F.I.S.H. Progress

The process of F.I.S.H. becoming a limited company is almost complete. The new Fitness Instruction for Strength & Health Limited will start trading on 1-4-2007.

There have been two recent enquiries from freelance Personal Trainers who wish to start training clients at the studio. Melody is now almost at full capacity and is considering reducing her working hours elsewhere to increase her time at the studio.

Chutz has injured his ankle at work and was unable to do the German Body Comp Program this weekend. Derek has been ill with a virus and unable to train - or eat the usual high protein diet. In fact, food of any sort has been a hardship! We should be back on course next week.

We have started to develop the full German Body Comp Program for our clients, offering twelve weeks of training including diet and supplementation. Melody has one client hoping to start the program next week. Meanwhile we are putting together some advertising around this.

F.I.S.H. Calling Personal Trainers

If you are a freelance Personal Trainer with Level 3 REPS registration F.I.S.H. would like to hear from you. Our fully equipped studio is available to rent on a "pay as you go" basis. There are no contracts and no fixed rent: you simply pay a percentage of each session you give at the studio.

Personal Trainers are encouraged to bring their own clients to the studio and may also advertise their own Personal Training business both at the studio and on our blog site. Due to the high volume of Personal Training currently undertaken by F.I.S.H. we may also be able to refer new clients to freelance Personal Trainers using the studio.

For more information, and to come and look around, please contact Derek on 07871760054 or email fishfitness@tiscali.co.uk

How To Find a Good Personal Trainer

There are hundreds of Personal Trainers out there, some excellent, some good, some average, and some down-right dreadful. As with any other profession it is not enough to go by qualifications. To be an effective trainer the individual needs to have passion and commitment, organisational skills, inter-personal skills, deductive reasoning, a commitment to continuous learning, and empirical knowledge.

Unfortunately I've witnessed a lot of bad Personal Trainers. Some barely seem to watch what their clients are doing and either don't recognise or don't care about poor exercise technique. At best these trainers are ineffective, at worst they are negligent and even dangerous.

The first quality I tend to look for in a trainer is attentiveness: they need to be constantly observant. They must scrutinize every aspect of their client's exercise performance and must filter out everything else going on around them (except for being aware of potential hazards).

This attentiveness needs to be present when discussing goals and taking background. It is made manifest in active listening skills: the client must feel that they are being heard, valued, and respected.

A good trainer will also be a diligent record-keeper. This will ensure that the client progresses at each session (if they do not progress each time they are wasting their money). There must be clear plans of what the client wants to achieve and how to get there efficiently and safely. The trainer should regularly discuss these plans with the client and make adjustments depending on the response to different aspects of the programme.

The trainer should also be sensitive to anything that makes the client feel uncomfortable or embarrassed and seek to minimise or eradicate these things.

The trainer should also be able to provide a rationale for exercise choices and training parameters. They should be open to discussion and honest about the limitations of their expertise. A good trainer is never satisfied with their own level of knowledge and should continuously push the boundaries of their own understanding and practice.

It is not enough for the trainer to have a sound academic knowledge - they should experience the exercises and regimens for themselves wherever possible. They must be able to speak from experience.

A good trainer will avoid over-training the client (I have known trainers who insist on excessive use of particular exercises that leave the client barely able to walk for days afterwards). They must also be knowledgeable about the importance of rest and nutrition.

If you are looking for a Personal Trainer check for the following:

1. Registration with the Register of Exercise Professionals at Level 3; some big gyms employ level 2 gym instructors and then pass them off as Personal Trainers.
2. Observe them training others and watch for attentiveness, exercise correction, record-keeping etc;
3. Find out about their own training. Do they look like they train?
4. Ask for any testimonies or speak to their clients yourself. What results did they get?
5. Request a free consultation. Were you listened to? What approach did the trainer recommend? Does it make sense? Ask them for a rationale and evidence base for their suggestions.
6. Check the fees and cancellation policy.
7. What records will the trainer keep? If they take no notes at the consultation forget training with them!
8. Observe them, observe their clients. Look out for posture, conditioning, exercise performance. Fit clients, or those making progress, often indicate a good trainer.

Once you find a good trainer stick with it. Good trainers are of immense value and will get you results beyond anything you could achieve by yourself. A Personal Trainer should be an invaluable resource, motivator, technical instructor and guide.

The keywords are attentiveness; safety; efficacy; diligence; reliability; commitment and a passion for training.

Personal Training Studios

Many newly qualified trainers enter the industry sub-contracted to, or employed by, one of the major franchise gyms. Whilst this may seem attractive due to the extensive range of equipment and the potential for customer contact, these arrangements have their drawbacks.

Fitness First, for example, charges a weekly rent which may seem reasonable to a well established trainer charging London rates, but £85 per week can seem an insurmountable obstacle to a newly qualified trainer with a small client base. Fitness First claim to off-set this by starting the rent on a sliding scale in return for the trainer working as a gym instructor (with no pay) for a reducing number of hours for the first few months. Often, the trainer is not allowed to work on their own business during these hours and may end up having to work excessive hours in order to make any money at all.

An additional problem is that Fitness First has its own targets and agendas: they sell a product called "Get Results" which is often marketed as "Personal Training" when it is, in fact, a gym programme with a half hour personal training "taster" at week four. Because the sales and fitness teams get commission for selling these, and because they are set aggressive targets, it is not in their interests to support personal trainers with building up their own client base. In fact, there is an unhealthy internal rivalry which forces many trainers out of business.

Other large gyms have their own systems (David Lloyd, for example, uses a combination of salary and commission). Where the trainer is an employee they lose many of the tax benefits of self-employment and don't reach anywhere near the hourly rate they could make as freelance trainers.

One solution is to set up your own training facility, although this is a costly risk. If your budgeting and marketing is out you could end up in trouble. Attracting new clients to this sort of venture is going to be extremely hard at first, although once you are established word will get around and you will hopefully have testimonials to circulate.

F.I.S.H. (Fitness Instruction for Strength & Health) Personal Training Studio in Eastbourne was set up to provide a solution for new trainers just starting out and to offer an alternative to gym-shy or busy clients who do not want to queue up to get on a particular piece of equipment.

F.I.S.H. is an exclusive Personal Training studio with regular staff to act as mentors to newly qualified trainers. The new PTs will be asked to undergo competency assessments and will be offered ongoing support and supervision. The F.I.S.H. team is a community for nurturing new trainers and developing the highest levels of technical skill, exercise and nutrition knowledge, and client-trainer relationships.

F.I.S.H. does not charge a weekly rent but does require a percentage of the trainer's earnings (currently this is £7.50 per session the trainer conducts). We encourage trainers to follow our suggested pricing structure, which generally leaves them making a profit of £22.50 per session (which is good considering there are no overheads).

The only financial outlay required is an initial registration fee of £20 to cover the production of a profile board for in-studio, web-site, and brochure advertising. Trainers are also encouraged to order a uniform training top.

The F.I.S.H. studio is equipped with top quality free-weights, exercise balls, mini trampoline, cables, power rack, dip and chin bars, heavy duty benches, full length mirrors, body composition scales, and a height measure. Trainers and clients have access to our extensive range of supplements and fitness clothing and are encouraged to use F.I.S.H. documentation (which they are free to photocopy at their own expense).

All enquiries from prospective trainers should be directed to:

Derek Prior

fishfitness@tiscali.co.uk

derekprior@tiscali.co.uk