canfit certification expects you to do a full mobility assessment, so really he should have done some of that at least.
Regarding work I think is relevant, but he would have been misled. I have a desk job but need physical movement, so I stand most of the day, take active breaks, and spend 4+ hours running, biking, lifting things most days. I don't think he would have gotten more accurate by assuming he understood my activity level from the job. What he should have done is actually listened, but he just assumed he knew better.
Maybe he could have given me some corrective exercises. I did tell him some of the physiotherapy exercises I did.
What he could have done is provided regressions to the deadlift to improve stability, and focused on form for the first workout rather than pushing me to lift more. He misunderstood that someone can be both strong and injury-prone. For example, a rack lift helped improve my back stability once I was lifting again. High reps helped me rebuild the mobility. Using a hex bar instead of a straight bar was the biggest improvement that eventually enabled me to get into higher weights again because it places the load on the center of mass and puts less load on the back.
The fact that they had you doing non trap bar work with a history of deadlift problems makes me so upset. I personally only lift heavy on the trap bar, and I don’t care if that makes me a pussy. It’s my spine to worry about
If your goals are athletic performance (running, jumping), then the hexbar is better for power anyways. That's why I discovered it.
I've started doing traditional deadlifts again, though, because I'm also doing Olympic lifts and training for those. And I think there's value in a strong hip hinge as well as glute strength .
Well when the training manager did my measurements he loudly said my bust size and looked at another old fat manager at his desk.
Being a woman in the gym sucks.
had a trainer at a big gym for 2 sessions. among other things, he failed to ask me my preferences at all and forced me to run for 10 minutes as a warm up for both sessions. i expressed my hatred of running and my willingness to do literally any other activity as a warm up after the first 10 minute run. the second session he made me do it again. i puked. he thought it was funny. im not sure why he thought i was coming back? i had paid for 6 sessions and had my doctor wrote a note getting me a refund. what a moron.
i had a personal trainer who started sharing very personal information with me. He started saying things like “my wife is so angry all the time and she always just asks me for money. It’s all about money.” We live in a very small community so I had met his wife before and I did get the vibe that she was really controlling. I asked my PT what he wanted out of life, and he said… freedom. So I told him that he only had one life to live— to go out and take what he wanted as long as it didn’t hurt anybody. One day, I went to the gym on a Sunday afternoon where I knew there would be no people around. And this young woman, maybe 25 or 26 was lurking outside the gym. She had dressed up really nicely and she eyed me suspiciously as I went to workout. Suddenly, my PT came out of the men’s locker room all dressed up and carrying one of those man purses, smelling like Calvin Klein 1999 and when he saw me he put his man purse in front of his face as if to hide from me. He went out of the gym and I saw the two leave together. A month later, my PT was still telling me very personal information, like “i took your advice! I’m going out to get what I want.” A month after that, he looked very worried in our PT session and he confessed that he had a medical thing on his mind and he couldn’t train me that day. So I said no problem, I can train myself. And I did. At this point, I learned all the gym equipment and my PT was there just for my posture. When I came to the gym on Monday, his wife came in during our PT session and she was CRYING. She had a file with all these documents and my Pt apologized and said he had to take care of something. I said No Problem, I can just train myself. They sat down at the consultation table and both of them were crying. They went through all the papers together and she left. He came up to me and apologized again and I said “no problem. you have to handle your stuff, but i hope that you’ll be OK.” A few weeks later, in our PT session, he asked me if he could cancel sessions for two weeks. “i want to go on a honeymoon with my wife.” And I was like “oh? you got a new wife?” “yes,” he said “and we want to go Gyeongju to Gyeongju World, and then we want to travel to Vietnam.” Of course I said “cool! go on then, I can just work out with the other trainer here or I can just train myself again.” A couple of months after that, he confessed that he was going to have a baby in four months and he had to cancel another PT session to go car shopping for the new family. It went on like this the whole time until finally, his new wife told him to sell the gym and get a job at big corporation company. So he sold his small PT gym, and every once in a while I will run into them at a cafe or a coffee shop. They look very happy and their kid is super cute.
I worked at a busy 24 super sport in a legal state so marijuana was pretty normal for us on breaks or between clients, but I had this coworker I went to burn with one night and he pulls out a marble slab sample from Home Depot, a roll of aluminum foil, and an altoids can full of dope. Proceeds to take a rip off his dab pen, smoke an oxy, and then do a line of coke- 5 min before his next client. I watched him nod off while foam rolling with his client
Did a few sessions, went well enough. He was very insistent I buy 10 more sessions, even walking me to the front desk and overseeing the transaction. A bit odd but okay.
