Is your personal trainer trying to kill you?

“Push it! Push it!” I’ve heard more personal trainers yell that at their clients than I care to remember. It was the last thing my personal trainer at LA Fitness said to me right before I nearly ruptured cartilage in my knee. He was coming to the gym to gain some muscle, being a skinny guy, and I quickly signed up for a year of personal training. The plan of attack was to live heavy and eat more.

But each workout was more painful than the next. Until finally I was instructed to squat almost my entire body weight without even warming up much. When I complained about the pain, they told me to “push”. and spent the next three days barely able to walk.

I gave up my membership and gave up strength training, until I got a new roommate in my apartment. Josh worked at a local gym that he had never heard of, and he told me that he could get me from my scrawny 120 pounds to 160 in 6 months. I said “Yeah, sure!” thinking this would mean devouring 4 bowls of pasta a day, bench pressing my own body weight, and limping to work every day.

But Josh said no, and proceeded to blow me away by telling me things about most personal trainers and working out that I never knew. For one, I never realized that most personal trainers take a really simple test before they become “certified.” No extensive schooling or experience is required. It’s like taking a driving test. He also told me about the techniques and procedures used by professional athletes and said that most personal trainers are years behind the best information.

I didn’t believe Josh until I started working out at his gym. They told me to throw out my protein supplements, increase my water intake, and avoid heavy lifting. Instead, we did a lot of intensive movement training. The other weird thing was the warm up. Usually my trainers told me to ride my bike for 5 minutes and then do some normal stretches. Touch my toes, etc. and holding it for 20 seconds or more.

To my surprise, Josh told me that that kind of stretching before you work out is bad for you. And that professional athletes haven’t been doing that since 1999. He told me that that kind of stretching really hurts if you do it before a workout.

Instead, we did something called a dynamic warm-up. Constant gentle stretching that looked weird but felt great. I found that the more I did this warm up, the more ready I felt to exercise, the less sore and more elastic in my legs. Combined with the great holistic workouts that Jeremy and Josh put together, I went from 120lbs to 138lbs in just 3 months. And all that weight was muscle!

I have never weighed so much, and it feels amazing. The best thing is that the weight gain is natural and aligned with my body. No bread, no strain. Just a great workout from guys who know what they’re talking about.

So now I always question the experience of a personal trainer unless they are very experienced or can produce results with people without killing them. Another key factor is dynamic warm-up. After experiencing the difference it made, I believe all personal trainers should learn a full dynamic warmup and teach it to their clients. Once I started doing dynamic stretching, the pain in my body started to go away and I stopped injuring myself.

If your personal trainer doesn’t know what a dynamic warmup is, or doesn’t teach you how to do it, I would question their expertise. In any case, be careful if your personal trainer pushes you too hard. Make sure you listen to your body and do what comes naturally to you. Losing weight or gaining muscle is great, but it’s not worth getting hurt for. Make sure to be kind to yourself as you pursue your fitness goals.