3 Must-Ask Questions for Your Personal Trainer

In this eye-opening episode of the HealthSpan PhysioCoaching podcast, Aaron Shaw pulls back the curtain on the personal training industry, revealing the shocking truth about why so many people fail to meet their health and fitness goals—or worse, end up injured. With nearly 30 years of experience as an occupational therapist, certified hand therapist, and strength coach, Aaron shares insider tips on how to choose the right fitness professional. Learn the top three questions you must ask when interviewing a personal trainer and discover why most trainers are not qualified to guide you safely toward your goals. Aaron explains why you might not need a personal trainer at all—but rather a coach who can offer long-term guidance, personalized programming, and support through your fitness journey. Tune in to arm yourself with the knowledge to avoid common pitfalls and set yourself up for success!

Keywords: Personal Trainer, Fitness Coach, Healthspan, Injury Prevention, Fitness Industry, Workout Safety, Certified Trainer, Personal Training Tips, Long-Term Fitness Success, Exercise Guidance

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Transcript

Aaron Shaw (00:00)
Nothing is more disappointing to me than seeing somebody who is trying to meet their health and fitness goals. One, not meet their goals or worse getting injured in the process. Today we're going to talk about the right questions to ask when interviewing a personal trainer to make sure one that you meet your goals and two that you don't get hurt along the way. My name is Aaron Shaw. I am from HealthSpan PhysioCoaching and for almost 30 years I have been working as

an occupational therapist and a certified hand therapist, which means I basically specialize in shoulder, arm and hand injuries from people who do get hurt. And I'm also a strength coach. So I'm a certified strength and conditioning specialist. So what I can do is wear both of those hats, dive into the science. live by the science of performance and injury and injury recovery and returning back to activity. And I work with a lot of people who have been injured.

despite trying their best to start an exercise routine or restart an exercise routine, restart a healthy lifestyle and they get hurt. And not always, but often it's even when they're working with a personal trainer. For example, I just discharged somebody with pretty, she had pretty significant elbow tendonitis. We would call it tennis elbow, even though she didn't play tennis, but she had significant elbow pain that lasted

probably for a month or two before I saw her. And I worked with her for three or four months to kind of finally work through this process. And it really started with her starting an exercise program. She worked with a personal trainer. She picked her personal trainer because he was available at the gym down the street, which is probably the worst way to start working with a personal trainer is just purely out of convenience and nothing else.

This woman was 46 years old or is 46 years old, otherwise healthy. little, she wanted to lose a little bit of weight. she's a mom, worked as a paralegal, very smart, very motivated. And she, like many of us in middle age, really wanted to kind of get a grasp on her overall life. So she, physicality and, you know, healthspan. And so she reached out to her local personal trainer. And because the personal trainer did not.

follow a proper, what we would call a preparatory phase for this woman, like didn't start her off slow enough, she ended up getting hurt. She ended up overdoing it too fast too soon. So what we're going to talk about today are the top three questions you should be asking a personal trainer, either a new personal trainer, if you're looking for one, for interviewing, if you're kind of scouting around, or two, if you have a personal trainer or a coach, ask them these questions. If they are

really passionate and skilled and well -versed in their craft, they should love to have the conversation about these particular questions I'm going to encourage you to ask. Let's start from the top. My name is Aaron Shaw. I am from HealthSpan PhysioCoaching.

I still to this day work several days in a clinic and that involves a lot of tendonitis, lot of slips and falls and broken bones and people from all walks of life, including people like the patient I just mentioned who is doing her best to be as healthy as possible and gets smacked down with an injury despite best of intentions. I also do coaching. I've got a handful of coaching clients, many that I've had for many years.

I get to work with people not only as they've been injured, but many people I've been working with for years who are on the, you know, this long journey of a robust healthspan, the length of time within our lifespan that we are healthy, active, and vibrant. But I want to start off by talking about the personal training industry or the health and fitness industry overall. And from the top, we just have to acknowledge that.

anybody can call themselves a personal trainer. And like any other discipline, any other credentials, there's a wide range of skills of personal trainers. Some are amazing. Some have never been to college. Some have never really had a whole lot of formal training, but are brilliant. And I would trust with any of my clients and others, unfortunately, many, many others.

