Personal training in NYC is getting to be a bit absurd. While every field has it’s own obstacles the personal training field sadly has no minimum requirements. Yep, that means ANYONE can become a trainer, there is no licensure to become a personal trainer in NYC and leaves the door WIDE open for many unqualified trainers to jump in.
So how do you find a NYC Personal Trainer?
You can do a search for ‘Top NYC Personal Trainer’ or something of the sort but that will only bring you trainers and personal training companies that have finagled there way in to a top search ranking, a minute part of the bigger picture. A top search ranking does NOT equate to a qualified personal trainer, keep in mind that this is your time and money so you should be VERY careful and do your ‘due diligence’. To help, below I discus a FEW minimum requirements a personal trainer must do, at least in my opinion, to be considered qualified.
Program
A qualified and professional personal trainer will have a plan laid out for your workouts and nutrition. You maybe thinking a plan for the day but what I’m talking about is a plan for weeks and months ahead! There has to be a strategic fitness plan laid out for you to progress forward, this is what you’re paying your trainer for.
Accomplished a Mentorship/Internship
I STRONGLY believe in a mentorship/internship for any personal trainer, sports performance coach, and strength & conditioning coach. Working under a veteran qualified coach or trainer can help develop many skill sets that books can not cover. The biggest of them is the ‘Coaching Eye’, simply put this mean the trainer or coach can analyze movement and spot errors that an unqualified trainer would not see. With all that said, an internship is only good as the establishment and mentor…
Professional
A personal trainer needs to be responsive and on time. Due to the abundance of jack ass personal trainers, accountability and basic professional etiquette has been lost. The personal training field needs to be just as customer oriented and professional as any other field or MORE. The personal trainer should also dress and look professional, wearing a tank top and looking scruffy is unacceptable. This is a profession just like any other field, while personal trainers wear gym gear, they should still look professional–jeans and a tank top does not fall under this category.
Final Thoughts
There are many characteristics of a quality personal trainer but I believe the above 3 points hit some big attributes they should have. The main point is that the personal trainer should care about the type of service they are giving to you. If the personal trainer is late, not prepared, and look like they just woke up, does this show that they care about the service provided or about you?
Stay strong,