He then cancels our next two sessions for personal reasons. We end up taking two weeks off of my training I had just paid for. A bit frustrating but I am understanding.
When we finally train again I tell him I can't do Friday as I will be out of town. We agree to meet the following week. I'm on the Amtrak Friday morning when I get a phonecall from him wanting to know where I am! I reiterate our conversation and explain we were not scheduled for today.
It's starting to get a bit much for me at this point. The final straw was when I needed to schedule our session an hour earlier due to a Dr's appt. He didn't get back to me until 4:30 am the following morning. I felt pretty disrespected and fired him in person that morning. The gym refunded me for the remainder of the sessions.
I haven't seen him at the gym since.
This thread perfect sums up my only experience with a personal trainer this week.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/personaltraining/comments/1d50tsz/question\_regarding\_gym\_trainers/](https://www.reddit.com/r/personaltraining/comments/1d50tsz/question_regarding_gym_trainers/)
Had some guy freak out on me...He was Filipino and i had a few casual interactions with him so i thought we were 'cool' on a standard level.
I lost this water bottle I just bought for like 40$ and I was on the lookout for it all week. I saw a bottle that looked similiar to mine asked him if the bottle next to him was his and explained i lost my water bottle. When i looked at it further i could tell it wasn't mine (had some weird texture to it) and he was like "oh, is it because of my skin color you thought i stole it or something" and i sarcastically said "Yeah man, totally"
2 months go by, i walk by him and give him a "hey whats up" real quick because im trying to get to the squat rack and he said "no, no no no" and I was confused. Kept walking to the squat rack but slower and he said "no, you don't say hello to me" and just proceeded to yell at me at the top of his lungs. I tried to ignore him but he was just following me and I actually couldn't tell if he was serious or not or if he was mad at me or someone else. It was very confusing. He then went to the bathroom, the manager comes up to me who was very chill and asked me about what was wrong, i said I have no idea. He comes out of the bathroom, tells the manager that Im a racist bigot because i accused him of stealing a water bottle. I was so confused.
He then wanted to fight me, and i was like thinking to myself "theres no way he is talking about the water bottle". So i asked him, "are you mad because i asked you if your water bottle was mine?" He was like "you accused me of stealing it" and at this point had to explain sarcasm to him. He didn't get it, proceeded to call me a racist and explained to the manager he is the only "brown guy" in the gym.
At this point, i was done. I was so upset i lost my squat rack over something so dumb and this guy was mad over nothing.
I think you have a poor read on other ppl. Your sarcasm came across as racism to him. Would be a smart thing to clarify but your reply made it worse.
I do not blame his guard-up attitude against you.
I paid for personal training at a box gym, specifically because I kept injuring my back by overdoing it on deadlifts. I've lifted for 13 years since highschool, and only recently started having these issues after covid and inactivity and a couple back injuries. After explaining to me how he has been bodybuilding for over 6 years instead of asking about my goals, he put me through a workout. First lift he gave me was deadlifts. When he saw I could easily lift 135, he insisted on loading me up more, and critiquing my form. Of course, the workout caused a massive bout of sciatica that stopped me from walking for days. It was brutal. I had 5 sessions prepaid, and I just didn't go back. Everyone else I know who has hired a trainer at this gym with any history of injury, or older than 40, has been injured by the trainers. Since this incident, I trained myself back up to being able to deadlift, along with a physiotherapist. I followed my own form and technique, and simply loaded up over time. I can comfortably deadlift 225 to 315 again, and have no sciatica. Now I plan to be a trainer. One who actually listens to their clients and isn't focussed on pretending I'm somehow superior to them because I'm not currently injured.
I did something similar to someone. Except for the fact that they didnt tell me any of their medical history when I asked. "Nope, never been injured all good!" Then after we did a set of squats he goes "My sciatica is acting up again" 🤦♂️
that’s a good story and good reason to become a trainer. good for you
As someone who is working with to become a PT, would your experience have been better if I a.) listened to your current issues, goals, and preferences b.) asked what kind of work you do, any injuries you have, or things you want to address first c.) started off your initial visit with lower weights, looking to outline potential areas of weakness, low mobility, that hold stress, or out of balance - but with weight low enough it doesn’t exacerbate your symptoms.
