Most of the interviews have been conducted in the Maryland, DC and Virginia area but some are also from different cities across our country. This section of this article is constructed in a way that for each questions asked by the narrator, you will notice different answer coming from different personal trainer. It is obvious to say that some interviews or I would say answers of the personal trainer were quite similar, so I needed to gather them as one answer to avoid redundancy. P.S: Confidentiality was a must conducting these interviews so no names are inserted in the dialogues.
Q: What lured you to be a personal trainer?
MC: Actually I was always intrigued with the body and human anatomy. When I was a young little boy, my uncle’s friend was a bodybuilder at the time and he used to take me to the gym with him and I think that deep down in me I wanted to be involved with the body some ways and it was another related field to athletics which was my previous occupation.
BH: I had a lack of self confidence since my young age. Kids at my school always pushed me around, teased me constantly. I never had really a great teenage life. Over the years, I needed to find something that will enable me to ease conversation with the general public. I always had passion for exercising. I always knew that was my calling. Personal training changed my life and the life of my clients. Giving the opportunity to help people always appealed to me. Personal training was enabling me to do so. Love helping people.
DC: Women. It seems like women are attracted to Personal trainers because of so much testosterone coming out of our bodies. The fact that we have so much knowledge in the anatomy attracts the opposite sex. It is a babe magnet. Need to have good genetics though.
KJ: I talked it over with a friend of mine who is already in the business and told me the amount of money to be made. Charging the customer close to $100 dollars per hour is quite alluring to me. Being business savvy, I wanted to have the flexibility to do this business and still have my days to do other things. It gives lots of flexibility in your schedule for other endeavors.
SD: Hmmm. I went to this industry by accident, quite honestly. I was studying pre-med in school and needed to finance my studies. I was working as a bartender and working mid-afternoon shift at the local gym. I was going to school in between. At the local gym, I was talking to members, giving them advice on nutrition and exercise, when one of my members required my help and was going to get paid for it. I enjoyed it so much that I did quit my bartending job and put more time into personal training. I do it because it gives me practice when I work in medicine later on.
Q: How long have you been a personal trainer?
MC: I’ve been doing personal training as a profession since 1997.
BH: Close to 5 years. Enjoyed every single day of it.
DC: Hmmm, let me think about it. How many women did I sleep with? 28 women, so averaging one different every month, so have been doing personal training for about 2 years and a half.
KJ: Since 1992. I used to do training in different states and countries. Great time doing it.
SD: 3 years. Close to finishing my degree and will probably continue doing it for a little while afterwards.
Q: What would you say the advantages or disadvantages of being a personal trainer?
MC: The advantages are to be around a lot of people if you are a people person, you interact with a lot of people, you get to help people, I don’t think there is another occupation out there that has a bigger or lasting effect to individuals than a trainer. As the disadvantages, if you count time of day as an important factor, then I would say that sometime training someone at 5:00 Am and you are not a morning person, it can be a hassle. However, for me, anytime of day is always fun and entertaining to me.
BH: Advantages are mostly being around people, helping them reach their goals. I always enjoyed looking at my clients smile in the morning while working out. This gives me the energy to better myself all the time.
I don’t really see any disadvantages to being a personal trainer beside the fact that sometimes, if you do lose a client, for whatever reasons, you do wonder if it was because of your training techniques, so that can be taken personally by personal trainers.
DC: I get to enjoy talking to people. Even though it is a good way to meet new people, I still enjoy seeing good results on my clients, especially knowing that I contributed to the better body. Disadvantages about personal training, well, after sleeping with them, they seem to never coming back. I feel like I better stop this bullcrap, what do you think?
KJ: The pay is greatly an advantage. Especially when you use this money to open new businesses in the near future. I also enjoy seeing my clients and thanking me for all the positive changes they’ve experienced.
As for the disadvantages, well, maybe you become greedy as a personal trainer and it can have repercussion on your personality. It becomes more about the money than the client well being.
SD: Great to see that you contribute to the healthy lifestyle of your clients. I am going into the field of medicine so I am getting first-hand practice to what my days are going to be like. I can say there is any disadvantage on my behalf
Q: What would you say are the pressures of the business?
MC: For me, I don’t see any major pressure. I think that probably being current in the industry, staying an educated trainer, being up to date to what is happening out there. I would say that the major pressure is to keep my clients always entertained and showing progress.
BH: Being always aware of the changes in the industry. Always need to inform yourself. The fear of injuring your clients, while performing an exercise. Fearing of losing clients as well.
KJ: Trying to be competitive in the industry. Knowing who is your competitor, who around you are trainers, how much they charge. It is important to be affordable, but not to cheap, or not to expensive. You need to find the right middle and this is why is can be bothersome for personal trainers to lose clients because of their prices.
DC: The pressures are probably losing credibility. I guess it is very easy to do that, especially the way I do it. Eventually, I will need to get my act together and behave appropriately. I am trying my best, I can assure you. It is hard to deal with this constant horniness.
SD: The pressures are mostly on the requirements to keep your certification. The continuing education helps us be informed about the industry and its changes. It is always required to do classes or attend seminars. It can be quite expensive and time consuming after a while.
Q: What are the known certifications needed to be a personal trainer?
MC: Well, if you are talking about being an independent contractor, technically, you don’t need to have a certification. In the fitness industry, they don’t have anyone out there to investigate if you are certified or anything, either CPR or national certification. Any morons out the street can just call themselves a personal trainer, get themselves business cards and market themselves. Some national fitness centers will require there personal trainers to be certified, such as NSPA, ACE, NASM, NCSAM, ISSA, there are million of other certifications out there, just need to choose the one that fits your needs.
