How To Pick Your Personal Trainer

personal trainer

How do you pick a good personal trainer?

Whether you know it or not, you are getting into a pretty unique kind of relationship.

I believe it’s a privileged position to be in because you’re putting your body in your trainer’s hands and we are going to spend a lot of time together!

So making sure you get it right and trusting that they can lead you to where you want to be is crucial.

Not only that, you are going to invest your hard earned cash so you need to get get value for money!

So it is not a decision to be made lightly.

September is a great time of year to start your journey if you have just come back from holiday and weren’t looking and feeling the way you wanted to.

Here is my guide to picking your personal trainer.

1) Care & Comfort

I know it is a nerve wracking thing to sit down in front of a complete stranger and start telling them why you are so unhappy with your body and health.

So from your initial meeting, you need your potential personal trainer to put you at ease. Leaving you feeling comfortable to explain the issues you are facing and why the journey you are starting is so important to you.

The biggest thing they can do then is listen and empathise.




2) Professionalism

Part of showing care, which should really be unspoken, is the level of professionalism your personal trainer displays.

For some reason, perhaps how relatively young the industry is and the low barrier to entry, peoples’ expectations of personal trainers seem to be very low.

I would ask you to expect the same level of professionalism you would from any other health care practitioner.

Can you imagine:

  • your doctor forgetting to turn up for your appointment?
  • the dentist chatting away to their assistant whilst doing a complicated procedure?
  • your hairdresser with scissors in one hand, coffee in the other?
  • a bus driver texting on their phone whilst behind the wheel?

And so on.

Then why accept these things from your personal trainer? 

You and your body deserve nothing less than the best!

3) Don’t judge a book by it’s cover…only!

This is a big one.

Most personal trainers get into the business because they often have a strong interest in fitness already. Or have played sport to a high level.

These people have usually been in great shape for most of their lives and are naturally inclined to being that way.

But often in spite of their training not because of it!

Looking good themselves is ZERO indication of whether they have any idea of where you are at and how to help guide you towards where you want to go.

What worked for them, may not (probably won’t) work for you. In fact being advised to copy how they do it could be both ineffective and even dangerous all at once.

All of that said, it is important that your personal trainer does walk the path you are trying to because they need to be able to relate to what they are asking of you.

It is also always good to have inspiration right in front of you! My aim is to be aspirational and attainable at the same time.

Always ensuring my audio – what I say, matches the video – what I look like.

4) Your Personal Trainer must have a proven track record

No matter how caring, how professional and how much they live the life, your personal trainer needs to be able to show that they have helped people like you reach the same goals you have.


The way I help people certainly does transfer into other areas of their lives but I’m a specialist in one primary thing – getting you lean, fit and healthy once and for all!

5) A clear, measurable thought process

Lastly, your potential personal trainer must be able to explain how they are going to help you achieve what you want and why it will work. This will give you the reassurance that you are making the right choice. Along with an insight into what will be required and expected along the way.

If they talk about the latest trends, fads or styles of training or just want to get on the gym floor right away –

Run a mile in the opposite direction!

These always have to be replaced with another down the line, leaving you and your body with no consistency.

This exposes their superficial knowledge level based on external protocols and opinion. What you need them to have is a deeper knowledge of the internal laws of how your body works.

How to influence it positively and sustainably.

They should also be able to describe how they will track and measure that you are actually making progress. If you aren’t progressing the way you want, your trainer has the ability to make adjustments to your path if needed, which is imperative.


By following these steps you will be have a clear guide to picking the right personal trainer for you.

Don’t rush the decision as it is a big investment in your time, energy and money (click here if you want to find out how much a personal trainer costs).

Most importantly you need to invest your faith that they are the right person to lead you to the vision you have for yourself and your body.

If you feel I may be a good fit for you, I would love to hear from you!