What Makes a Good Personal Trainer?
The Four Key Characteristics of a Good Personal Trainer to Look For
You’re seeking one-on-one fitness coaching, but you’re not sure what characteristics of a personal trainer you should be looking for. You don’t want just anyone. You want a coach who is good for you, personally.
We’ve boiled what could be an exhaustive list into four key qualities of a good personal trainer. These traits will ensure that you receive the personalized training program that your uniqueness needs and deserves.
What are the characteristics of a good trainer?
A personal trainer should keep you motivated, challenged, and accountable. He or she should be a people person, too, and able to relate to you and your individual needs.
While some personal trainers are highly specialized in a specific field, others may be more generalist. Whichever you need, you should expect the coach to be confident in their approach, while remaining agile with your program.
Here are four qualities of a good trainer that should be non-negotiable.
1. A great listener
Excellent communication is a key skill for a personal trainer to possess. But forget the megaphone approach. The key to effective communication with each individual client is the ability to listen. This will eliminate any confusion, ensure that all your issues are being dealt with, and enable the trainer to modify their approach to keep you on track without plateauing, moving backward, or suffering an injury.
A good listener will ask questions and allow you to answer. They won’t be afraid to ask you for clarification, and they will ensure that you understand what they are saying. Good listeners focus on your needs. And it’s not only listening to what you say. It’s listening to what your body is communicating.
2. Energy matching
“No matter what my day is like, it’s important that I am vibrating in the same way as my client. I’m just as joyful as them; as motivated as them; I must make sure that my energy matches their energy,” says Mallory Reilly, trainer at Reload.
Of course, the other side of the coin is a client who is having a difficult day. In this situation, the trainer’s job is to energize and motivate performance.
“To do this when someone is a little down in the dumps takes a subtle approach. Initially, I need to match that low energy and be empathetic. Slowly, I’ll build my energy and bring up the energy of my client. The goal is always to make the client feel better at the end of the session than when they first walked in,” explains Mallory.
So, being able to gauge mood, energy, and motivation is really important. It directs a good trainer to what the client is ready for, allowing both to work on attention and focus together. Energy matching is critical to helping a client reach their highest potential and level up.
3. Continuous learning
A great coach is a lifelong learner. They won’t stand still on what they learn when they first start out. Of course, at the beginning of a career as a personal trainer, it’s critical to focus on education and to be the best coach possible for clients that education must be maintained – best practice is continually evolving, as is our knowledge of the human body and mind.
“At Reload, we’re all highly qualified in what we know. We are all lifelong learners. It’s a trait we all share,” says Mallory. “We’re honest with ourselves about what we know and what we don’t know, and we’re always trying to level up our education all the time.”
A good trainer will also practice what they preach. Just like their clients, they will have goals and be working on their own self-development. This helps the trainer to understand the challenges that their clients face – crucial when trying to educate them.
4. Understanding the latest fitness trends without compromising training foundations
It’s also important that a coach is in tune with the world of fitness. That means keeping up with developing trends and what (and how) other fitness coaches and educators are teaching.
“I follow many social media accounts. Even if I don’t agree with a certain coach’s perspective, I will still follow them. I want to know what they are teaching. I want to know about the kind of information that is out there,” Mallory discloses. “This way, if a client comes in with certain beliefs, I know that they have been shaped by what they have consumed online.”
At Reload, we have the best-of-the-best coaches come in to teach our coaches.
“I make sure that I’m present in these seminars,” says Mallory. “Not only present but asking lots of questions, too. I take this learning away with me and put it into practice with my clients. They always know when I’ve learned something new and valuable.
“A lot of what I learn also comes from the client in front of me. I ask questions and listen. That’s how I’m fully engaged in the client’s individual journey.”
A great coach knows how much you can learn from books, too – but also understands that you’ll learn a lot more from humans.
Avoid this bad personal trainer characteristic
It’s natural that personal trainers should take care of themselves. You wouldn’t expect to be coached by an unfit trainer, would you?
So, you’ll find that coaches have pretty big egos. They want to improve their bodies and minds. They want to be the best they can be. It’s a natural trait.
But too big an ego is not a good thing.
You see, it’s not about what the coach does, but what they can do for their client.
Mallory’s advice for coaches is easy:
“Never make it about yourself. Learn how to let go of yourself to put the person in front of you first. Don’t be the coach who wants all the attention on them – ‘How many push-ups can I do?’ ‘Can I get a six-pack?’ Make it about the person in front of you, and focus on how you can help them achieve their goals.”
If you’re choosing a personal trainer for the first time, make sure that their ego comes into play in an effective way, but that they are selfless when they need to be.
The coaching philosophy at Reload
Over and above everything else, empathy is top of our list. We are all human. We all make mistakes. We’re all unique. The good and the bad, it’s all accepted at Reload.
We’re not instructors, either. We guide and educate. In fact, this is so instilled in us that many trainers here call their clients ‘students’.
“In the game of life, it’s about what you can learn,” says Mallory. “It may be an exercise you’re learning. It could be a mental barrier you have. It may even be an ability like time management. Throughout everything we do, we’re teaching people about themselves and their fitness – and simultaneously learning ourselves.”
How does your personal training journey start with Reload?
We take a strategic and comprehensive approach with each of our clients. We also understand that your potential to excel in your fitness goals is linked to your personality.
Here’s how Mallory describes how our clients benefit from our approach.
“Right from the beginning, we get on the phone with you before you even come in. This initial interview is our opportunity to learn about you.
“Our client care team will then match you with a coach who we think would be best for you based on the info you shared.
“The next step is to make sure the coach is fully prepared with this info so that when you walk in the coach is ready to go with your first assessment.
“In this first assessment, the first thing we do is to sit somewhere quiet with you. We learn more about you, what’s going well in your life and what’s not going well. The objective is to get a good handle on what you need help with. We do that even before we start moving.
“Then we’ll put you through a different assessment to evaluate baseline strength, and to assess where you are mentally, and how is your self-talk during different exercises. Do you call yourself weak? Do you lack confidence?
“Our assessment is not only about evaluating your physical abilities, but also about knowing your personality traits.
“Every assessment takes its own turn, depending on what’s important to the person. It is a very individual exercise, that, of course, leads to individualized personal training.”
Are you searching for a personal trainer that will make a real difference?
To start your journey to a new you, sign up for a complimentary fitness assessment.
