Personal Training Blog with Douglasville Personal Trainer David Hansey

Ok, the last couple of weeks have been kind of interesting as far as inquiries regarding personal training. I have had a couple of people who have really surprised me. And to be honest, I don’t mean this in a good way.

Example One — A person with a heart condition who has had open heart surgery. Since my father lived his whole life with a heart condition and eventually died from complications from it, heart disease is VERY CLOSE to my heart!! So it utterly SHOCKED and disappointed me to have someone who has survived heart disease to this point tell me that they were looking for “a couple of exercises” oh no, not personal training…….. too expensive. PLEASE GIVE ME A BREAK. I don’t mean to sound cruel but I find it shocking that someone would choose a few dollars over their health.

Example Two — A person called me to ask me for a free consultation. I really don’t do that so I told him I would be happy to discuss personal training. Oh no, so he went to another trainer for his freebie and then called to whine to me that it was not what he expected and that he still needs exercises and advice for his back. Sorry, but anyone with a medical condition should not be just jumping on equipment like an 18 year old kid with no health issues.

Both of these have really surprised me. I have great personal training clients who every day surprise me with their commitment to change their lives and I see their medical conditions improve greatly. Then I also have a great bunch of clients who do not train on a regular basis. They do a few sessions to learn a routine that works for them and their unique conditions and then they work out on their own.

Trust me, I understand that everyone wants to make the most bang for their buck. And I am happy to work with people to find a way. But that does not mean that I can do freebies. I like to spend several hours working on the routine for a new client and making sure I fully understand every need they have. And I just cannot apply that type of commitment to someone who will not commit to doing some training.

Really not trying to be tough here — just there are so many nuances to a condition. Say you just tell me on the phone that you have a bad back. Well that could mean a bunch of different things and the exercises would be different and unique for each. So I cannot just barf out some exercises on the phone. Another example is high blood pressure. While you may not even think of mentioning that over the phone, I will see it when I have you fill out your full medical form and it affects the tempo of how you lift weights as well as how you perform cardio. So really and sorry — I would rather you walk away from me with nothing than to walk away with half-baked advice or bad advice because we have not spent enough time to fully understand and to teach you to do your routine.

Well, I have had an interesting week as a personal trainer. And as always there are things that I have encountered at the gym here in Douglasville where I personal train as well as with my personal training clients that makes for great information for anyone.

So here goes — the first question I had from a client was why was her teenage child not in a lot of pain and discomfort from her personal training. Was I not training her hard enough?

Well there is very dangerous misconception that working out should hurt. Which is not only wrong but dangerous. Yes, sometimes there is some muscle soreness but this should never be something that interferes with your daily life. And if it ever is, then you need to tell your trainer immediately because something is not right.

Ok, and the second was from someone wanting to get sports specific training for a 9 year old.

While I applaud their initiative at getting their child in the best shape possible to play a sport, anyone under 12 is most likely not going to get enough from personal training. Instead of focusing directly on training for this age group, focus on fun. Making something really fun — like going out and running passes with Dad might be a better prep for a first timer. Once he decides that he is really in love with football (or whatever sport it is) then you can determine a training program, and personal training, for him.

If you have any questions about personal training or the personal trainer blog — send me an e-mail by clicking the link at the top of the blog. Have a great week!
Now

Ok, I get questions every single day about group fitness classes at the Douglasville gym where I work. And people all have different opinions on what is fun and what kind of group fitness class they would like to do. Now once you figure out what you WANT to do – there is another question — WHAT CAN YOU DO — and following that — WHAT SHOULD YOU DO. Those steps are often ignored by people when choosing group fitness classes and they end up trying and getting frustrated.

There are some really amazing group fitness classes here in Douglasville. But some of them are really advanced classes – like full contact kickboxing classes — that are not for everyone. And while these might be classes you can do at some point or at some age, they may not be the class for you right now. There is a reason the injury rate in some of these high contact classes – such as full contact kickboxing – is high — it is because people are attempting to do these with no adjustments for their physical limitations.

A better plan for ANYONE — not just beginners — is to really research group fitness classes. A visit to your doctor is a must for everyone. And personally I feel a consultation with a personal trainer is well worth it. You can get your strength training workout customized for you AND you can find out what the details of every class are and decide which one is for you.

Fitness classes are fun and they can be motivating and they make a GREAT PART — yes PART not WHOLE — of your fitness routine. So do the research and find the right one for you right now.