are unqualified to really work with people, you know, in the broad sense, or may just be not a good fit for specific people. For example, this woman that I just spoke of, middle -aged woman, otherwise pretty healthy, she ended up working with somebody who was much more accustomed to working with younger, athletic people who were

very sports oriented. So this woman was put on the same basic program of a person that was half her age, still competing in some sports, and it was inappropriate for this woman to be on this program. That's the bottom line. So was not a good call by this personal trainer. So what we're going to go over is a simple question, series of questions that you can talk to your personal trainer about or a potential personal trainer to make sure that you find

the right match for you, somebody who's gonna be inspiring to you and keep you on a safe, healthy path to your goals. Number one, first question is, what are your qualifications and certifications? So the purpose of asking this question is really just to make sure that this person has proper training to provide safe training. So as I started to say,

Anybody can kind of call themselves a personal trainer. It's not regulated unlike, you know, many other professions. For example, you can't call yourself an occupational therapist or a physical therapist or an architect or a veterinarian or umpteen other, you know, job positions titles. If you haven't gone through a specific training program and many of these are all the ones I just listed have a national board exam, like a national.

bar that people have to pass this bar exam or board exam to demonstrate that they have qualifications to carry their credentials.

So you just can't wake up tomorrow and say, I'm going to call myself a physician. I'm going to call myself a physical therapist. If you haven't gone through the training program and passed the board exam, unlike personal training, you can wake up tomorrow and say, I'm going to be a personal trainer. And you can call yourself a personal trainer. You can print out business cards. You can charge people for personal training services, even if you don't know anything about personal training.

There is a risk and thankfully, or at least I'd like to think that that's a minority of people who just have no training and hang up a shingle and start trying to collect money and train people. But we want to make sure that the people that you would be working with have qualifications and certifications. So when you ask them this question, they should say, yep, I am certified through XYZ organizations. And you're to want to look for a certification that is through

a well -known and easy to find organization such as the National Strength and Conditioning Association, the American Council on Exercise, or the National Academy of Sports Medicine. These are three of several that are very well known. You should be able to look them up real quick online and see, really kind of like do your own homework and really kind of see what these organizations represent. And if you're personal trainer,

in the organization that they get their certification from, if that aligns with you, if it speaks to you. I would also ask, this is still part of like the main question here about their qualifications and certifications. I would ask them about what kind of continuing education they take. So all of those organizations that I spoke of have ongoing continuing education requirements. So you want to make sure that you are working with somebody that not only took an exam at some point, but

is forced, is obligated to maintain their credential that they have to take ongoing continuing education. as new science comes out, new techniques come out for training, that they are on point with that. So they know the latest things and things change. There are things that maybe 20 or 30 years ago, people could exercise a certain way and now they stop doing that because they realized that the exercise was not safe. Well, you want to make sure that somebody is

is clear on the dos and don'ts and what the latest science is. Extra credit, as far as qualifications and certifications, extra credit if somebody has taken the time to contribute to their organization, specifically in terms of if they speak at conferences or if they have written newsletters or published in, all of these organizations have journals that they send out to their members. so if you can find somebody,

This may be a little bit harder to find, but if you can find somebody that not only has certifications from a reputable organization, but also has taken the time to be active in their organization and done research, taking the time to write a paper or an article or a newsletter or something for their organization, that is a good person. That's the kind of person that you want to, that you know, or at least it seems, it seems to show that they are all in on their career.

probably a really good sign that they're going to be a good fit. I can tell you from personal experience, one of my colleagues and I have physical therapists that I worked with, also a strength coach as I am. We wrote a paper for the National Strength and Conditioning Association and I've written a couple of papers and they're all a challenge. It keeps you very honest about what you know and what you don't know, forces you to dig into the research. I sense writing that paper, this was many years ago now, but

Since writing that paper, it was five years ago, I treat shoulder strengthening a little bit different than I used to because I took the time to do a deep dive into, so specifically on shoulder injuries and shoulder strengthening. But when you work with somebody who's got qualifications from a reputable organization, takes continuing education, and certainly somebody goes the extra mile and puts extra work on their shoulders just to continue to learn more and share, that's a great person.

A red flag would be somebody who is a little bit wishy -washy about their qualifications. Can't tell you with a straight answer, you know, what they've really done for continuing education after getting certified. Or if they give you the name of an organization that you look up and you have a hard time looking it up or it looks kind of It may not be a good fit. The second question to ask a personal trainer to see if they are going to be a good fit for you is ask them how.

