So I made an appointment today to meet with a trainer on Friday.(won't have nay money till then) What are some good questions I need to ask. She charges based on how many sessions you do. How many sessions are good to start with? I have never had anything at all to do with a trainer before (if I did maybe I wouldn't be 230lbs) So I have no idea what to expect or ask. I am going to keep a very detailed food journal until then to give her an idea of my diet so I hope that will help her. Any advice yall have would be appreciated. Thanks yall have a great day.

What are you hoping to get out of your relationship with the trainer?

I am hoping that she will be able to help me target the more troublesome areas of mine like my stomach and bottom. I have pretty much no idea what I am doing in the gym or how to properly use any of the equipment. So I am hoping she can instruct me on how to use the equipment to get the best results from them. I also don't know how much of any specific exercise to do wether it be with weights or cardio so I am hoping to get a solid idea of what exercises and weights I should be working with. I have a lot of weight to lose and I want to feel good during the process so I am hoping we can come up with a plan that will help me drop the extra weight in a safe yet effective way. I am keeping a food journal to show her in case she has some nutrition info that would help me also.

A few random thoughts:

1. You can't target your problem areas. Even with an uber-awesome helper like a certified personal trainer.

2. Most trainers are absolutely atrocious. Most all of them are good at talking at people. However, they don't know how to listen. Even if they did, they wouldn't know what to do with the information they found out. Bottom line is most people could learn more from an Internet forum such as this than they could from your typical trainer.

3. Most trainers are good for one thing: Accountability. If you're paying (what usually amounts to a rather hefty bill) each month, the chances of you actually going to the gym consistently improve.

4. You said it yourself. You have a lot of weight to lose. Losing it will come primarily from diet... and diet alone. Exercise becomes more and more important the less weight you have to lose. I'm not suggesting you shouldn't exercise now. I am suggesting you should emphasize your diet. And more trainers know less about nutrition than they do about exercise programming.

As if I didn't paint a gloomy enough picture of trainers above, here are a few questions I would ask:

1. What is her experience? Ideal answer would be schooling in a related field, a few years of industry experience, and at the very least a certification. In terms of certs, the best are NSCA, ACSM or NASM. They all mean very little though.

2. Does she prefer free weights or machines and why? A good trainer will prefer free weights due to their obvious benefits. Most any schlup can hop on machines and know what to do... it's very hard to go wrong. A machine fixes the movement for you. Yet, a lot of stupid trainers force their clients to live on the machines. I wonder how they warrant the client actually paying them for such ridiculousness. Free weights are superior. Free weights can be dangerous if not learned properly. You're paying a professional. Said professional should bridge the gap between the trickiness of free weights and their efficacy. I'll add that it's not an either/or proposition, meaning, not all machines are bad. It's just that relying solely on machines is silly in my opinion.

3. Does she use unstable surface training with implements such as stability balls and bosu balls? If so why and how much of the training will involve these things? I observe a lot of trainers. Invariably most trainers this day and age have hopped onto the unstable surface training wagon. They don't know why. They just know it's the 'in' thing so they do it. If she promotes a majority of this, don't hire her.

4. How does she go about individualizing her programs? Without fail I see trainers using the same damn routine for a young, slim male as they use for an overweight soccer mom. Training must match the individual and matching training to individual is tricky without education, experience and knowledge. I suppose that's why most trainers get it wrong.

5. Tell her that you've heard a lot about 'functional training.' Then ask her to explain it to you. This is linked to #3. Functional training has been around forever. However, most stupid trainers have transformed the meaning of the term to mean anything that uses fancy/exotic equipment. It's beyond silly. Nothing is functional in itself. Trainers miss this fact though time and time again. What is functional for you will not be functional for me b/c we have different goals.

6. You can ask her if you should be lifting heavy weights or light weights considering your goals.

7. Pretty much any question concerning nutrition could probably throw her for a loop.

The last two you can find your own answers to by reading the sticky threads.

I could go on. And on. And on some more. Point is; most trainers are horrible. Who knows. Maybe you'll be lucky and hire a good one. That said, be very observant and if there are any doubts, fire her. Trainers are expensive and I see them wasting many client's time and money day in and out. I blame part of it on the clients too. They stick with these trainers b/c they're nice people and are very good at befriending their clients. Yet, the clients don't progress. The trainers have them doing all sorts of ridiculous things while all around them the in-shape people are doing the exact opposite... yet the client never stops to ask the logical question of, "why am I not doing what everyone else is doing... I want to look like them."

Sorry if this was very negative, lol. If you have any specific questions I'll gladly answer. Or if you want me to shut up... I'm good at doing that too.

:p

Thank you so much Steve. That is a lot of really good advice. Like I said I really don't have much of an idea about what a "good" workout is so I probably would have just gone in there and if she said do 20 pushups and your done I probably would have been like " OK here's some money. " I have a tendency of trusting so called pros to teach me things I need to do but you are right. I am going to do a lot of research on here and then kinda cross refrence what she tells me to see if she actually knows what she is doing or if she is just trying to get the most money for the least effort. Please don't shut up the more advice I get the better.

Make sure you spend some quality time reading the stickied threads in this forum - they do help to dispell a lot of the myths and bad advice thrown about in weight loss land

Yeah I have been spending a lot of time on here going through a lot of the threads and stuff (whew you guys can talk lol). There is so much info I feel by the time I am done I should be an expert on weight loss. lol jk. This really does have to be the best place I have found for good info on weight loss and nutrition. Thanks so much for this place.

I second what Mal said about the stickies. Anyone who actually reads through all of them and asks questions to clear up any misunderstandings will be more than equipped to hire a trainer.

Hell, they'll probably be more equipped than the trainer, lol.

So I went to the gym today to meet the trainer there and guess what. That woman never showed up I waited for over 20 minuites tried calling her several times and got no response. She has my cell number so she didn't try to call and reschedule or anything she just didn't show. There is another gym here that I am probably going to go to now simply because I am so upset at being blown off like that. This gym was supposed to be the better choice because they include all there classes with your monthly dues and the price is only 5$ higher than the other one but until my fitness level goes up a bit I won't be joining any classes. I will go to the other gym for now. Sorry this is long but I am really fustrated right now.

Sorry to hear that. Maybe she had an emergency... it happens. More than likely she just slacked and forgot or screwed up her calender though.

Too bad, either way, her loss.

Good luck at the next gym.