Rule #4:  Comprehensive liability insurance is a must.

Rule #5:  Be knowledgeable on how to distinguish between a Personal Trainer and an Instructor.

·        A Personal Trainer can be an Instructor but an Instructor is not a Personal Trainer.  Some may even call themselves “Personal Trainers” but they don’t deliver all that the title entails.   A True Personal Trainer’s job is much more complicated as described above and compounded of many variables

o  A Personal Trainer is a good choice if you need/want to partner with a professional who’s full time job is to share your fitness goals, to motivate, guide & tailor a safe and effective program for you in order to help you reach and maintain a long term healthy lifestyle 

·        An Instructor guides you on how to perform an exercise or a sequence of exercises.  He/she is usually using the same pattern (sequence) of exercises for most of his/her clients and there is little or no tailoring to the individual client.  Sequenced training sessions look very much the same; there are no guidelines, planning or period evaluations

o  An Instructor may be a good choice if you have never worked out before, do not know your way around the gym, or simply would like to know the proper execution and operation of free weights and machinery

Once you have narrowed down your Personal Trainer options based on the major criteria (rules discussed above), you are now ready to determine your choice based on compatibility, professionalism, dependability & responsibility, appearance/role model (do they look/act the part), accessibility, prices (vary anywhere from $45 - $250 an hour depending on professional qualifications, region, etc & may sometimes include a membership  fee to a health club), style: are they motivational without being pushy?  Availability: is this their full time job where they are immersed in the industry as opposed to a part-time side job? And do they communicate with clients for feedback, support, scheduling, etc. using multi-channels (like phone, email, text, etc.).

Hiring a Personal Trainer is no longer a luxury only the wealthy get to benefit from.  Today, it is open to all with little disposable income and in many cases--as with many of my clients--is a requirement by a Physician.  With that said, Personal Training should be taken seriously and it is imperative that you do your homework so that you can compare apples to apples, pick the trainer that is right for you & get what you pay for.