23 Important Questions To Ask When Hiring A Personal Trainer
Are you wondering what questions to ask a personal trainer? In this guide, we will share the most important questions you should be asking.
If you want to work with a personal trainer, it’s important to find a personal trainer that will help you reach your goals and be someone that will work well with you.
In order to find someone who is a good fit, you need to interview a few personal trainers and ask some questions. It might seem overwhelming to try to figure out what personal trainer questions you should be asking.
Don’t worry, we are here to help!
In this guide, we are sharing the best questions to ask a personal trainer so that you can find someone who is a good fit for you.
Do you want to become a certified personal trainer? We recommend getting trained by the #1 rated and reviewed certification programs, ISSA. ISSA certifications are recognized and respected worldwide with trainers in 174 countries and nearly a half million students.
Questions To Ask A Personal Trainer Before You Start Working With Them
If you are considering working with a personal trainer, here are some of good questions to ask a personal trainer before you start working with them.
1. What certifications do you hold?
The personal trainer that you work with should hold some sort of certification. Working with a personal trainer who is certified can provide insight into their specialties and background.
Look for a personal trainer with a certification from a a major nationally accredited institutions like ISSA, ACSM, NASM, NSCA or ACE.
Certification certainly isn’t everything. Experience and helping others achieve results certainly trumps certification. However, we still think a personal trainer who took the time to get certified and continues their education is someone worth working with.
2. How do you assess new clients?
What is their process for assessing new clients? Ideally, they will asses both your fitness levels and body composition.
Learn what their assessment process looks like and how you feel about that.
3. How will you track my progress?
To make sure you are seeing progress, your results need to be tracked. There are many ways that your personal trainer could track your progress including:
- Body measurements
- Weight
- Body mass index
- Before and after photos
- Nutrition logs
- Exercise journal
If a personal trainer solely wants to track your weight, you should find a different trainer.
4. What’s your fitness specialty?
Does your personal trainer have a fitness specialty? This is important to know! If your potential personal trainer is a body building expert and you are not looking to train for body building, this may not be a good fit.
5. Why did you choose to become a personal trainer?
What was the motivation for them to become a personal trainer? This may not be the most important question, but it helps you get to know the trainer a bit better.
This would also clue you into your trainer’s background and their own fitness/health journey.
This article is all about questions to ask your personal trainer.
6. Do you honestly care about the health of all of your clients?
Find a personal trainer that truly cares! How they answer this question will give you more insight about how they feel about clients and why they care.
7. What is your coaching style?
Some coaches are loud and in your face and others are more quiet. Some coaches verbalize the training and others give demonstrations.
Think about what you would like and then see how that matches up with this personal trainer’s coaching style.
8. Are you as motivated to be a trainer today as your were when you started?
This question helps you to understand your trainer and their mindset. Are they still motivated to help people get healthy and get results? If not, they may not be a great fit.
9. Have you ever given up on clients? Or told a client that you could no longer work with them?
Understanding why or if your trainer has given up on a client is important. You don’t want to invest a lot of money in a personal trainer for them to give up on you.
10. What happens if we don’t see any results or progress?
What is the trainer’s protocol if no progress or results are being seen? How does the trainer work through these challenges with you?
11. How will you hold me accountable?
What will your personal trainer do to hold you accountable? If you only see them 3 or 4 hours per week, there’s still 164 hours of the week! Will they text you and check in? Do they set goals with you? What is their specific plan to hold you accountable?
12. Do clients ask you often to take pictures or videos of them? How do you feel about gym selfies?
If you want to document your fitness journey, you may be hoping your trainer will take pictures or videos for you. This is a good question to ask right away so that you know what to expect.
13. What experience do you have training clients with similar goals to mine?
This is one of the most important questions you can ask!! Can your trainer get you results? Have they done it in the past?
Ask to see pictures or transformations from clients with similar goals.
14. Do you have references that I can contact?
It can be really helpful to talk to past clients to learn more about your potential personal trainer.
You should speak with these references to learn about their results, how long it took to achieve their results, what the results were, etc.
You can also ask about the client’s experience with the personal trainer. What did they like? What did they dislike Would they have changed anything about their experience?
You can also check out reviews online!
This article is all about personal trainer consultation questions.
15. How many hours of personal training experience do you have?
This is a great question to help you understand how much experience your personal trainer has. While extensive experience is not necessary for you to see results with them, it just gives you an idea of your trainer’s background.
16. Can you show me a sample training program?
A personal trainer should create a training program that is unique to you and your goals. However, most trainers have a basic example that they can show you.
This will help you understand the methods your trainer prefers to use. For example, your trainer may design programs that use weight machines and you prefer free weights.
17. Will you give me homework to do? Are there assignments I need to complete outside our sessions?
You will likely have a few sessions with your trainer per week. What do they expect you to do on your own? How will they track this?
18. What is your approach to nutrition?
You don’t have to agree with your personal trainer on everything, but it would be helpful to know their approach to nutrition.
Their approach to nutrition may compliment their workout program, so understanding their thought process and recommendations will be helpful.
19. Do you create meal plans?
Some personal trainers create meal plans. Find out up front if this is included, or if you can add on this service.
If your trainer does not create meal plans, they may be able to recommend someone that does!
20. Do you require me to purchase any supplements or equipment?
While supplements can be beneficial, a personal trainer should never be pushing products on you. They may make recommendations based on the results you want to achieve, but it shouldn’t go beyond that.
Find out right away if you will be required to purchase any supplements or additional equipment so you are aware.
21. How long are training sessions?
How long can you expect to train with your personal trainer? This question helps you determine if this trainer will work well with your schedule.
22. What’s included in your program?
This is important to know! If you are expecting a meal plan or nutrition guidance, but your trainer just provides workout programs, this is something you need to know early on.
23. What’s your cancellation policy?
Things come up, so it’s always good to know what your trainer’s cancellation policy is.
Bottom Line
Now that you know the questions to ask a personal trainer, you can find the personal trainer that is right for you. We hope that these questions will help guide you in finding the perfect personal trainer! Cheers to your fitness journey!
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