How do I find a good trainer?

Because this is a holiday week, I’m going to use this newsletter to collect some old responses from a post on how to find a trainer (or powerlifting coach, or strength coach, etc.). I’m often suggesting that people find trainers in response to their questions, which leads them to ask “but WHERE and HOW and WHO.” We got many helpful comments on this matter!

But first, before digging into the tips, I just wanted to do a little back-of-the-envelope math. I know trainers seem (are) ridiculously expensive. But I have a lot of respect for what they do, because the economics of personal service are tricky!

Let’s say a trainer charges $50 an hour. If they see clients an hour each, 8 hours of the day, 5 days a week, that’s $2,000 a week, or just cracking $100,000 a year. That’s a very decent living, as long as you don’t live in any major city (which are locations that usually index high for personal trainers).

But! A trainer almost certainly can’t train eight people a day, every day. That’s a lot of physical labor. Plus, they need time to set up and reset their spaces; time to write programming or communicate with clients (most people don’t see a trainer for every workout; once a week is more common); time for administrative work; time for linking/building/networking/recruiting new clients. Plus, their money is not all cream: They have to rent space, or pay a tithe to a gym so they can train people there. If they have their own space, they have to buy and maintain equipment. If they can only physically train clients half their working hours, suddenly this $50/hour trainer is down to $50,000 a year. And that’s before any of their other expenses.

If the trainer charges $100 an hour, now we’re getting back to a decent living wage. But fewer people will book them less frequently the more they charge, which means higher client turnover, which means they may need to spend even more time marketing themselves and finding new clients.

My other point here is that, if you’re a decently well-liked trainer, you hit a ceiling of how many clients you can possibly manage pretty quickly (20 people if they train half their working hours, 40 if they did it all their working hours). It’s not uncommon to see popular trainers charge exorbitant prices, but trainers are ultimately pretty limited in their capacity, in terms of energy and schedule. If they want to do more than squeak by, one of the only levers they can pull is a higher rate.

My larger point here is, I know trainers are expensive. But unless you are rolling in money and need a personal servant to drag you out of bed and make you work out three times a week, that’s not really what trainers are for, for us mortals. That’s a rich-person trainer. You can have a normal-person trainer. Let us not confuse them. Plus, the economics of one-on-one work just are a bit tough. Don't be hard on yourself for spending this money on your health or hobby.

That said: A good, normal-person trainer will teach you how to fish, so to speak. Fuck a trainer who runs you through a super-complicated workout, shaking their head their whole time, who then says at the end “wow—you’re in WAY worse shape than I thought.” A good trainer listens to what you want out of your sessions, especially if it’s to learn some skills you can practice on your own. A good trainer knows how to teach you almost anything within the scope of what can be done in a regular gym, including all the big basic heavy lifts. A good trainer would also be happy to check in with you once a month or so, versus insist that you need constant supervision. These are reasonable things to expect of a trainer, without having to pay them $250 every week.

It may feel like all the good trainers are expensive or taken, but it’s an increasingly popular field with newcomers all of the time. My biggest tip would be to dig into Instagram or TikTok, if you must, and see who trainers you like follow. See who those people follow, or who follows them, on and on down the food chain til you start seeing people in your price range.

You also don’t have to have a one-on-one trainer. More and more gyms are starting to offer basic strength-training classes (especially now that more of them have racks and barbells!). You can also do/search for “semi-private” training in your area, where you and a small group of people are basically sharing the cost of the trainer’s time. Also, check your local gyms, even ask at the front desk, and specify what you want. There may be trainers affiliated with the gym, or a guy just may know a guy.

I know this all sounds like more work than anyone wants to do, but hey—it’s the perfect way to be working on your fitness, without even having to be working out at all.

And now, here are some more tips from our wonderful community of She’s A Beast readers.

The two best trainers I’ve had both approached their “intake” in a similar way— the first step in coming on board was to meet with them to discuss goals, philosophy, etc. Then they encouraged me to think about what we’d discussed and get back in touch if I wanted to schedule. I think this the mark of a self-aware, confident trainer. They freely shared information, were good listeners, could speak to their personal philosophy and there was absolutely no pressure to sign up with them in the moment. In my experience, these are signs of a great trainer. Good luck! -Mari

to me the biggest q is are they hearing and responding to your goals, or are they telling you why their goals are better? Like if you are saying "I just want to explore in the gym and come up with something that feels strong" and their response is FAT BLASTER 50000 (or whatever), that's a bad match. They might say "you know, I'm more an xyz trainer, I don't know if we'll match" but I think that's different. -Ariel F

Some questions a good coach should ask you prior to taking you as a client:

• what are your goals?
• how do you define progress? IE what could we accomplish in the next 12 weeks that would move you towards those goals?
• what communication cadence/method are you looking for?

