1. Education & Certifications

Are you educated in the field and certified? There are many degrees and certifications for personal trainers, so it’s not always easy to sort out the good from the mediocre. The world of fitness, nutrition, and health is evolving quickly and staying current is important.

2. You Perform Assessments

A competent, qualified and great personal trainer not only has a plan, but they document a client’s progress. No competent trainer should consider training a client without a thorough baseline fitness assessment, and regular progress checks.

3. You Focus on Progression & Rest

After you’ve completed an assessment and having a discussion about client goals, history, and lifestyle, a great trainer will do some additional homework. You should spend time reviewing your client’s fitness assessment results, their daily commitments, and overall goals, and prepare a detailed training plan.

4. You Don’t Ignore Nutrition

A good trainer recognizes that a huge part of building muscle, losing fat and being healthy is based on what you consume. Unless your clients are planning on hours of cardio every day, what they eat matters. A great trainer will spend time talking with clients about their nutrition plan, provide a basic meal plan and a realistic, achievable nutritional approach to eating.

Learn more about healthy eating and nutrition in the Fitness Nutrition Coach course.

5. You Walk the Talk

Are you constantly snacking on chips or regularly eating fast food? Red flag. A great personal trainer will practice what they preach, care about their health and set a good example. Of course, you don’t need to be physical perfection; however, a great personal trainer should be healthier, stronger, and generally fitter than the general population.

6. You Have Client Testimonials

A great personal trainer has happy, successful clients and can prove it. You should be able to demonstrate a history of previous successes with a variety of clients. Qualified trainers should be more than happy to have new clients talk to previous and current clients.

7. You BELIEVE in Your Clients

If you don’t believe in your clients, reaching their goals will be a lot more difficult. Your clients have hired you because they don’t want to go it alone, right? A really great trainer will take it to the next level. A great personal trainer will help their clients learn to believe in themselves and clients uncover their strengths and motivation. A great trainer will also provide clients with the tools to change their beliefs, grow their confidence, and uncover their motivation to continually choose healthy behaviors outside of training sessions.

Learn more about becoming a Certified Personal Fitness Trainer