I bought dh 3 personal trainer sessions a while back. He went to one… but is currently highly NOT motivated, so I’m going to use them… and have an appt. for Tuesday.

I’m sort of excited… and I’m not sure what I want out of it… since I’m mostly using it so that the don’t it go to “waste”. But I talked to trainer yesterday and he said to bring in all the PT knee exercises and he really seemed to hear my concern that I was already devoting (too much?) time to my left knee and am ambivalent about adding more time.

I’ve got a sheet of paper and every time I think of a question, I write it down…

What questions do wish you had asked? Or if you are a trainer (Brie!), what questions do you like to get?

Also, do I tip him? I tip ski instructors… because that’s how they make most of their $$. One time dh got a massage at a health club and they had a very strict policy of no tipping… But this isn’t exactly massage…! Should I tip at the end of the 3 weeks… I’m really not sure of the cultural norm here…

Thanks!

So glad to hear that you had a good session Denise! : )

I went today.

The best thing was he helped me adjust the 3 leg machines so that I can do each leg independently with just the right or left leg.

Eight weeks ago, I tried to do the machines at the Y with just one leg and I couldn't do it... The machines at PT were very low tech and you can put very small amounts of weight on the machines. The machines at the Y have computers inside... and the min weight that you have to start with on the leg press machine is 70 lbs and I couldn't do that much weight with just my left leg 8 weeks ago, and today I could, so that is some happy news .

On all 3 leg machines, I could lift twice as much with my right as with my left leg... which sort of bummed me out. But I guess that is my reality right now...

He tested my body fat using a bioelectrical impedance - pretty much like a hand held version of a Tanita scale.

It came up 23.7% fat.

When I do it at: http://www.biofitness.com/bodyfat.html

I come up 23.4% fat - so that it pretty darn close!

If it isn't "adjusted" for my advanced age of 47... It comes up 21.3% fat... not sure why the current should flow thru my fat differently now that I'm older... oh well! It is still a good number.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: GoingSkiing,

I've only had 3 sessions with a personal trainer at my gym and they were all free. One was an introductory "Here's how you use the machines." session when I joined and the other two were for tips on my weight-lifting form and such. I never thought about tipping her (not because she wasn't good but because it just never occurred to me). I have never seen anyone tipping the trainers at my gym but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen discreetly and I just don't notice it.

I haven't heard of tipping a personal trainer. It is possible that around the holidays if you were to stay with him....maybe giving him a tip, would be okay. I don't think it is a norm to tip the trainer.

I'm still with my trainer, I do it mostly to help keep my focus, but I also continue to learn new things. I see her probably about 3 times a month now. Usually one week out of the month is skipped due to scheduling.

I am upfront with my trainer. If the exercise causes to much pain or I am comfortable then I tell her. While she does push me some, if an exercise is really uncomfortable, she will find a modification or we will do something else. It's funny, I hate the treadmill and I am afraid of falling on them, because I have before. She had me get on the treadmill just once... I survived the 5 minutes, but we went really slow... she has never had me on since. Of course now that I have said that, she will probably ask me to get on it this week. LOL

This might seem very obvious, but I looked at my sessions with a trainer as ways to educate myself so that I would be able to have a better routine independent of a trainer. I say this because my neighbor sees her trainer as a taskmaster and seems happy to pay her 4X/week to "push" her.
I wanted to learn skills, moves, tips, tools. I don't want to pay someone to work me out. I want to know what I need to know specific to my level of fitness. (My hope is that at some point I will hire a trainer again when my fitness level takes another jump or gradually increases to the point where I am not sure how to challenge myself correctly.)

Denise

Thanks for the good laugh ; )

Working out at home definitely has it's benefits and it's problems ; )


If you are going to be going to the Y, have your trainer show you as many free weight exercises as possible. You'll be limited with what you can do with your lower body because of your knee but you can do most upper body work seated.

quote:

Originally posted by Bee:
My boss actually had a client throw up and pass out on him because the client wasn't willing to say that it was too much for him.

