As personal trainers it is important to practice what you preach. If you are giving a diet or exercise program you should at least be able to complete it before you assign it to someone. Maybe not with the same amount of resistance or in the same amount of time, but you should be able to do it so that you know what it is like to go through it. This will help ensure safety and your program’s effectiveness.
I have seen it several times in many gyms. You see a trainer giving a program that they don’t have personal knowledge of. It might not be obvious to their clients at the time, but if you know better you will see it for sure. They know about the routine because they have seen it done before or read about it, but they don’t know what it truly is.
It is important that you have at least gone through the routine a time or two to familiarize yourself with the movements and range of motion. This will allow you to further customize the routine for more intensity at times or more rest at times to maximize your client’s results.
When prescribing a diet it is also important to try it before you give it out. If you are giving a low calorie diet it would be good to try it for a couple of days. Ensure that the foods you have chosen fit well together and cover all the nutritional needs, as well as keeping you full. Of course you would adjust the portions to your caloric level. You can give a firsthand testimonial of how your diet plan will work for your client.
Staying in shape is also important. Your body image will say a lot about what kind of trainer you are. I’m not saying you should look like a Greek statue or anything, but you definitely should look the part. Clients are not going to want to take diet advice from someone who is completely out of shape.
It is near impossible to try out everything that you recommend. But if you try routines or diets out before you prescribe them it will help you out. This will be especially important if you are giving your client something brand new to you such as SBT Extreme or other fitness tools.
