This Pisses Me Off Majorly

[Nocturnis]

I was chatting on Omegle and chatted with someone who said they are a personal trainer/dietician. At first I was excited because that is what I want to be. The conversation started out good but ended up poorly.

You're now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!

You and the stranger both like fitness.

Stranger: hi

Stranger: I'm Kat

You: hey I am Ricky

Stranger: age?

You: 25

Stranger: 26

Stranger: how are you today?

You: pretty good you?

Stranger: had a great day at work

You: where do you work?

Stranger: i'm a personal trainer/nutritionist

You: Sweet that's what I want to do

Stranger: it's a fun job

You: Do you work for a major gym chain or a small one?

Stranger: small one

You: good I don't think I would want to work for a big one. Actually I would rather work independently than work in a globogym

Stranger: exactly

Stranger: more personal touch

Stranger: and I can figure out what my clients need

Stranger: more of them like me being a bitch lol

You: haha well some like dominate women

Stranger: lol

You: to me it seems that either people want a babysitter or a drill sargent

Stranger: exactly

Stranger: and I'm a drill sargent

Stranger: sometimes you just gotta motivate the fatties

You: I am too much of an alpha male to fall in line so to speak

Stranger: I like that

Stranger: but my clients are just lazy

Stranger: at least most of the

Stranger: them

Stranger: I get housewives, office women, and college students

You: most people are lazy in general. Hell I am lazy from time to time but I work a factory job that can be pretty demanding and is 12 shift.

Stranger: see that's why I'm a drill seargant

Stranger: I hate lazy people lol

You: hey lazy people pay your bills

Stranger: true

Stranger: it's fun working the fat off them

You: what cert do you have?

Stranger: school of hardknocks lol

You: do you have a blog or anything?

Stranger: I don't actually

Stranger: I need to set one up but I"m sucky with computers

You: I am pretty decent with computers and if you use something like wordpress its fairly easy to set up a blog

Stranger: good to know

Stranger: It would be good though

Stranger: some before and after shots

You: do you have a facebook? I am always looking to make some new fitness friends

Stranger: too much drama

Stranger: I have better things to do with my life

You: So what are your specialties?

Stranger: cardio and fat burning

You: fave exercises?

Stranger: anything with legs or lower half

Stranger: since I only work with women those are the areas I like to hit hard

You: the upper body needs attention too though

Stranger: I know

Stranger: and it gets it

Stranger: I just lead with leg exercises

Stranger: makes them feel like they're doing something about that first

Stranger: doesn't matter long as they do overall body and burn those nasty calories

Stranger: I know it's bad to think but if I ever get as fat as my clients I'd just want to die

You: I used to be 210 lbs but now I am generally 160-170ish

Stranger: oh someone worked of their belly

You: actually yeah like I said I work a demanding job I lose about 40lbs in 4 months when I started

Stranger: always fun

You: it can be but after 6 years it gets old fast

Stranger: lol factory job is hard work

Stranger: but hey....abs

You: yeah I have some decent abs

Stranger: you make good money?

You: about 15 an hour

Stranger: that's good

You: its not to bad

You: how about you? do you make good money?

Stranger: I do very well

Stranger: i live like a princess lol

You: haha what about your prince

Stranger: lol don't have one

Stranger: I focus too much on my job

Stranger: gotta get those fat women in shape

You: So what cert do you recommend?

Stranger: I'm actually not certified

Stranger: but it's a small gym

Stranger: I"m self taught and that's enough

You: what about the legal aspects

Stranger: what people don't know, won't hurt them

You: how could did you get a job without a cert most gyms won't hire you unless you have one

Stranger: it's a really small gym

Stranger: that's just happy to have me

Stranger: also I may have told them I have one and they didn't look closely

You: yeah you should really look into getting one. I know of one that's free if you are interested

Stranger: I know I know

You: actioncertification.org

You: its a free cert

Stranger: I probably should

You: if a client gets injured and your are not certified then you are liable to pay for their injury

Stranger: you're right about that

Stranger: I know I'm being risky girl

You: however if you are certified you can get cheap insurance

You: look I am not judging you so I hope you don't feel like I am

Your conversational partner has disconnected.

This is really messed up. She is isn't certified, doesn't respect her clients, lied to her employer and doesn't seem to know what she is doing. This is why the fitness industry has received a bad reputation. Uggh well thanks for listening to my rant.

[Ghost]

That was a biggie.

What a terrible trainer, and she isn't even a proper one!

[Nocturnis]

I hope she isn't legit and was just trying talk big. I was paired up with her a couple of times and she left the conversation quickly. People like her are the reason that trainers struggle to gain clients.

[Goldie]

It's a shame because it ruins it for those who have put in the time, money and effort to do things by the book :0(

[Nocturnis]

In my opinion it doesn't matter if you go by the book. All certs have different styles of training. The important thing is that you understand the basics and go from there. If you deviate for the norm you better have done your research. I have been studying off and on for a couple years and looked into a few certs. I found a free one that has been accredited but I am taking my time to get certified simply because I want to make sure that I could do a good job.

People like that are just out to make money and in the end are hurting their cilents and the industry. I am not saying that a cert means you know what you are doing because there are many certified trainers who behave has this one but at least they invested some effort in learning.

[shortstuff]

Wow! I can't believe someone like that is training people.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

I've got a buddy who is a personal trainer, with a college degree in Kinesiology, and he works in a Gym that specializes in Rehab for older folks. I worked with him for a while (in the old days when I was just fooling around with exercise). He never did personal training sessions, but in that Gym membership came with a periodic (like six weeks or so) fitness assessment and the trainers would develop a workout for you. He had me doing a lot with dumbells, only used the smith machine for incline pushups, and a couple of machines because I said I liked them, though he warned me they weren't going to be as effective as I thought. He is nothing like the horror stories I've read on the boards, I'm going to have to tell him about some of these. He used to work for a globo gym but quit because they had him doing high pressure sales techniques and the goodness in him couldn't take it anymore.

[Nocturnis]

Tell you friend that I said thank you for doing a good job. I know a few trainers that are great at what they do and strive to keep learning to become better. The sad fact is that a lot of trainers seem to think that the cert. is the end of the road with the exception of classes taken to keep the cert. Most globo gyms pressure the trainers to sell sell sell.

To be a good trainer you do need to know how to market yourself but it should be so you can improve lives not just your wallet.

[Leimanu]

It's important to let people know that they should be cert! I didn't know until recently. It's good to ask questions because it's really easy to mess up for and hurt yourself. I've never had a trainer but I'd want one with some educational background and an interest in their work, and that would show with regular training. I'm a massage therapist, and it's the same. People need to know that it takes education, experience, and continuing ed, but somehow, the general public doesn't know that. It's only seen as "relaxation," though there's so much more.

[Bekah]

she sounded like a troll to me, and I hope she was

[Nocturnis]

I am hoping she was a troll too but she didn't seem to be trolling. When you troll you are looking to cause trouble pretty much. I think she is someone trying to make herself feel better by pretending. When she found out that I am not a fool, she ran and hid lol. But sadly she isn't the first "trainer" that I ran into that was like that.

[Raincloak]

If you ask me, anyone foolish enough to hire such a person without checking her credentals deserves the consequences.

That doesn't maker her behavior ok, of course. But the only reason scanners stay in business is because people buy from them. It appalls me how many people lie on their resumes and get away with it, because the emplyer was too lazy to make a few phone calls before making that job offer. Perhaps the owners don't realize they could be held liable for injuries caused by their employee. Too bad for them. I hope they have insurance.