Sun, The (Lowell, MA)
October 9, 2006
Section: Lifestyle Health
Ask the Expert Detecting a personal phony at the gym
The Lowell Sun
Karen Bell, pictured at left, is owner of The Club fitness center in Lowell and is ACE certified. Are there clues you've gotten a poorly trained exercise coach?
Your trainer should ask you about your healthy history, what medications you're taking, what physical conditions you might have -- and not just joint and muscle conditions, but health issues that could influence how they treat you and what program is set up for you ... A lot of it is in that first interview. If the trainer isn't interested in what your goals are, how they can be set ... I think you have a pretty good sense that the trainer isn't for you.
How big is the problem?
Gyms that charge very little (are sometimes suspect). What trainer who knows their education is valuable is going to associate with a place that charges $10 a month and they're immediately devaluing what they're worth? We call these express gyms -- they have machines, and little else.
What can that club afford as far as services for its members?
The answer is, very little.
What's your sense of the level of preparedness of today's trainers?
Unfortunately, a lot of this training is done on the weekends. To say that someone can develop the knowledge they need over one weekend ... I find questionable. I've written away for certifications, just to test them out, sent my money in and that's it. There's a whole array of certifications you can get online, so setting a standards is important.
But none of the certifications out there is rated, so it's very difficult for anyone to know. There are kids coming out of college who've been through exercise physiology courses, and they're without certification, so are they less capable and able than the weekend certification person? I don't think so.
Can it be dangerous training with someone with a lackluster certification?
A trainer can very easily, without the proper knowledge, do exactly the wrong thing for somebody, give somebody exactly the wrong exercise if they don't have the knowledge of the questions to ask a person about their problems, how to deal with those problems. People with heart problems, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia (all need special consideration).
When you're hiring a trainer for your club, what do you look for?
We don't deal with the minor ones. We look at ACE, the Aerobic and Fitness Association of America, among others. I look at other things, too, like how many years someone has been a trainer. In the end it really is more than the certification -- you have to look at experience.
So what's your advice?
I think the best thing for people to do, when they're looking to get a trainer, is to join a gym and try to ask some important questions. Trainers are proliferating now, especially those with weekend or online training, so they come and go very quickly. Ask them what type of training they do. Do they work with a special population of people?
(c) 2006 The Sun ( Lowell, MA). All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by NewsBank, Inc.
