How many here are personal trainers

[Mike Miller]

You know I love to train people, BUT sometimes my clinets make me nuts, I train between 6-8 people a day and 4 of them are serious the others don't watch what they eat , come in and bitch about there life or spouse and after a few weeks of this I find myself getting irritable I realize that people need to vent and I try to explain to people that they need to use the time to relax and forget the daily bullshit but it doesn't seem to work all the time.. I go home feeling toxic and annoyed.

[WonderWoman]

smack them in the head and tell them to focus and shut up and train, lol

I would like to get certified, but yeah I could see myself gettin pissy when they come in and we do the hard work, but they don't eat right. that is basically the problem most people tend to have!

[Big Machine]

I am certified but after training for a very short while I realized training people is not for me....pretty much all for the reasons you listed. You'd develop a level-appropriate program only to hear, "oh, this is so hard, I'm sore, I hate sweating etc" Well guess what, anything is more difficult than sitting around a pub eating wings and drinking beer or sippin' a big fat Caramel Machiatto with extra whip cream while getting your nails done. There's something to be said about building rapport with a trainer and/or sharing some challenges that could be barriers to achieving goals but coming in and dumping, venting or complaining non-stop is beyond irritating and taxing on your patience. And if you call people out on their behaviour and try to get them to focus on their training you are labeled the 'asshole or bitch'.

[ashley2212]

I got certified and worked with clients through college. I took a break for a while. I feel your pain.

Now my clients are inmates. I can just tell them to stfu if need be, lol.

[Mike Miller]

Originally Posted by Big Machine

I am certified but after training for a very short while I realized training people is not for me....pretty much all for the reasons you listed. You'd develop a level-appropriate program only to hear, "oh, this is so hard, I'm sore, I hate sweating etc" Well guess what, anything is more difficult than sitting around a pub eating wings and drinking beer or sippin' a big fat Caramel Machiatto with extra whip cream while getting your nails done. There's something to be said about building rapport with a trainer and/or sharing some challenges that could be barriers to achieving goals but coming in and dumping, venting or complaining non-stop is beyond irritating and taxing on your patience. And if you call people out on their behaviour and try to get them to focus on their training you are labeled the 'asshole or bitch'.

It's so true when I used to train people 7 yrs ago, I would tell them to shut the fuck up b, but what happens is they don't come back and you don't make money I have little tolerance for people who have no desire to achieve and to at least make an effort ..I don't understand this mindset, do people think it's easy to change their bodies. What I love is when a person comes in with a picture of a figure model or a bodybuilder or something of the such and they proceed to tell me I want to look like this...Then you tell them whats involved and you watch there jaw hit the floor

[Mike Miller]

Originally Posted by WonderWoman

smack them in the head and tell them to focus and shut up and train, lol

I would like to get certified, but yeah I could see myself gettin pissy when they come in and we do the hard work, but they don't eat right. that is basically the problem most people tend to have!

I might start doing that...lol

[navalgazer]

I'm not a trainer but I do have clients that hire me but don't listen, then blame me when they do not get the results they were looking for and that I should have done something more to make them listen to me, it is one of the most frustrating events period.

I think it happens very often and we take this personally because their failure is now our failure but we have no control over it.

My only advice, which I try and follow myself is not to take it personally even when you just want to beat them senseful and tell them "you're fired". That said, I fired a client a few months ago and it was the best thing I ever did.

Try talking to them about it and see how they react.

[Mike Miller]

Originally Posted by navalgazer

I'm not a trainer but I do have clients that hire me but don't listen, then blame me when they do not get the results they were looking for and that I should have done something more to make them listen to me, it is one of the most frustrating events period.

I think it happens very often and we take this personally because their failure is now our failure but we have no control over it.

My only advice, which I try and follow myself is not to take it personally even when you just want to beat them senseful and tell them "you're fired". That said, I fired a client a few months ago and it was the best thing I ever did.

Try talking to them about it and see how they react.

good advice!!1

[warmpain]

I have been certified for about seven months, I trained one person, and found out I doubt I will train another. Sadly I just don't have the patients to do it.

[RagingBull666]

Mike, I was a trainer a few years back. I loved it at first and trained about the same numbers as you. I did it for close to two years until I just couldn't take it anymore. Nobody had ANY level of commitment. They wanted to whine, fight and argue. I got very grumpy in my entire life and decided one day that it was no longer for me.

I started telling everyone that I only wanted to train committed powerlifters and that went nowhere so I just stopped. I was happy training at first, as that's what I love, but just got tired of the barbies and morons. I will never do it again. SS, RB

[sittinheavy]

i'm working on becoming certified at the moment. currently i'm working with roughly 5 people. two 15 year old kids, both 6' and roughly 140lbs, two middle aged women, and a 30 year old women. the two kids wanna put on some muscle over the summer and the women just want diet help. i'm doing this for free in an attempt to build my own portfolio. i hear some of the most ignorant shit ever sometimes.

the 2 kids each have a journal they track their diet and workouts in. i gave them a mission to eat protein at every meal and to eat at least 2 pbj sandwiches everyday. i look over kid 1's diet and i see 4 meals of just ice cream in one day. i'm like, "wtf". he tells me, it was chocolate peanut butter ice cream. i start loling so hard, i'm literally dieing. kids getting like 80g of protein on a good day. so i started bringing him back to my house for a post work out meal. load him up with a protein shake and roughly a pound of chicken breast or steak with some potatoes.

one of the women i'm guiding on dieting asked me the other night if she could eat a corn dog for dinner. i was like " ask yourself that question?"

it's just funny some of the shit they say. i can't wait for the day to train some one who has the motivation and drive to wanna be great.

[anabolic24/7]

Originally Posted by sittinheavy

. i can't wait for the day to train some one who has the motivation and drive to wanna be great.

Those that are really motivated seldom require the services of a personal trainer. PT's are a crutch for most.
Good luck with that though.

[Tweak]

I'm not certified but I'm currently helping 9 or 10 people with training programs/eating right.

[GTLifter]

I was going to get certified but I watched a buddy go through exactly what you are talking about for a month or so and I realized I did not have the patience to deal with the bullshit every day.

I'll help friends out but if they don't show any desire or commitment I stop immediatly.

[*Bunny*]

Originally Posted by Mike Miller

good advice!!1

Agreed.
Great advice Nav.

I am very picky about who I work with. Not sure you can really mandate that if you work at a facility that assigns clients to you, but if it's not a fit, best to move on.

I think it's important you listen sure, but make it a point to instill positive values, affirmations and outlooks on their situation and how they deal with these issues. It's fine to vent but if all they do is vent vent vent them something needs to be changed if their life.

I'd also tell them diet is more of a battle for success and that they are only cheating themselves if their diet is slacking. Take their money, sure, you have to eat, but start making them write down foods they eat, make them accountable.

Not sure of your situation but I am aware of the legality issue(s) when giving diet advice as a 'trainer' ... you can still make suggestions and with a ParQ form , make sure yours has them list medical issues, food allergies , special conditions etc, you can push them in the right direction for healthy alternatives and things food related.

[ILIEKFUDE]

Alot of people seem to treat their personal trainers like psychologists.
Id put up one of those "no whining" signs and maybe a fire axe in a glass case with a sign that says "break and use in case of whiners".
Maybe that'd help get the point across.
Maybe another sign that says "75% of the fitness war is won in the kitchen" or some such bullshit for the people who dont take it home w/em.
God bless ya mike, id be in jail if i had to deal with some of the dipshits i see walking around with trainers.