When too much personal fitness training is too much

When too much personal fitness training is too much

The purpose of this article is to pull back the curtain on some issues to look out for when working with a personal trainer. As a personal trainer and strength and conditioning coach with 10 years of experience, I have encountered many personal trainers and learned many things to pay attention to.

There is one phrase that requires special attention, and that is “scope of practice.” Scope is a term commonly used in the medical field that defines the limits within which doctors and therapists can work. This also applies to any personal trainer as there are some boundaries that a trainer should not cross.

The first exercise is massage. Most states require massage therapists to be licensed. The licensed title is key here. The definition of the license is as follows:

Licensure "is the granting of statutory powers by the State, in accordance with the police powers of the State, to practice a profession within a specified field of activity. Under the licensing system, States legally define the duties and functions or scope of practice of a profession and provide that these tasks may only be legally performed by licensed persons. Therefore, licensing prohibits anyone from practicing the unlicensed profession, regardless of whether the person was certified by a private organization or not. “

Certifications, on the other hand, are a voluntary process provided by a private organization and indicate that the acquirer has completed preset coursework and a possible exam. This is a very important distinction because licensing means strict government oversight that dictates practitioners' ability to carry out their trade.

The reason massage therapists must be licensed is because giving a massage is an extremely invasive procedure. There is a huge amount of manipulation of the muscles and body, and there is also a certain risk factor in massages.

The way muscles are manipulated makes it very likely for an inexperienced person to cause significant injury to the client. That's why licensed massage therapists spend hundreds of hours studying human anatomy, angles of fixation, muscle actions, and physiology to understand exactly how to safely manipulate the body.

Many personal trainers – especially inexperienced ones – want to provide “extra service and attention” to clients. Personal trainers sometimes have a false sense of confidence that they know more than they actually do. In this case, inexperienced trainers break up the exercise scope and massage clients to “unlock trigger points” and relieve pain. The problem is that they underestimate the risk they are exposing their customers to.

This is exactly why experienced trainers teach their clients to use Self-Myofascial Release. Self-myofascial release consists of things like foam rolling, where a client can work on releasing trigger points and loosening tight muscles without ever needing a trainer to put their hands on it.

Stretching is another place where trainers can get a little too invasive. A side effect of strength training is muscle toning. Stretching is therefore essential to maintain loose muscles and protect range of motion. Even with an inexperienced trainer, this can lead to injuries.

Stretching is definitely part of a trainer's scope of practice, BUT it must be done responsibly. Overstretching a muscle or stretching a muscle in the wrong direction can lead to muscle or tendon tears. Failure to follow stretching protocols can also lead to injury. Stretching should always be done after training. never before. This protects the customer during training.

Stretching should ALWAYS be done with warmed muscles. Muscles function almost identically to rubber bands. If you've ever tried to pull a rubber band when it's extremely cold, you'll notice that it's brittle and snaps. Muscles work the same way; If they are cold and the trainer tries to stretch them, they risk tearing.

This is extremely important when using advanced stretching techniques such as PNF stretching, which involves stretching, contracting and stretching the muscle again to achieve greater stretch and range of motion. This advanced stretch can easily lead to injury.

It is also important to have great tactile awareness. Basically, wherever you look in Connecticut, your personal trainer needs to be experienced enough to know exactly how far you can stretch the muscle without going too far.

Knowledge of anatomy and muscle activity is also essential. Muscles move in specific patterns based on their pinnation angle. If you try to stretch a muscle against the pattern, you will endanger the client or no longer hit the correct muscle.

Knowing muscle activity is also very important for stretching. Whether a joint is flexed or extended determines whether certain muscles are contracted or relaxed. It is very easy to teach a client how to stretch properly, allowing them to control how far and how much pressure is applied. This is a far safer method when supervised by an experienced personal trainer.

Don’t forget the convenience factor for a customer. A personal training relationship should be safe and comfortable. A Personal trainers For example, where I am or wherever you are looking, a customer should NEVER be uncomfortable talking or touching “too much”. Touching should really be kept to a minimum. The only time a client should ever be touched is to make quick position adjustments or to help with stretching. This touch should be as minimally invasive as possible and should always have the client's consent.

In my 10 years as a very successful personal trainer, I have never had to touch a client more than a brief position adjustment to emphasize where the focus of the work should be or to assist with light stretching when asked. I have never had a problem with clients not being able to learn to stretch or use self-myofascial release. As personal as this industry is, there is such a thing as too personal!

Finally, the biggest sign of an inexperienced or insecure coach is overcompensation. I have found that the loudest coach in the room is the one who has to overcompensate for the lack of knowledge and confidence. These are also the trainers who tend to learn a new “skill” and that’s all they do until they learn the next one. These trainers need to show how much they know by using “salon trick” exercises or “new” methods, but they do this without rhyme or reason. The best trainer is the one who can quietly give a client the results they want for their specific goals, without shouting about it and without boring the client with information that, frankly, they usually don't care about.

The majority of customers don't necessarily care about the how; They just want to achieve their goals. It is up to the trainer to have all the tools necessary to help the client achieve these goals. The best coaches I've ever met know a lot about a lot... But you may never know because they don't have to prove that they're better than any other coach. Their sole purpose is to help their customers achieve their goals. A good trainer never exaggerates new tricks he learns. Instead, they select the best methods for the right customers from their wealth of knowledge!

Inspired by Ezine and Bill M Yeager