Interacting with Personal Trainers

Well, this weekend, I went to Columbus Ohio to see the Arnold Classic fitness convention. It's been a while since I've lectured to personal trainers. However, this weekend reminded me how poorly educated the entire field of personal trainers are. Let me explain.

The profession of personal trainers is not regulated. Anyone with any kind of background and education (or lack there of), can call themselves a "personal trainer". You may be saying, "Well, the trainer I know is certified". Unfortunatley, there are over 130+ organizations that offer certifications and over 600+ certifications available. Even the good certifications have mistakes in their teachings. It is a dreadful situation for the consumers who are looking for expertise in fitness only to find, someone who looks fit but knows very little about fitness.

YES, most trainers know how to lift from "feeling" and from "books and magazines". In the thousands of trainers I've encountered over the years, only a handful have actually read research (the best source of info). Most trainers do not know that they are killing their client's joints through improper exercises and form. Even trainers who think and truely believe they have technique down to a science, are mistaken. They are simply teching perfect form of a mechanically bad exercise. Here are some typical BAD exercises: Wall squats, any type of sit ups, typical side laterals, and machine exercise for the "Core".

Back to my main point: This weekend, I had a trainer who was working for a company selling a piece of equipment that costs $5 to make for $50+ dollars. It was a adjustable strap that hooks onto a rail (i.e. top of a power rack) and allows you to hold onto to strap through either your hands for feet to do exercises. Well, this trainer decided to "teach" someone how to use the straps to workout even if you have back pain. I cautioned her that he has an acute back pain. She dismissed it and said "I'm a trainer and I know how to work around everything". At this moment I had to think to myself, "do I want to spend the next few minutes debating with the trainer about stuff she doesn't know".

She proceeded to have him hold onto the straps with his hands and lean back. He then was instructed to do squats while leaning back. She was very careful to tell him, "keep you knees over your toes and don't let them go forward" (this will be an important point later in this story). If you can't imagine this exercise, just picture someone leaning back against the wall and performing squats.

Once he got to the bottom position, I proceeded to palpate his hamstrings (I actually used by foot because I was too lasy to bend down). Upon impact of by toe onto his hamstring, the entire muscle belly started to swing (i.e. it was totally relaxed). This was an attempt to give the trainer a hint about what was happening at the knee (tibiofemoral joint). Unfortunately, her ONLY concern was that his knee did not go forward.

When she was done with the demo, I proceeded to ask her about any knowledge of sheering forces in the knee. She said, " as long as the knee doesn't go forward it's OK". I then proceeded to tell her about studies on anterior sheering forces in the knee with exercises that decrease hamstring activation during a squat (i.e. wall squats, hack squats, the exercise she is teaching). She became irritated and firmly stated, "I'm a trainer and I know what I am doing. I know when my clients are ready for this exercise. They don't have any pain doing it". At this point, I realized that she like most trainers, is not open to the idea that what they have been doing during their entire training experience may be wrong.

The point of the story is that the current mentality of trainers and the approach to their educated is flawed. They are honest, hard working, motivated, and they truely want to help people. Unfortunately, they have not been provided with the right guidance for where to look for scientific information. They don't realize what little they know! There is so much more to exercise than: 1. what muscles are working 2. what does / doesn't hurt 3. are the joints in the right position

Trainers need to realize that you can do harm to joints and muscles with no sign of pain. Yes, teaching improper movement mechanics and increasing joint sheering forces both damage the body without pain. You don't feel the pain until years later. By then it is too late.

I hope everyone reading this blog shares this story with anyone looking to get in shape using the services of a trainer. Be very careful about who you use. Typical red flags with a unqualified trainer are:

1. They don't perform a thorough physical screening to look at your back, knees, shoulders, etc... 2. They don't recommend further examination by a medical professional if you have a history of any orthopedic issues 3. They put you on low carb diets 4. They answer, "everybody is different" or "Lets just change it up a little" when you ask, "why does this exercise bother me (i.e. it doesn't feel right)". 5. They give you routines that look similar to routines seen in magazines. 6. They have never read any published research concerning exercise. YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY ASK IF THEY DO READ RESEARCH 7. They are fond of one author of a book and use his or her methods

Due to the demands of my personal training and physical therapy facility in Voorhees New Jersey Body Solutions, I have had little time to travel and lecture. Hopefully people reading this will have a better understanding of the current problem with the field of personal training in my area (Voorhees, Medford, Cherry Hil, Marlton) and nationwide.