About becoming a personal trainer - Page 71 - Ausbb

Kyle Aaron · 03-09-2010, 09:09 PM

Last night a client was doing powercleans and later deadlifts, halfway through his session I saw blood on his shins. I kept telling him to pull the bar closer to his body, I guess he must have been listening. He hadn't even noticed, I offered to stop the session to get him some bandaids, he didn't want to stop.

Very dedicated trainee, a pity all he wants is sixpack abs, with his training intensity he could do great things in many sports.

dave · 04-09-2010, 12:56 AM

All your trainee's should have bloody shins.

Kyle Aaron · 04-09-2010, 01:33 AM

Ironically, just today I was at a staff meeting at the other gym and they were talking about the importance of keeping the gym clean.

Yesterday at that other gym, a gym-goer came up to me to complain, "I saw a girl get off the bike, and she didn't spray it with steriliser and wipe it down afterwards!" (The gym provides a citrus mix spray bottle and oodles of paper towels for this purpose.)
"Terrible, I agree. I know which young woman you mean, trust me, she doesn't work hard enough to sweat anyway."
"But... someone else might see it, and see the bad example, then they wouldn't wipe their sweat, either! It's a hygiene issue."
"It's unpleasant and icky, yes. In fact there are few diseases which can be transmitted by sweat. It's certainly unpleasant, but I don't think you need fear in hygiene terms."
"But... My wife comes in, and she often has to wipe down the equipment before she uses it!"
"That must be very annoying for her. I'll watch people more closely in future."
"You should! This is a very serious issue!" (Yes, he really said that.)
"I''ll certainly keep an eye out for it. Please understand, though, that as the gym's a public place with many people coming and going, we can never make things perfect."
"Well you should try harder!"
"I will. But as I said, we'll never get things perfect. People are messy. For example, I notice that after doing the bench press today, you left the weight plates on the bar, and over there on the rack you've put a 20kg plate on top of a 2.5kg plate, makes the smaller plates rather difficult to get to. Think of that young woman, do you think she'd be lifting 20kg plates off the bar?"
"..."
"I'll certainly watch out for people sweating on machinery and not cleaning it up, thankyou for bringing it to my attention."

If sweat upsets him that much, I don't like to imagine his indignation if anyone were to bleed on the gear.

At the meeting, they stressed the importance of us as trainers setting a good example, and wiping down machines and benches after our clients have used them. This will be easy for me, I try not to prescribe exercises using machines and benches. Where possible, they work standing upright.

I suppose someone could demand we sterilise the bars. But so far, I have not seen anyone wipe down a barbell. I suppose the sort of people who do barbell exercises aren't that squeamish.

DKD · 04-09-2010, 01:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kyle Aaron

"..."

There must be something about you that elicits this kind of response so often, lol.

If the PT thing goes pear-shaped try debating, or even training debaters.

dave · 04-09-2010, 01:52 AM

Don't send the guy to my place he might get discolored skin from rusted plates and cry. I personally wouldn't want to lie in someone elses cold sweat but really making such a big issue when you don't even clean up after yourself is a little hypocritical.
Posted via Mobile Device

Dancelot · 04-09-2010, 03:22 AM

Tell your bloody shin guy to wear shin pads or thick knee high socks when deadlifting or cleaning. I often wear my soccer ones, only $10 a pair. Don't get your DNA on the bar, as Rippetoe would say.

Kyle Aaron · 04-09-2010, 01:42 PM

Polite honesty where you neither take nor give shit tends to leave people speechless, DKD. They're used to a mixture of aggro, bullshit and fawning. Just look at how journos handle Tony Abbott vs how they handle Julia Gillard. They don't know what to do with Gillard, she never arcs up, she's just calm, firm and polite the whole time. It seriously ****s with their heads.

Dave, it's true there are a lot of precious people out there. I find that few of them do barbell exercises. Sensitive souls tend to stick to cardio. Not sure why.

Yes, Dan, I told him to wear trackies or long socks next time.

amac38 · 04-09-2010, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kyle Aaron

Sensitive souls tend to stick to cardio. Not sure why.

hehe, very well said Kyle.

I've been keeping up with this thread, seems like you're having the time of your life! keep us updated.

Dancelot · 04-09-2010, 03:22 PM

If he wears trackies, he needs to tuck the legs in the socks, so that the bar doesn't get caught on the way up.

The precious love cardio machines because they're easy. The selling point (and you'll hear this in many magazine articles or infomercials) is that it doesn't even feel like you're working out (because you're not).

Kyle Aaron · 04-09-2010, 04:08 PM

Dan, cardio can be very hard, for example intervals. Weights can be easy, just do the same weight and the same reps for months or years, lots of people do it. But you're right that many people imagine it to be easy, and looking at the example of others they don't go hard. But in principle, it can be just as hard. Just as few people progress on resistance exercises, even fewer progress on cardio. They don't do in every session or every week or even every month more speed, more time or more resistance on the cardio machines.

