Q: Would you say that some Personal trainers are then using this avenue, or I should say “Title” to get women, sexually speaking, of course?
MC: Absolutely, but it goes both ways. I know a lot of trainers are being hit on as well. Clients are not the innocent victims here. It’s out there, because you have to think about it from a female clients to a male personal trainer stand point. Everyone uses personal trainers for different reasons. They use them because 1) they have no one to talk to, they are alone, they need counseling, therapy, and this what a personal trainer act as, a therapist, a psychologist, a counselor, friend. So you built relationship on that and some can misconstrued as being more than just the emotional, but also physical. The industry of personal training is so intimate, those two people one on one for an hour, three times a week, you have to think about it, and in today’s society, it is a lot of time. Both people works, and one person works harder, they may not have that quality time at home that they are getting with their trainer, so it is almost as if they are leading another life with that specific trainer. They enjoy their hour, looking forward to their next training session etc..It then becomes a vice and some client misunderstands it as a potential lover or mistress. A lot of time it’s a client hitting on a trainer.
BH: Of course. I can admittedly say that it did help me increase my confidence level and ease my interaction with the opposite sex. It helped me with my charming techniques, flirting, etc… It is always a good way for starting a conversation at a bar. I can use any line that will open the door to discussion about health and fitness. It’s a lot of fun actually.
KJ: Yes, it does happen. I mean, if they use it to get favors, then they should use another industry, more upscale. Personal trainer can open doors for you, but looks are still important. You can’t walk around and say I am a personal trainer and have a stomach sticking out like you are 6 months pregnant (male personal trainer by the way). You still have to be attractive in some aspect. So the “personal training” title is still not a guarantee to get women.
DC: This answer is quite obvious as well, don’t you think? I know some of my friends who are actually worst than me, but I am the one being interviewed here, right?
SD: I am not surprised. It is very common practice. I know some of my friends who call themselves doctors when they are still on pre-med. I mean, come on, use another technique to get women. Hopefully, all women are not that vain to get impressed by that.
Q: Do you make it clear to the client from the get-go that this relationship is based solely on trainer/client in a professional level? Maybe your approach towards your client is that you make it clear that there will be no crossing lines between being a trainer or a lover.
MC: Absolutely. The way that I interact with my clients it’s strictly professional. However, I can say that I am more inclined to be intimate with my male client, not that I am gay, although there is nothing wrong with that, but I feel like I can go for drinks with my male clients, or go watch a game that I wouldn’t do with my female clients. I feel more comfortable to put my hands on my male client’s shoulders versus the female. I am more apt to stretch a male than the female counterpart. I do not want to cross the line. There is a certain closeness that you develop with your clients throughout the months or years. Respect develops towards the female clients. I won’t go and socialize too much with them outside the vicinity of the fitness center. I would be very uncomfortable if I go to a bar and see one of my female clients. I would feel the guiltiest person being there.
BH: I always let my client know that I am to help reach their goals when it comes to health and fitness. I make it clear from the get-go. I will always discuss about the importance of being professional, that the industry have been severed because of some trainer crossing the line.
DC: I always leave it in the open. I let them choose what they want to do. Who am I to dictate their naughty intentions? If they want to have fun, why deprive them from that. So I let the client decide what they enjoy doing, with me that is.
SD: Since I always find a way to intentionally include in some conversation about my 5 year relationship with my imaginary soon to be future wife, they never tried to cross the line.
Q: Since trainers are closely considered as medical practitioners by their clients, it is very common that some clients will ask you for advice on supplements to use to accelerate weight loss or any other related issues around this industry. Will it be common for you to lead your customer in using a specific supplement?
MC: I do. What I have done in the past is using the supplements first hand, act as the guinea pig as you’d call it, do my research on it, call the manufacturers, ask for specific, side effects etc.. I will always let my customer know that it important for them to consult their physician before using the product. We advise on protein drinks, that has no potential side effects. I have a supplement guide that I use and let the clients borrow it to read more on it as well. A few years ago, some trainer advised a client regarding weight loss supplement that had high ephedra content and the client is no longer alive. This lesson was learned but unfortunately someone had to lose their life in the process. We are more careful and we do not prescribe anything, we advise only under the doctor supervision.
BH: I will always make sure to try the supplements first, get informed about it, contact some other professional in the industry, contact the manufacture myself to make sure about the safety to my clients. They safety is my priority.
DC: I do not advise them on anything at all. Actually, none of them asked me for any supplements whatsoever. I am happy that they don’t either, I am not someone who can advise them on supplements, I am not trained for that.
KJ: This is something that I will not approach. Supplements react differently for people, I will not advise them on any supplements. That will be very risky and I am not interested in getting sued if something goes wrong.
SD: I will help my clients on vitamin supplements, because let face it, bodies need vitamins. I will tell them about the benefits of supplementing on protein if their goals are to lose weight. I need to get myself very familiar with my client’s health status.
Q: What is the most common subject of conversation during a training session?
MC: Lots of my clients like to live vicariously through me. Most of them are either involved engaged or married. So they like to know what I am doing, the story and event of my life being single, what I enjoy doing, where did I go on Saturday night, was there any conquest, any new women waking up on my bedside. Asking me for TIPS on how to charm their own wife, being current on flirting methods etc.. It is also about them. I also ask the question about their work, their kids, their past vacation, if they had the chance to take any, their relationship with their wives, if they are happy in the marriage, explain to them the reasons why I will never get married, etc…The female clients also complains about how their husband are missing an organ quite vital to the human body: “Their brains”. The male clients complains that their wife have some kind of hormonal inbalancement that make them a serial killer. So since it is difficult to get good communication between the wife and husband, sometimes I can help with the negotiation. Some kind of marriage counselor, and very cheap I must say. It is easier to open yourself to someone you know and trust instead of sitting on a couch, in an office, and start complaining why this or that to a complete stranger. I am here to make it easier for either one or both, depending on the situation.