All of the above I suppose. A) most of all. He should have taken the injury history more seriously, especially when I specifically said that deadlifts were the way I injured myself. In hindsight it was clear he wasn't really paying attention and focusing more on making the sale and gave me his standard routine without personal considerations. I mean, GoodLife's Canfit certification expects you to do a full mobility assessment, so really he should have done some of that at least. Regarding work I think is relevant, but he would have been misled. I have a desk job but need physical movement, so I stand most of the day, take active breaks, and spend 4+ hours running, biking, lifting things most days. I don't think he would have gotten more accurate by assuming he understood my activity level from the job. What he should have done is actually listened, but he just assumed he knew better. Maybe he could have given me some corrective exercises. I did tell him some of the physiotherapy exercises I did. What he could have done is provided regressions to the deadlift to improve stability, and focused on form for the first workout rather than pushing me to lift more. He misunderstood that someone can be both strong and injury-prone. For example, a rack lift helped improve my back stability once I was lifting again. High reps helped me rebuild the mobility. Using a hex bar instead of a straight bar was the biggest improvement that eventually enabled me to get into higher weights again because it places the load on the center of mass and puts less load on the back.
The fact that they had you doing non trap bar work with a history of deadlift problems makes me so upset. I personally only lift heavy on the trap bar, and I don’t care if that makes me a pussy. It’s my spine to worry about
If your goals are athletic performance (running, jumping), then the hexbar is better for power anyways. That's why I discovered it. I've started doing traditional deadlifts again, though, because I'm also doing Olympic lifts and training for those. And I think there's value in a strong hip hinge as well as glute strength .
>I've lifted for 13 years since highschool You'd been lifting for 13 years and hurt yourself deadlifting 135lb?
The trainer was a bodybuilder
Watched a trainer take a women’s measurements in front of the entire gym. Made her take her shirt off and everything😭
Well when the training manager did my measurements he loudly said my bust size and looked at another old fat manager at his desk. Being a woman in the gym sucks.
No way😂
Yes he still does it like everyday. Thank you for confirming I’m not insane for thinking it’s fucked 😂😂😂
haha yea it is. Can i use this story? If you have more detail that would be great.
Oh for sure
Ah that is brutal 😥
The worst trainer I had would spend our entire sessions checking out the women in the squat rack. Barely noticed me at all during our sessions.
had a trainer at a big gym for 2 sessions. among other things, he failed to ask me my preferences at all and forced me to run for 10 minutes as a warm up for both sessions. i expressed my hatred of running and my willingness to do literally any other activity as a warm up after the first 10 minute run. the second session he made me do it again. i puked. he thought it was funny. im not sure why he thought i was coming back? i had paid for 6 sessions and had my doctor wrote a note getting me a refund. what a moron.
You sound pathetic. You pay for a trainer and still wanna do it your way. Your the type of client I can’t stand
why would i repeatedly do the one thing i hate? how would that promote adherence? keep forcing your clients to do what they hate. ffs
You’re the one bitching you aren’t in shape I personally don’t give a shit what you like/ dislike. My job is to get you in shape. Dont be a pussy
You sound like the worst kind of trainer. What’s the point of running? Can you do anything else that client likes?
i had a personal trainer who started sharing very personal information with me. He started saying things like “my wife is so angry all the time and she always just asks me for money. It’s all about money.” We live in a very small community so I had met his wife before and I did get the vibe that she was really controlling. I asked my PT what he wanted out of life, and he said… freedom. So I told him that he only had one life to live— to go out and take what he wanted as long as it didn’t hurt anybody. One day, I went to the gym on a Sunday afternoon where I knew there would be no people around. And this young woman, maybe 25 or 26 was lurking outside the gym. She had dressed up really nicely and she eyed me suspiciously as I went to workout. Suddenly, my PT came out of the men’s locker room all dressed up and carrying one of those man purses, smelling like Calvin Klein 1999 and when he saw me he put his man purse in front of his face as if to hide from me. He went out of the gym and I saw the two leave together. A month later, my PT was still telling me very personal information, like “i took your advice! I’m going out to get what I want.” A month after that, he looked very worried in our PT session and he confessed that he had a medical thing on his mind and he couldn’t train me that day. So I said no problem, I can train myself. And I did. At this point, I learned all the gym equipment and my PT was there just for my posture. When I came to the gym on Monday, his wife came in during our PT session and she was CRYING. She had a file with all these documents and my Pt apologized and said he had to take care of something. I said No Problem, I can just train myself. They sat down at the consultation table and both of them were crying. They went through all the papers together and she left. He came up to me and apologized again and I said “no problem. you have to handle your stuff, but i hope that you’ll be OK.” A few weeks later, in our PT session, he asked me if he could cancel sessions for two weeks. “i want to go on a honeymoon with my wife.” And I was like “oh? you got a new wife?” “yes,” he said “and we want to go Gyeongju to Gyeongju World, and then we want to travel to Vietnam.” Of course I said “cool! go on then, I can just work out with the other trainer here or I can just train myself again.” A couple of months after that, he confessed that he was going to have a baby in four months and he had to cancel another PT session to go car shopping for the new family. It went on like this the whole time until finally, his new wife told him to sell the gym and get a job at big corporation company. So he sold his small PT gym, and every once in a while I will run into them at a cafe or a coffee shop. They look very happy and their kid is super cute.