Thanks Mac. Yes, I'm enjoying my job a lot. Of course part of it is that almost any new thing is fun. But I simply enjoy working with people, and don't care much when they give me shit.

My current client count is 9 at the gyms, and 4 privately. My goal is to have an even dozen at each of the two gyms by March next year, and probably have no private clients - nicer to keep home and work separate. I discussed this with one of the managers, he commented that it was an ambitious goal, but not impossible. "If you were 21 and hadn't trained yourself much I might say, well let's get you 2 or 3 first. But since you're older and have diverse life experiences and like talking to people, it won't be easy but it seems okay as a goal."

By comparison, at most community gyms a PT is considered a gun of a trainer if they have 12-20, and most managers will be happy if the typical PT has 3-5 clients. Typically these clients will do 1 or 2 half-hour sessions a week.

You are probably adding up the hours and saying "wooah, that's not a full-time job." And you're right. But almost nobody is going to have 40 hours a week of PT clients, that'd be 40-60 clients. Not going to happen. You could have many more clients than that, but not for one-on-one training. So the typical successful PT at a community gym will have a couple or few 3-4 hour gym shifts a week, and probably run one or two group classes, along with their several PT clients. And perhaps work at a second gym, too.

Obviously you'd not want to be in it for the money. It's a lifestyle choice, a career you enjoy for its own sake. This is yet another reason so many people enter the industry and leave shortly afterwards.

03-09-2010, 09:09 PM	#701 (permalink)
Kyle Aaron Active Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Melbourne Gender: Posts: 3,682	Last night a client was doing powercleans and later deadlifts, halfway through his session I saw blood on his shins. I kept telling him to pull the bar closer to his body, I guess he must have been listening. He hadn't even noticed, I offered to stop the session to get him some bandaids, he didn't want to stop. Very dedicated trainee, a pity all he wants is sixpack abs, with his training intensity he could do great things in many sports. __________________ Recent clients' best results: BW +10kg/-27kg ... BF-11% ... ♀/♂1RM/kg SQ65/145 OHP30/65 DL75/170 "fitness and lifting is just an interest I have. Plain and simple. Some people like music, others like shopping, I like deadlifts." - a client[/SIZE]

04-09-2010, 01:33 AM	#703 (permalink)
Kyle Aaron Active Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Melbourne Gender: Posts: 3,682	Ironically, just today I was at a staff meeting at the other gym and they were talking about the importance of keeping the gym clean. Yesterday at that other gym, a gym-goer came up to me to complain, "I saw a girl get off the bike, and she didn't spray it with steriliser and wipe it down afterwards!" (The gym provides a citrus mix spray bottle and oodles of paper towels for this purpose.) "Terrible, I agree. I know which young woman you mean, trust me, she doesn't work hard enough to sweat anyway." "But... someone else might see it, and see the bad example, then they wouldn't wipe their sweat, either! It's a hygiene issue." "It's unpleasant and icky, yes. In fact there are few diseases which can be transmitted by sweat. It's certainly unpleasant, but I don't think you need fear in hygiene terms." "But... My wife comes in, and she often has to wipe down the equipment before she uses it!" "That must be very annoying for her. I'll watch people more closely in future." "You should! This is a very serious issue!" (Yes, he really said that.) "I''ll certainly keep an eye out for it. Please understand, though, that as the gym's a public place with many people coming and going, we can never make things perfect." "Well you should try harder!" "I will. But as I said, we'll never get things perfect. People are messy. For example, I notice that after doing the bench press today, you left the weight plates on the bar, and over there on the rack you've put a 20kg plate on top of a 2.5kg plate, makes the smaller plates rather difficult to get to. Think of that young woman, do you think she'd be lifting 20kg plates off the bar?" "..." "I'll certainly watch out for people sweating on machinery and not cleaning it up, thankyou for bringing it to my attention." If sweat upsets him that much, I don't like to imagine his indignation if anyone were to bleed on the gear. At the meeting, they stressed the importance of us as trainers setting a good example, and wiping down machines and benches after our clients have used them. This will be easy for me, I try not to prescribe exercises using machines and benches. Where possible, they work standing upright. I suppose someone could demand we sterilise the bars. But so far, I have not seen anyone wipe down a barbell. I suppose the sort of people who do barbell exercises aren't that squeamish. __________________ Recent clients' best results: BW +10kg/-27kg ... BF-11% ... ♀/♂1RM/kg SQ65/145 OHP30/65 DL75/170 "fitness and lifting is just an interest I have. Plain and simple. Some people like music, others like shopping, I like deadlifts." - a client[/SIZE]

04-09-2010, 03:22 AM	#706 (permalink)
Dancelot Active Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Squatting in the curl rack Gender: Posts: 1,216	Tell your bloody shin guy to wear shin pads or thick knee high socks when deadlifting or cleaning. I often wear my soccer ones, only $10 a pair. Don't get your DNA on the bar, as Rippetoe would say. __________________ First you get the powerlifts, then you get the women, then you get the money.