BH: We talk about different things, depends everyday. They talk to me about their jobs, how much they hate them, they talk about their wives, or ex-wives, or how soon to get divorced. There are different subject all the time, and one hour can pass by very quickly.
DC: Your bed or mine?
KJ: Some of my clients are curious about my other businesses, I help some with management problems they encounter, we talk about the benefits of the exercise that the client is performing, we talk about their plans for the week end. It changes every day. Some time they call me instead of waiting for the next session to inform me of a good or bad news. It is great because we have a relationship outside the gym as well. WE become friends.
SD: They always enjoy hearing my stories as a pre-med student. What we learned in class, what we dissected, some social and some related to their jobs. I try my best to help them as well on their eating habits, etc..I enjoy my time with my clients and the conversation is always very interesting.
Q: Do you see yourself in this industry in the next five years?
MC: At some capacity, yes, I will always be involved in this industry, working with kids, maintaining my clients and doing my other things coming up, I will always be in this industry, I love the body, the way it works, I think it is the most amazing piece of machinery ever built in our Universe. WE have to look at ourselves. WE built computers, clone other humans, trying to act as Gods, etc.. It is just fascinating what we are capable of.
Contributing to creating healthy human beings is already a great satisfaction.
BH: Yes, I do. My love to help people will still be present in the next five years. I will always be there for whomever I train. I want to give results that everyone will remember. I love that industry and will be there for the years to come.
DC: As long as there are women out there, I will still be in the industry. Of course, I need to look for something else in case I get too old and then I’ll have a big problem.
KJ: The industry has been very good for me financially. Of course, everything is a mean to an end, and I hope that I will be able to get my projects off the ground so I can be financially secured for the rest of my life.
Until then, I am still going to help people and make money
SD: Probably not. Hopefully I’ll be a medical resident and work at the hospital. Unless there is a fitness center at the hospital so I can start training the patient in the whole geriatric department. That can be fun J
Q: What are the craziest stories have you ever heard or seen from your own experience or from other trainers?
MC: I heard a crazy story just the other day. Some woman was caught smoking in the bathroom in the fitness center. That is the craziest, most ironic story I have ever heard. I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens anywhere else, but a fitness center? Come on. I’ve been in this industry for almost 8 years and I have never heard or seen anyone smoke in a fitness center.
BH: Sometimes I can’t believe how personal trainer preaches good health and exercise but they need it themselves. Some of them are such in ugly shape, it is scary. I’ve seen some of them needing more than just a simple plastic surgery procedure. They need a whole body lift. I would say that most trainers are actually in great shape.
DC: Craziest stories? Haven’t I given you enough?
KJ: Sex in the bathroom. Yes, it did happen and this is not the worst. If sex was done with the opposite sex, we can understand. However, since we all know that gym bathrooms are not co-ed, well, you do get my point.
SD: I don’t have enough years experience in the field to really give you crazy stories. Ask me this question in a year or two.
Q: What would you say it is the most gratifying of being a Personal trainer?
MC: Oh man, the results on our clients body. I mean the most gratifying thing that ever happened to me is my client (no names). She was more on the heavy side and we’ve been training for a year and the Christmas card she gave me and I still kept it says, and I quote: “Thank you for the new ME” and that right there just sums it up. I have the ability to change the person’s life just by doing something that I enjoy doing. And I enjoy this more than playing football, or running several health clubs, or managerial duties. I like the hands-on experience that personal training offers. It is great to have a clients coming to you and thanking you for their changes and being able to help an individual to reach their goals.
BH: Results. This is what wakes me up in the morning. Knowing that I am contributing to someone happiness, I am satisfied.
KJ: At the end of the year, it is customary for clients to give Christmas card to their trainers to thank them for a great year. It is most gratifying when you see dollar bills falling from that card. Also, when the client is satisfied with their results. That makes me happy.
SD: Knowing that you’ve helped people reach their goals, them being happy, you become an integrated part of their family. It is a great feeling.
Q: Is there anything else you’d like to add or share?
MC: In terms of fitness, get involved in it because you want to do it, not because someone pushed you to do it. When people push you to do things, you do them half-ass, not putting any passion into it and doing it for a certain period of time. The overall picture is to be heart healthy; you don’t need to look a certain way, or buffed up. Just take care of your body as often as you can as long as you can. This is your domain, your kingdom; make it a great place to live.
BH: Personal training is a wonderful career. I enjoy it tremendously. Anyone considering this career makes sure to get the right certification, make sure to choose your fitness center adequately, because you’ll be spending a lot of time in there, especially if your business grows, but most importantly, have fun, and show it.
DC: What would I like to share? Well, probably let the readers know NOT to be like me. I am the bad example of a personal trainer. I am in the process of a rehabilitation program for sex addicts. So I am going in the right way, I guess. The most important thing to remember is to follow your guts and if you feel that something is wrong, then just don’t do it!
KJ: For all the business entrepreneurs out there, Personal training is a great money maker, and a fun business to be in. You can charge your client and spend an hour of blabbering about all kind of stuff. That is the easiest money you’ll ever make. They say that money doesn’t grow on tree, they are right. It grows in gyms.
SD: Life is too short to spend it doing something that you hate. Go reach your dreams. Do something that you will enjoy. Do something that you will wake up every morning with a smile. Personal training helped me finance my schooling and thanks to it, it will enable to me to go for bigger, but not necessarily better, things in life. Enjoy!
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