I'm sort of a stand up broad... but not to the point of puking!!!

quote:

As for tipping, at least in my neck of the woods people don't tip.

bummer for you...

Actually, I've been doing about 3-4 days at the Y... since it is literally a 5 min walk from my house... and I've been discharged from PT... Been using the stationary bike and 3 leg machines.

Athough I do like the elliptical in the garage, what I REALLY like in the garage is the big honkin' fan, set on high and pointed only at me... and I can exercise in my underwear... and not the nice ones... until Nelson comes home from work unexpectedly and opens the garage door and puts me on view for the neighbors.

quote:

Originally posted by GoingSkiing:
What questions do wish you had asked? Or if you are a trainer (Brie!), what questions do you like to get?

Also, do I tip him? I tip ski instructors… because that’s how they make most of their $$. One time dh got a massage at a health club and they had a very strict policy of no tipping… But this isn’t exactly massage…! Should I tip at the end of the 3 weeks… I’m really not sure of the cultural norm here…

Thanks!

Denise

If I recall correctly, you do most of your exercising at home (other than PT). If you are going to continue that, you may want to ask your trainer how to adapt the exercises he is showing you so that you can do them at home.

Another question I would recommend asking is how you can increase the level of difficulty of the exercise so you know what to change when it is no longer challenging.

The most important thing is to be honest with your trainer and give accurate feedback to how you are feeling throughout the workout. If you don't feel like you are working hard enough, let the trainer know. If you feel like you are going to fall over, let the trainer know ; ) My boss actually had a client throw up and pass out on him because the client wasn't willing to say that it was too much for him.

As for tipping, at least in my neck of the woods people don't tip.

Hope you have 2 great sessions!

quote:

Originally posted by Sheltieguy:
If I was going to be an obnoxious smart aleck

There's one in every crowd...

Don't think dh would appreciate me cuddling with the personal trainer... And I'm not very flirtatious... And I don’t have gobs of people flirting with me… but then you have seen my exercise/grocery shopping outfit, haven’t you…????

I might have to pull out my better outfit that I wore to PT… Wore the T-shirt I got from GrrlScout… “Fall Down 7 Times, Get Up 8!” Seemed appropriate to wear to PT . Other people wore shirts with various slogans about pain on them.

And I wore shorts that hopefully others couldn’t see my underpants… but I always wore my good underpants just in case. Sometimes people end up in unusual positions in PT, stretching and what not… and I saw quite a few undies. Wanted to pull some people aside and say, “Psssst…. Might not want to wear those again…”

quote:

...I’m really not sure of the cultural norm here...

If I was going to be an obnoxious smart aleck , I would say that if you want to cuddle the personal trainer, a tip is mandatory.

To answer your last question first, I put my trainers in the once-a-year, generous-holiday-tip category. But if you're not going to stay with this trainer that long, you may want to think about a tip when your three sessions are over. Kind of up to you.

What I like about my trainers is that they listen to ME. They ask about my goals, what other workouts I'm doing, how hard I want them to push me, and what else is going on in my life. Then they incorporate that into our sessions, which are different every time.

I worked with another trainer a few years ago who really did nothing more than accompany me through exactly the same circuit every session. Sure, she watched my form and suggested that I was ready to increase the weight or the reps, but I didn't get very much out of that approach. Then again, I didn't know any better at the time.

You may want to ask how this trainer will design your workouts and how he will measure your progress. What would he suggest you do between sessions to make the most of your training? What's his approach to getting the best out of you -- drill sargeant? favorite professor? parent? coach?

I've generally steered clear of nutrition questions because my trainers got their education in exercise physiology, but I have asked their advice about eating before and after sessions -- how long before? how soon after?

Most important, just have fun. If it isn't fun, there's not much point.

Let us know how it goes.