04-09-2010, 01:42 PM	#707 (permalink)
Kyle Aaron Active Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Melbourne Gender: Posts: 3,682	Polite honesty where you neither take nor give shit tends to leave people speechless, DKD. They're used to a mixture of aggro, bullshit and fawning. Just look at how journos handle Tony Abbott vs how they handle Julia Gillard. They don't know what to do with Gillard, she never arcs up, she's just calm, firm and polite the whole time. It seriously ***s with their heads. Dave, it's true there are a lot of precious people out there. I find that few of them do barbell exercises. Sensitive souls tend to stick to cardio. Not sure why. Yes, Dan, I told him to wear trackies or long socks next time. __________________ Recent clients' best results: BW +10kg/-27kg ... BF-11% ... ♀/♂1RM/kg SQ65/145 OHP30/65 DL75/170 "fitness and lifting is just an interest I have. Plain and simple. Some people like music, others like shopping, I like deadlifts."* - a client[/SIZE]

04-09-2010, 03:22 PM	#709 (permalink)
Dancelot Active Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Squatting in the curl rack Gender: Posts: 1,216	If he wears trackies, he needs to tuck the legs in the socks, so that the bar doesn't get caught on the way up. The precious love cardio machines because they're easy. The selling point (and you'll hear this in many magazine articles or infomercials) is that it doesn't even feel like you're working out (because you're not). __________________ First you get the powerlifts, then you get the women, then you get the money.

04-09-2010, 12:56 AM	#702 (permalink)
dave Active Member July10MOTM Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Melbourne, Victoria Gender: Posts: 4,803	All your trainee's should have bloody shins.

04-09-2010, 01:52 AM	#705 (permalink)
dave Active Member July10MOTM Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Melbourne, Victoria Gender: Posts: 4,803	Don't send the guy to my place he might get discolored skin from rusted plates and cry. I personally wouldn't want to lie in someone elses cold sweat but really making such a big issue when you don't even clean up after yourself is a little hypocritical. Posted via Mobile Device

04-09-2010, 04:08 PM	#710 (permalink)
Kyle Aaron Active Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Melbourne Gender: Posts: 3,682	Dan, cardio can be very hard, for example intervals. Weights can be easy, just do the same weight and the same reps for months or years, lots of people do it. But you're right that many people imagine it to be easy, and looking at the example of others they don't go hard. But in principle, it can be just as hard. Just as few people progress on resistance exercises, even fewer progress on cardio. They don't do in every session or every week or even every month more speed, more time or more resistance on the cardio machines. Thanks Mac. Yes, I'm enjoying my job a lot. Of course part of it is that almost any new thing is fun. But I simply enjoy working with people, and don't care much when they give me shit. My current client count is 9 at the gyms, and 4 privately. My goal is to have an even dozen at each of the two gyms by March next year, and probably have no private clients - nicer to keep home and work separate. I discussed this with one of the managers, he commented that it was an ambitious goal, but not impossible. "If you were 21 and hadn't trained yourself much I might say, well let's get you 2 or 3 first. But since you're older and have diverse life experiences and like talking to people, it won't be easy but it seems okay as a goal." By comparison, at most community gyms a PT is considered a gun of a trainer if they have 12-20, and most managers will be happy if the typical PT has 3-5 clients. Typically these clients will do 1 or 2 half-hour sessions a week. You are probably adding up the hours and saying "wooah, that's not a full-time job." And you're right. But almost nobody is going to have 40 hours a week of PT clients, that'd be 40-60 clients. Not going to happen. You could have many more clients than that, but not for one-on-one training. So the typical successful PT at a community gym will have a couple or few 3-4 hour gym shifts a week, and probably run one or two group classes, along with their several PT clients. And perhaps work at a second gym, too. Obviously you'd not want to be in it for the money. It's a lifestyle choice, a career you enjoy for its own sake. This is yet another reason so many people enter the industry and leave shortly afterwards. __________________ Recent clients' best results: BW +10kg/-27kg ... BF-11% ... ♀/♂1RM/kg SQ65/145 OHP30/65 DL75/170 "fitness and lifting is just an interest I have. Plain and simple. Some people like music, others like shopping, I like deadlifts." - a client[/SIZE] Last edited by Kyle Aaron; 04-09-2010 at 04:12 PM.