They create and adapt training programs for specific clients, for individual clients.

Anybody can provide a hard workout. Anybody can give any person a challenging workout that makes them sweat, that makes it difficult to do, but it does not mean that it is the right exercise for the right person. It does not mean that you are doing the right exercise. is custom and unique to you. So you'd want to find out if this person, if this trainer is, has some experience with adapting programs for somebody's

either previous injuries, specific goals for any trips or activities that somebody's really planning for down the road. So that could be somebody who's, you know, if they ever work with somebody who's planned big hiking trips or does skiing for part of the year, or, you know, specifically wants to lose weight or has a specific injury that they always got to work around. And if that person can speak to adapting a training plan,

And it sounds like somebody that could adapt around some of your specific, goals or injuries or your needs, then that would be a really good sign. You know, for example, I got a couple of clients, one fairly recently who had a knee injury, had a knee replacement. She's an avid skier. And so for a period of time, I really had to adapt the way we were doing strengthening one collaborating with our physical therapist for her knee, and then integrating a very gradual and very custom program.

for her to return post rehab back to skiing. Some clients, some of my clients are traveling part of the time, sometimes a lot of the time. So it's really trying to figure out how to coach this person when they're in a hotel part of the time. Some people have nutritional needs that are very specific. Have they ever worked with somebody who's trying to lose some weight but without zapping all their energy or do you have food allergies? So all of these are great things that a personal trainer that you're interviewing

should be able to speak to and give you examples of. The red flag for this is if somebody, if it sounds like they're giving out generic programs and they have, God forbid, the workout of the day or the WOD that every single person does the exact same workout. If you have no injuries and you have incredible body awareness and you're really good at keeping yourself in check, maybe that's okay.

But if you have specific needs, specific goals, you would want to have a specific plan. And that means that the workout that you have with your trainer may not be, and probably shouldn't be the exact same workout that the person before you or the person after you is having with your trainer. It should be very specific to you. So make sure that your trainer is adept at creating unique programs for individual needs. Just give some examples.

The third question is getting success stories or testimonials from previous clients.

The real way to kind of think about this is, can you give me an example of a client like me, starting out wherever I'm at right now, can you give an example of somebody like me who met the goals that I have?

And it is okay. there's no bad reflection on a personal trainer. If you realize through a conversation that you're not a good fit, not everybody, not every personal trainer is ideal for a potential client. For example, like I, if there was a, if there was a teenager who found me or an early 20 year old, something or other found me who was morbidly obese, had a bunch of medical problems.

no support team to help them through their medical issues and, needed somebody face to face to, you know, show up on the doorstep every day to help them train. I'm not going to be a good fit for that person. That's not what I do. Now I have the, you know, scientific understanding of what needs to be done, but I am not a good fit for that person. If somebody is, you know, middle -aged, really busy, maybe has some past injuries, maybe he's a little overweight.

maybe a little bit out of shape or maybe really out of shape, but really is motivated to follow a plan and is open to using technology, using video calls, using a smartphone app and having somebody like me, you know, in the palm of their hand to message and, you know, give them a pep rally and tell them what to do and what not to do. Great. That would be a good fit for me, but I can tell you as well, like back when I was in my clinic. So I have a

we have a performance clinic and there was a point in time where I was in the clinic every single day. And a big part of my caseload was working with coaching clients, training clients, one -on -one. And then I moved myself to a remote position and there were several coaching clients, training clients that instantly became not a good fit. Not because I didn't know how to program them, but it's because they needed

They wanted somebody face to face to work with them. That's great. It just means that we weren't a good fit. became, we went from being a good fit to not being a good fit. That's perfectly fine. I love those people, the biggest fans, but because something changed, we're not a good fit anymore. You want to make sure that your potential trainer has people that are just like, you're pretty darn close to you, success stories on helping people that you can completely relate to achieve their goals.

because if they've done it once or twice or 10 times, it's a good chance that they have a system that works for them, works for people like you. That's awesome. That's the kind of person you want to work with. It is a red flag. If they struggle to find a success story, struggle to find some references, if they have any sort of online presence, maybe they have some testimonials somewhere, those should be pretty readily available.

