As a Personal Trainer do you know what you don't know?

by Alisha Smith | Thursday, September 22, 2011

“At 13 weeks pregnant, the baby is only about as big as the tip of your finger.” When my close friend, C, told me that her personal trainer had said this before insisting that she continue with the crunches and planks on which she had questioned him, I insisted that she find a new trainer.

Until falling pregnant, C had been really happy with her trainer. He developed programs that suited her goals, her training age, her time availability and her budget. He provided sufficient motivation and attention. He came across as knowledgeable and professional. Yet, due to his inability to acknowledge that pre-natal training was not anarea in which he was well equipped to provide advice, he lost C’s respect- damaging his reputation as a decent trainer in the process. C is at an age where many friends are getting pregnant, or trying to, but wanting to be in the best physical shape possible. You can be sure that C will do more than not recommend him. She’ll go out of her way to ensure that any pregnant or wanting-to-be pregnant woman she knows stays far, far away from his sessions, his advice and his poor knowledge of the physical and emotional changes they are going through.

As a trainer who readily refers clients whose needs and wants fall outside of my level of experience, education or interest, I’m frustrated and angry that this trainer saw the dollar sign before the danger signs. What if C didn’t have a friend who knew more about pre-natal training than her trainer? Would she have continued to do crunches, planks and roman chair knee lifts and who knows what else right through her 2nd trimester?

While I don’t like the idea of naming and shaming trainers who aren’t necessarily doing the best by their clients or the industry, I do want to find a way of holding them accountable. To help them to see that knowing what they don’t know isn’t a weakness- it can be a powerful reputation- and respect-building tool.

 Do you refer clients if their needs fall outside your areas of knowledge? And what do you do if you hear of trainers who aren't acting in the best interests of their clients, putting money before client safety?

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