Be ready to ask the tough questions.

Getting in shape takes time. It's confusing, and there's a lot of bad information out there. That's where people like me come in. My job is to find out what a client wants, build a program and help them get there.

But writing a check to a trainer doesn't fix anything by itself. Here's what most trainers won't volunteer.

Our celebrity clients shouldn't impress you. You're probably not headlining a Hollywood movie, so the workout that got somebody ready for one isn't built for you. Look instead for people who've reached a goal like yours, and find out who they worked with. A referral from a neighbor tells you more than a famous name on a website.

You don't need to pay for a full hour to get a full hour of work. When I started in 2000, trainers booked everyone in one-hour blocks. We stood there for every minute of it, including the warmup and the cooldown. That turned out to be less necessary than we thought. A good trainer can show you how to warm up on your own, spend 30 focused minutes with you on the part that actually needs coaching, then leave you to finish your cardio and stretching. Start there. Move up to 45 or 60 minutes only after you've run out of things to fix in 30.

Ask what certification they hold, and whether it's accredited. Anyone can print a certificate. What matters is whether the certifying body is accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies, which is the standard NASM, ACE, ACSM and NSCA all meet.

Ask to see current CPR and AED training too, and ask whether they carry liability insurance. A trainer who has all three will answer in about ten seconds. A trainer who doesn't will change the subject.

Any trainer worth hiring spends the first meeting asking questions. What do you want, what have you tried, what hurts, what does a normal week look like. At some point they'll assess what your body can currently do. If someone puts you straight into a workout without either conversation, they're guessing.

Watch what happens when they recommend a product. At many gyms the trainer takes a cut of what they sell. That doesn't make every recommendation suspect. It does mean you should ask: do you make money if I buy this? Then decide what the answer is worth.

A related one. A trainer handing you a meal plan is working outside what a certification covers. Nutrition guidance in general terms is fine. A prescribed diet is a dietitian's job, and a good trainer knows where that line sits.

Ask what happens to your money. Almost nobody brings this up before you've paid. Do sessions expire? What happens to the ones you've prepaid if your trainer leaves, or if the gym closes? Is any of it refundable if you get hurt or move? Trainers change jobs constantly and gyms close more often than you'd think. Get the answer in writing before you buy a package, not after.

Experience matters, but who's checking their work matters more. A trainer running independently answers to nobody. Their program design, their cueing, their judgment about when to push and when to back off, all of it goes unreviewed. That's fine once they've built up a few years of their own experience. It's a real gap early on.

A trainer working on a team usually has someone more experienced looking over their programs and colleagues on the floor to catch what they miss. So ask who reviews their work. If the answer is nobody, you want more years behind them.

For what it's worth, I run a gym with a team of trainers, so take that last one knowing which side of it I'm on.

None of these are fitness questions. Every one of them asks a trainer to say something that costs them a little, whether that's a commission, a longer session or an admission that nobody checks their work. Ask all seven. How they answer matters less than whether they flinch.

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10/26/2019
Updated 9/10/2026