It's a bummer because I know that some people, some personal trainers are just starting out and we all have to have our first clients. So it's hard to kind of prove your worth if you're client number one, but in a sense, you know, nobody wants to be the first, you know, the first surgical patient for the surgeon. You want to be the thousandth person. Training is kind of the same way. So if you have figured out and trust your

physicality in your time and effort. You want to make sure you're with somebody who's already got at least a little bit of experience and can speak to your specific needs and other people that they've worked with that have, that are very similar to you. So those are the top three things. Whether you have a personal trainer now, this would be a great conversation starter for them to just assure that you're aligned. And if you are, again, if you're

If you talk to a trainer who loves what they're doing and you ask these questions, they are going to be very happy to talk to you about all of their successes, why they love what they do, why you're a good fit for them. And the worst case scenario is you may realize like, maybe, you know, maybe you're where your goals are going kind of diverges from where their specialty is. So be it, at least you know, but probably what's going to happen is you're just going to like solidify a really good relationship and you're, you know, which is great.

You're to feel super confident moving forward. If you're working with, if you're looking to find a new personal trainer and you go through these questions and you're left feeling a little unfulfilled or really unsure, that may be a warning sign. What are your qualifications and certifications? How do you create and adapt training programs for individual needs? And can you share some success stories and testimonials?

from previous clients. Those are the top three questions. Should be very easy to get answered. Should be a fulfilling conversation. And if there's a hesitation or an answer that doesn't sound so great, move on to the next.

The one thing you can do today to extend your healthspan is get a trainer is get a coach. am a huge advocate. I'm kind of like a, because if you're an active person, you get injured. think everybody needs to have a go to physical therapist. Everybody, if you're not injured right now, great. Find an awesome physical therapist. Everybody needs one. If you're even a little bit active.

And if you're not active, then you're going to need a physical therapist eventually because you're not active. So there's going to be consequences of that, but, everybody should have a physical therapist. Everybody should have a personal trainer. Everybody should have some type of coach that either you're using full time or you're using intermittently or seasonally or whatever it is, but find somebody invest the time to find your person. It's just like finding a primary care physician.

or finding somebody that's part of your healthspan team that you can say, hey, this person's guiding me through my nutrition and my fitness and helping me overcome injuries and kind of get back on track when I do have injuries and helping me adapt my activity and program as life goes on, as stressors happen, as people have kids, as jobs change, as people get injured, as people get older.

We're all dynamic and so having somebody that could be with you on that journey that is skilled and really vested in you is key.

The good news about my client with her elbow tendonitis is that she's passed that she's found a different trainer actually. And she is back on a safe track to recovery. And it's a little bit of a, it's worth noting that if you have been injured working with a trainer before, or if you feel like every time I started an exercise routine, I get hurt, it's not you. It is not your fault. It is maybe a little bit of being over ambitious, but probably just a lot of not having

proper guidance on how to pace your program, how to ultimately, very typically slow the pace of how you are making your workouts more challenging. And this is very individualized. But if you are hesitant to exercise because you always get hurt or you feel like you always get hurt or you're always in pain whenever you start an exercise program, it's not that exercise is not for you. It's just that you haven't done it.

well enough to match where your current capacity is. That is all. Finding a really good personal trainer or coach can help you thread that needle so you can be, feel confident, gain some physical durability, gain some confidence in yourself, plus all the benefits of working with somebody. You can find somebody who also understands nutrition and sleep and healthy habits and mental and emotional wellbeing, all of those components of HealthSpan.

If you have any specific questions about HealthSpan, if you have more questions about how to find a work with a coach, I'm happy to field any questions you have. You can comment on this video. You can message me from all the podcast platforms. I can tell you that you can check out my personal strategy, my personal approach at HealthSpan PhysioCoaching, which is linked to this video. Most of my clients are very long -term. I love working with people for the long haul. I'm always developing other products

that can maybe fit more people. But the ideal client for me is somebody who wants to play the long game. So if you want to play the long game, make gradual changes over a long period of time to really make sure you're reaching your healthspan potential. Living a healthy, long, vibrant life, which may or may not include some performance goals. Again, I'm a middle -aged guy and I still have performance goals. And so I feel like, you know,

50s, 60s and beyond is still perfectly fine to have ambitious goals. It just means doing things wisely with the limited time that we all have. And that's my forte. So if that piques your interest, please send me a message, check out my website. And as always, appreciate your time and go talk to your personal trainer. Find a good one. Cheers.