BH: There are plenty. I completed my NASM certification. I know there are others. I guess you need to choose one, inform yourself on the credibility of the certification and go for it.
DC: Certifications? I learn things through health magazines, going to seminars, reading, and all. What they teach in class, I can learn it by myself. Up to now, none of my clients got injured or anything. So I guess I am doing something right.
KJ: I checked many other certifications and I chose NASM certification. It has a good reputation and I did learn a lot.
SD: I do have several just to make sure that I am not missing on anything. Plus, more I learned in these certifications, easier it was for me to pass my medical exams with flying colors. Medicine school became quite easy.
Q: What are your perceptions on enhancement drugs?
MC: My thought is if you keep it illegal, you are always going to have a problem with it. In retrospect, if it’s regulated, then those who choose to use these drugs, it’s their prerogative. Now granted, if you use anabolic steroids with another friends, there are more chances that both of you won’t grow at the same speed or size. Lots have to do with genetics, frequency of training, intensity, etc… Plus, it is very easy to notice a steroids user.
BH: I would say that it keep you competitive in the industry of bodybuilding or any other sports. Anabolic steroids are also used to cure diseases and to accelerate healing. For the right reasons, it can be beneficial. However, to make yourself stronger or bigger, it is a waste of money and health.
KJ: They cost way too expensive. I wouldn’t use them because of negative side effects, especially the side effect of a smaller bank account.
DC: Giddyup for Steroids! Some side effects are actually detrimental to your sexual life since it robs your ability to produce testosterone, hence, small testes.
SD: Avoid at all cost. Steroids will only destroy your health. I don’t see any positive effect of it, unless you are genetically gifted and grow like the professional Olympias bodybuilders.
Q: What is the percentage of male versus female clients?
MC: About 55% female and 45% male.
BH: Averaging 50% each side.
KJ: Whoever is willing to pay the big bucks to get trained by me. At this moment in time, I have around 70% male and the rest is female.
DC: Take a guess! Yep, 100% women.
SD: 40% female and 60% male.
Q: This is a little bit more personal question. Have you got any indecent proposal from your clients?
MC: Honestly none. No indecent proposal. No one is asking for anything besides being trained.
BH: It never happened. Actually, if I do remember well, I actually met someone through personal training, we got along well and I decided to stop training her because it was against my ethics to hook up with my client. So we did get involved afterwards but I trained her at no cost.
DC: A catch 22 question. I guess it does go both ways. I have received many indecent proposals and I can actually be proud to say that I didn’t act on all of them, if I can recall J. So I still have some dignity. Other who’ve I decided to cross the lines have become way too possessive afterwards and it was getting to be suffocating. I needed to let some go.
KJ: Opportunity cost will be too high to play around with these odds. I make the relationship clear enough in the beginning that it actually scares them to ask for anything besides being trained. I guess I can be intimidating sometimes.
SD: Since the beginning, I talk to my clients and I always make sure that they hear that I have a girlfriend. I make it in a way that I am very happy, that I am ready to pop the question for engagement etc.. Even though it is all bullshit, I can say that it works great.
Q: Rumors in the industry are so that many personal trainers are acting as gigolos, Club Med type of relation between Staff and club members. Is it still happening?
MC: Oh shit yes. Definitely! It happens to a point that it gives the serious PT a bad name. Me personally, if I think that a young lady is very attractive and I would possibly hit on her, I wouldn’t train her, wouldn’t take her money, because I don’t want my name to be associated with those who are sleeping with their clients, and taking their money. I know a lot of trainers who had sex with quote and quote “Clients”, which I personally think from a professional stand point of view, it sucks. Me, personally, if I am going to get a women, I am going out there and earn it, by using charm, and flirtatious approach, without using my “Personal trainer” status as an avenue to get the women. I’ve seen also a lot of trainers training clients for free, come and see me, I’ll train you for free. Meanwhile, what they are trying to do is to get these people to drop down their guards and make themselves indispensable. I think there are many ways to get women. It gives all of us a bad name. It makes it harder to those of us who want to keep this as a profession, keep it professional and it very difficult for us to do that, when you things like that happening all around you.
BH: Yes, this rumor is true, and I guess it will always be true. However, it goes both ways. It is not only the personal trainer fault; the client is also the predator. I have been in this situation before, never acted on it but the client was quite persistent to engage in a physical activity that is definitely rated XXX. I make sure to let them know that the PT/Client relationship is more important to me than anything, that I do not want to jeopardize that in any way.
KJ: I heard that some sale the service of personal training and the service of gigolos. It does happen, and the money made in that can be quite incredible. In my case, I will not cross that line. Those who do are in the wrong industry. There is another industry that we proudly call “Porn”. I guess for them its kind of an escape to avoid saying that they work in the sex industry. I guess they feel less dirty acting this way when they are personal trainers.
DC: Do you really need to ask me that question? Isn’t the answer quite obvious? Next…
SD: I am not surprised. It happens everywhere, not just the personal training. I guess it is a way to release stress and make money. I do not encourage it, don’t get me wrong, it is still very wrong to cross that line.
Dan Amzallag
Gloateus Maximus: Inside and out of personal trainers lives
Book available at http://www.fitnesstrainersnetwork.com
Accredited and certified personal trainers for USA and Canada
