Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist & Performance Enhancement Specialist

Q. Describe the most common types of jobs you do for your clients.

A. The most common types of jobs that I get are from housewives wanting to get back or stay in shape, former college athletes looking to stay in shape, business executives and owners trying to relieve stress, triathletes and ironmen trying to improve performance and everyday people looking to lose weight or build muscle.

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. Ask a lot of questions about what it is that you want to do and whether that trainer has experience or knowledge of helping you to reach that goal. Also, ask if they are certified and if so, to show current proof. If they are degreed in exercise science or another related field and ask the potential trainer why you think that they should train with them. Looks are a part of the job description for a trainer but it is not everything. That trainer should be somewhat in shape because that provides a visual motivation for the client but also because they practice what they preach. They also should know how the body works, how to get you the results you want safely and should be able to explain to you inner workings of an exercise or exercise routine.

Q. If you were a customer, what do you wish you knew about your trade? Any inside secrets to share?

A. If I was a customer and I wanted to hire a personal trainer to help me out, I wish that I knew more about what certifications mean in the fitness industry and whether certain certifications mean more than others. The key to looking for a qualified, certified personal trainer is to ask for credible certifications. There are 100's of certifications out there and some, if not all claim to be the best or the hottest certification that's going now. I personally think that the best trainers are certified, credentialed (i.e. have a degree in the exercise field) and knowledgable (have years of hands on experience and can think independently) and can come up with their own exercise programs and not just follow "the trend" and are not internet trainers(going online to find cool, new exercises because they can't think of any themselves. The best strength coaches and trainers are more qualitative than quantitative in nature. The top 3 certifications that are accredited by independent accreditation boards are the American College of Sports Medicine, the National Strength and Conditioning Association and the National Academy of Sports Medicine.

Q. What questions should a consumer ask to hire the right service professional?

A. One question a consumer should ask a personal trainer or fitness professional is how long have they been training clients. Too many trainers or fitness professionals use their personal years of working out or athletic experience as to how long they have been training clients. In most cases, trainers or fitness professionals will train their clients as if they are training themselves. This will work for some but not most of your clients. Also, if you have a particular type of injury or metabolic disease, you should ask if that trainer has a background in dealing with that particular injury or disorder. A lot of trainers will take on someone that they can't handle as far as the injury and metabolic disorder goes just for the sake of getting a new client.

Q. What important information should buyers have thought through before seeking you out?

A. Prospective clients should know what their goal is for hiring a trainer (i.e weight loss, muscle hypertrophy, preparing for a sport or event, learn new techniques in resistance training), have a realistic time line and do everything that they need to do in order to achieve the goal(s) that they want.

Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?

A. I go the extra mile in servicing clients and use research and scientific based training programs. I educate, teach and show clients how to become more active, eat better and workout.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. I like the challenge of getting many different people into shape. I say this because it is not a series of packaged exercises that everyone does for that day, week or month. There maybe some progressions of exercises that certain clients can do and there are the simplest forms of the same exercise that might be used by novice clients. Probably the most important thing that I like about my job is that you have to always be flexible with someone's workout and be able to substitute an exercise(s) based on availability or lack of equipment, space and weather. Since I train clients outdoors, in their homes, at gyms, etc. this provides variety and a lot of creativity on my part to get the desired results that they are looking for.

Q. What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A. What are the best foods to eat and what are the best exercises to lose weight or to build muscle? The best foods to eat are whole grains, fruits and vegetables along with lean cuts of meat, fish and polutry. The best exercises to lose weight or build muscle are multi joint and use multiple muscles at the same time. A few examples of exercises that use multiple joints and multiple muscles are squats, bench presses, pushups, pullups, deadlifts, etc. Depending on the load and rep range, these exercises can help to build muscle mass and lose weight. They help with building muscle because you are using multiple muscles at one time so you get more out of the exercise than just doing an isolation exercise (i.e. a chest flye, leg extension, etc.). Also, since multiple joint exercises use more muscles, you burn more calories overall.

Q. Do you have a favorite story from your work?

A. Over the past year, I have been working with a former All American football player from Penn State. Matt came to me weighing in at 345 lbs last October. In the span of less than a year, Matt lost 84 lbs! He was not a gym junky but lifted only because of football. So I devised a plan that worked for him and that contained lots of cardio. Matt now weighs 255 lbs at 6'6 and looks awesome. I must point out that he did all of this while traveling constantly and living out of state and seeing me maybe once a month. If he can do it, anyone can!

Q. What do you wish customers knew about you or your profession?

A. I wish that customers knew that I take my profession seriously and that I'm not a person that counts reps all day and is an all or nothing gym rat.

Q. Tell us about a recent job you did that you are particularly proud of.

A. I have been working with a former Penn State All American lineman who had balloneed in weight since he left college. I set him up with a dietitian that I work with since he is type 1 diabetic and devised a cardio and resistance training program that would help him to lose weight and improve his cardiovascular conditioning. He came to us weighing in at 360 lbs late October 2010 and just weighed in last week at 278.8 lbs! You know what gets me so amped about his story because he does not live in the Washington DC area and he followed the program and the goals that the dietitian and I had set up for him and he is losing the weight without us being there physically! He is a new person physically and mentally because of the program!

Q. Do you do any sort of continuing education to stay up on the latest developments in your field?

A. Yes, I do a lot of continuing education work. I will read a variety of college textbooks dealing with biomechanics, anatomy, periodization, nutrition and strength and conditioning. I also do more continuing education that is required of me because I really love reading the research and also because I want to be the best at what I do. My continuing education comes from but not limited to regional and national conferences, research papers and recent college textbooks, online proficiency tests and exams.

Q. What are the latest developments in your field? Are there any exciting things coming in the next few years or decade that will change your line of business?

A. The latest developments in the fitness and strength and conditioning industry are the high intensity interval workouts. These workouts were for a long time only reserved for professional or olympic athletes because the thinking was that these athletes were the only ones who could endure such tough, mental and physical workouts. Also, high intensity interval training has helped endurance athletes to cut back on their endurance training and has increased their performance. With the new advances in social media and technology, you can train clients online, find new, prospective clients online, etc. As new research and the industry finds out more about the human body and its capabilities, more opportunities will become available to current and future trainers. Healthcare will become more holistic instead of being comprised of individual components.

Q. If you were advising someone who wanted to get into your profession, what would you suggest?

A. I would suggest that a person reads college textbooks or books from Human Kinetics and others on biomechanics, anatomy, kineseology, physiology so that they have an understanding of the body and how it works. If you are in college, major in one of the fields mentioned above. If you are out of college and have a degree, read all the books you can about the body and how it works. Have your first certification be one that has a hands on approach for studying for the exam. This will help you especially if you have questions about anything and you don't know what you are doing. Getting certified is only the first step, the next step is to keep learning and continue to read and learn as much as possible so that you can be the best in your field.