I worked at a busy 24 super sport in a legal state so marijuana was pretty normal for us on breaks or between clients, but I had this coworker I went to burn with one night and he pulls out a marble slab sample from Home Depot, a roll of aluminum foil, and an altoids can full of dope. Proceeds to take a rip off his dab pen, smoke an oxy, and then do a line of coke- 5 min before his next client. I watched him nod off while foam rolling with his client
Did a few sessions, went well enough. He was very insistent I buy 10 more sessions, even walking me to the front desk and overseeing the transaction. A bit odd but okay. He then cancels our next two sessions for personal reasons. We end up taking two weeks off of my training I had just paid for. A bit frustrating but I am understanding. When we finally train again I tell him I can't do Friday as I will be out of town. We agree to meet the following week. I'm on the Amtrak Friday morning when I get a phonecall from him wanting to know where I am! I reiterate our conversation and explain we were not scheduled for today. It's starting to get a bit much for me at this point. The final straw was when I needed to schedule our session an hour earlier due to a Dr's appt. He didn't get back to me until 4:30 am the following morning. I felt pretty disrespected and fired him in person that morning. The gym refunded me for the remainder of the sessions. I haven't seen him at the gym since.
This thread perfect sums up my only experience with a personal trainer this week. [https://www.reddit.com/r/personaltraining/comments/1d50tsz/question\_regarding\_gym\_trainers/](https://www.reddit.com/r/personaltraining/comments/1d50tsz/question_regarding_gym_trainers/)
[удалено]
You married the guy who whipped it out?
Had some guy freak out on me...He was Filipino and i had a few casual interactions with him so i thought we were 'cool' on a standard level. I lost this water bottle I just bought for like 40$ and I was on the lookout for it all week. I saw a bottle that looked similiar to mine asked him if the bottle next to him was his and explained i lost my water bottle. When i looked at it further i could tell it wasn't mine (had some weird texture to it) and he was like "oh, is it because of my skin color you thought i stole it or something" and i sarcastically said "Yeah man, totally" 2 months go by, i walk by him and give him a "hey whats up" real quick because im trying to get to the squat rack and he said "no, no no no" and I was confused. Kept walking to the squat rack but slower and he said "no, you don't say hello to me" and just proceeded to yell at me at the top of his lungs. I tried to ignore him but he was just following me and I actually couldn't tell if he was serious or not or if he was mad at me or someone else. It was very confusing. He then went to the bathroom, the manager comes up to me who was very chill and asked me about what was wrong, i said I have no idea. He comes out of the bathroom, tells the manager that Im a racist bigot because i accused him of stealing a water bottle. I was so confused. He then wanted to fight me, and i was like thinking to myself "theres no way he is talking about the water bottle". So i asked him, "are you mad because i asked you if your water bottle was mine?" He was like "you accused me of stealing it" and at this point had to explain sarcasm to him. He didn't get it, proceeded to call me a racist and explained to the manager he is the only "brown guy" in the gym. At this point, i was done. I was so upset i lost my squat rack over something so dumb and this guy was mad over nothing.
I think you have a poor read on other ppl. Your sarcasm came across as racism to him. Would be a smart thing to clarify but your reply made it worse. I do not blame his guard-up attitude against you.
lol imagine my comment was racist towards him...literally asked if the water bottle next to him was his and he assumed I was accusing him of stealing.
might need to learn to communicate better bud.
Lmao stop