Their response to your answers should be an explanation of why there’s a fit. IOW they know how to guide a client towards meeting goals like yours, y’all have a mutually acceptable definition of progress, and they can support your preferred type and frequency of check-ins. -Troy Coll

Get really clear on your goals, make a list (I like lists!), this can help you figure out if one coach/trainer will be able to help you with all your needs. Most trainers have little to no training with nutrition so if fat loss is a goal, adding a nutritionist to the mix might be helpful. Also, the best trainers I’ve had in my life started our relationship with a 30min intake where we just talked about exercise history, workout goals etc. it helped us get on the same page and made me feel supported. -Hannah

Honestly a big thing for me is finding someone who I feel comfortable enough with to communicate my needs and who I trust to honor those needs. My trainer is constantly making modifications on the spot based on my feedback and knows when pushing me will be beneficial but when I need to pull back a little bit she is my #1 supporter in that, too. Also I genuinely like her as a person and enjoy spending time with her even when she makes me do sleds, haha. That helps immensely because I genuinely look forward to out sessions and makes it feel less like something I HAVE to do and more like something I WANT to do. -Sarah

A first sign I look for before reaching out to a trainer is diversity in their past and current clientele! Do they work with people of different ages, genders, ability levels, goals etc. It signals they’re experienced with program personalization and a variety of people trust them. -Megan

I really like my trainer atm so hopefully some of this is useful. Our first meeting, we just chatted for about 20 mins about why I was there and what I wanted. Then we talked through what kind of exercise I had enjoyed in the past and what kinds of things I expected to do. Then we set short (one month), medium (three months) and longer term (six months) goals. Then he sent me away and about two days later we met up again when he had a programme for me.

I’ve been with him since August and I’m just starting the third different programme he’s done up for me because my needs/goals have changed over that time and I’m getting a better feel for things.

Every time he adds a new exercise for me, he shows me how to do it and then watches me do a full set and corrects anything I am doing wrong until I have it right. I’m a weightlifting rookie so for anything with a bar he makes me do it with no weights for the first week so I can get the technique right first. It really helps my confidence.

Also he told me to stop doing so much cardio because I was losing too much weight too soon. I’m still overweight but he wants to keep the focus on building strength rather than losing weight, which is a very helpful mindset and gives me the permission to think that way too. Also he is just generally really supportive and fun to talk to, which makes a big difference. -Kevin

I've had five trainers over the past 8 years and by far the best ones understand your goals and are realistic with you about how to achieve them. I refused to do cardio for the first five years and the best trainer I ever had finally told me it wasn't possible to achieve what I wanted unless I incorporated. And she was right, I needed the endurance to lift more in the time we had together. It also helps to be extremely specific with your goals- when I started, I only wanted to be able to lift a suitcase above my head for carry on and take the trash out with ease. My goal now is to bench 75 and not feel like I'm dying when I do orange theory.

Red flags: they don't do a body scan/take measurements before developing a plan, don't ask about your diet, don't pay close attention to what you're capable of in the first session, don't share observations about where you are after the first session and where you need to be, don't share the logic behind what they're asking you to do (i.e. the difference between push/pull, developing grip, etc), they apply a universal workout technique to you. If someone uses their phone during the session hire someone else- you can get hurt if they look away. -Katy

These are all great suggestions (lists! listeners! experience with different ages and abilities!) My suggestion is a bit different: I go to a gym that does small group training (not Crossfit, just strength with an emphasis on big lifts) limited to 5 people each with their own racks. There is a staff of ~5 trainers who rotate through and I have benefited enormously from working with all of them. One is really focused on form, another on pushing me through strength plateaus, etc. It's not always possible but it led me to think about finding the right trainer like dating – it's ok to do a few sessions with different people because maybe you won't know until you work with them for awhile what works for you. Also if you are in a place with a model like this (small group, rotating trainers), maybe consider it. -Ellen