Ben Carpenter, Personal Fitness Trainer
www.bcpersonaltraining.co.uk
Personal Trainers are like any service in this world- you get the good, the bad and the ugly. Here are some simple tips to see if your PT is worth the money you give them.
1. They talk the talk but do not walk the walk. Does your Personal Trainer actually look like they are in a position to give you advice? Fat trainers giving advice on leaning down for a competition, skinny trainers talking about bulking up. Take advice from someone who looks like they can do what they are telling you. On a side note it is very common for PTs to take steroids. Some of the most out of shape trainers I know do. This doesn’t mean they know nothing but take their advice with a pinch of salt.
2. They don’t write anything down. They should be recording your exercises, weights and reps at the very least. Without knowing this they are missing crucial information they need to design your programme.
3. They don’t time your rest intervals. This is extremely common and mostly comes down to them not knowing why they would need to. You can shift a lot of workouts from strength training to muscle building to endurance workouts simply by changing the amount of rest you have. This can’t be overlooked.
4. Exercises are based around what looks good. Trainers getting clients hopping over benches with twists or medicine ball reaches on a bosu ball often attract attention. Some people actually use this to try and get business. The vast majority of entertainment exercises are simply that, entertaining at best.
5. They talk to you during your set. Your time in the gym is precious, you need to get the most out of every set you can. Your Personal Trainer chatting to you off topic (not counting reps or tempo) is a hindrance.
6. They talk to you about their personal problems. Knowing a bit about them can build up rapport but there is a very fine line! You are paying them for a service and are not there to sympathise with them.
7. They check their phone/talk to friends while they are with you. You are again paying them for their time, it needs to be on you.
8. They don’t have a track record of delivering results. I am sure that if potential clients had the chance to meet previous clients it would make a huge impact on their decision to use the 
trainer. I frequently meet people who have spent months (even years) with a PT and have nothing to show for it. Literally no sign of improvement at all. In my opinion these people should be granted a refund.
9. They don’t work on nutrition or lifestyle. These factors can literally make or break your success in the gym. A poor diet can render your training efforts useless! Why would your Personal Trainer not go through this with you? Can you afford for them not to?
Terrific work! This is the type of information that should be shared around the web. Shame on the search engines for not positioning this post higher!