Five years ago Rene Todd of Bethesda felt her workout routine, which consisted mostly of aerobics and running, had gone a bit stale. Though she exercised regularly and considered herself fit, she wanted to take her sessions up a notch by adding weight training. So she set out in search of a personal trainer. First she tried her health club in the District's West End neighborhood, which randomly assigned her one of its dozen or so staff trainers -- a man with a noticeable gut who never seemed satisfied with Todd's efforts.
"He always sort of pooh-poohed everything I did," said Todd. "I got a workout, but we did the same thing each time. I didn't feel like I was stretching myself. . . . I think he didn't enjoy his job because he didn't really seem to care how I felt one way or the other."
With typical rates around a dollar a minute, personal trainers don't come cheap; finding one who is qualified, understands what you're after and has the expertise to deliver can be an uphill battle.
(Picturequest/Creatas - For the Post)
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Trainer Number 2, referred by a second gym, was no better.
"A big lug" in Todd's words, he stared into the distance as she huffed and puffed. Something, Todd thought, was wrong here.
It's not that the idea of working with a trainer was wrong. Whether your objective is to start, step up or stick to a fitness routine, most experts agree that a qualified personal trainer can help. "Hiring a personal trainer commits a person to their exercise goals," said Michael Bracko, an exercise physiologist and spokesman for the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), an organization that works to advance research in exercise science. "It's real good motivation."
From 1998 to 2002, the number of personal training clients in the United States rose from 4 million to 5.4 million -- an increase of 35 percent, according to the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association, a Boston-based trade association representing the health-club industry.
But with typical rates at around a dollar a minute, it's not a cheap option -- or one most people can afford to continue indefinitely. That's one reason why you might want to make sure that any time you do arrange with a trainer is well spent. The problem: finding a trainer who is qualified, speaks your psychic language, understands what you're after and has the expertise to deliver it.
As Todd discovered, the process is often not straightforward.
"It's just like selecting a doctor or buying a new car," said Susan Johnson Sterling, vice president and director of education at the Cooper Institute, a nonprofit fitness research and education center in Dallas. "You don't have to take the first person who comes along. . . . It could be that that person is just excellent but you would like someone of a different gender or with a different personality."
Or, perhaps, with the specialized training to handle a trick knee or balance problem. Or to help prepare you for a specific sport or activity. Or who is experienced with people of your age and goals. All the more reason to screen prospects carefully and ask questions upfront.
