Is Your Personal Trainer Out to Get You?

I recently listened to an audiobook called “The Personal Trainer” by Rebecca Collomosse, and if I’m being perfectly honest, I thought I was going to hate it. It’s a thriller, and right up my alley in terms of genre, but I knew that I’d find nearly any portrayal of a personal trainer frustrating, and that certainly turned out to be true here. But as the story came together and I saw a larger picture emerge, my perspective changed. 

The antagonist of the story, Claudia, is essentially an evil personal trainer. She epitomizes everything that’s wrong with the fitness industry, and yet she isn’t that far off from a lot of the coaches and influencers you see today. In many ways she is a stereotype of a fitness trainer: tall, blonde, slim and toned, in bright coloured athletic wear, with a perky smile and a bounce in her step. But behind the peppy demeanor, her tactics are manipulative, even abusive, and she is constantly pushing the boundaries of her role.

She uses tactics like food and body shaming, making judgemental comments disguised as “feedback”. She makes sweeping claims about food with no explanation or nuance, like “pasta turns into sugar in your stomach,” and constantly talks about calories–foods that have too many, or how many you can burn with exercise. In fact, calorie burning seems to be the only thing she knows about exercise, because she is always changing her training modalities, and making broad, often inaccurate statements about their benefits. Claudia has no respect for boundaries and actively ignores her client when she feels unsafe with the intensity of the exercise, employing a drill sergeant motivation style to push her so hard that she vomits. 

On top of all of that, She encourages, or rather, shames her client into cutting back her eating to such an extreme degree in the pursuit of a short term weight loss goal, that she is too weak to think clearly, let alone safely exercise. 

All of this leads her client to feel embarrassed and shameful of her body and her food choices. She fears her trainer’s reaction to what she eats, and continues pushing past her level of tolerance to avoid disappointing her. She develops greater and greater anxiety throughout their relationship and it ultimately causes distrust in the training relationship, and also within herself. She feels consumed with her weight loss journey, and even though she questions Claudia’s methods, she feels unable to achieve the same results through less extreme measures. 

As an experienced, body neutral personal trainer myself, everything about Claudia set off my alarm bells, so it wasn’t a huge surprise to me when she was revealed as the villain of the story. Regardless of the overarching plot (which had nothing to do with fitness, in case you were wondering), I knew that she was evil the moment she shamed her client for eating grapes. 

Ultimately, it’s revealed that Claudia isn’t who she’s claimed to be, afterall. Not only is Claudia not a qualified personal trainer, but the only reason she took on the role was to advance her own, dark agenda. She had no real concern for the wellness or safety of her client, and was willing to knowingly cause her harm for personal gain. The more insecure her client became, the more Claudia pushed her to do more sessions, drink specialty smoothies, and take more and more control over her food choices and activities. 

Whether you’re a fan of thrillers or not, The Personal Trainer turned out to be both an interesting narrative, and an insightful comment on the fitness and wellness industry. It’s a great reminder to look critically at the fitness and nutrition advice you’re receiving, and ask yourself, what does this person have to gain from me following their guidance? 

Now there’s no denying that as a personal trainer myself, I obviously stand to benefit from clients seeking my guidance. We live in a capitalistic society, and this is how I’ve chosen to make my living. But unlike Claudia, the reason I chose this path wasn’t to manipulate and starve my clients into submission…It was to help them feel better, using methods that I believe in, not only because they’ve helped me, but because they’re backed by evidence and consider the whole person. More importantly, I want my clients to leave our work feeling more connected to themselves and more capable of making their own decisions—not more dependent on me.

While I don’t think it’s likely that you’ll come across a personal trainer or fitness coach with quite as nefarious of plans as Claudia, there are a few important things to keep in mind when you’re consuming content, or following advice of those who claim to be experts. 

In Canada, personal training remains an unregulated industry. Meaning that almost anyone can call themselves a personal trainer and charge you for their services. Most trainers operating out of a reputable facility will have to be insured, which might mean they have a personal training certification, as it can be difficult to get insurance without some documentation. But certifications vary and can be obtained from a weekend training course, a 3 month program, a diploma program, or even a degree. 

Online however, things can get even shakier. It’s not uncommon to see influencers, celebrities, and everyone in between selling their fitness and nutrition programs, with little to no actual training in exercise or nutrition science. The sad truth is, profiting off of the insecurities of others has long been an industry standard, and social media has made it even easier for unqualified “coaches” to get in on the action. 

So, if Claudia is an exaggerated example of what can go wrong when we put too much trust in the wrong person, how can you tell whether someone is actually worth trusting with your body, your health, and your money?

First and foremost, vet your sources. Whether you’re hiring a personal trainer, looking for an online coach, or just taking in information, make sure you’re getting reputable advice.

Ask the coach or trainer about their training and qualifications. 

Ask about their work and lived experience with the goals and challenges you’re hoping to address. 

Ask about their methods.

Ask yourself “what does this person stand to gain from me believing their advice?

Next, look out for red flag behaviour. This is not always straightforward, especially if you don’t have previous experience with a coach or trainer, but if anything they do reminds you of Claudia, that’s probably a bad sign. 

Look out for coaches that make big bold statements about specific foods or exercises. If it sounds too simple or too good to be true, it probably is. 

Be wary of those who constantly talk about calorie burning, cutting calories, restricting specific foods, or adhering to rigid food rules, while also trying to sell you more and more sessions, shakes, or supplements. 

Last, but I’d say most importantly, do they respect your boundaries and honour your autonomy? If it doesn’t feel safe to say no to your coach, or if they push you to do anything that doesn’t feel right to you, listen to that. 

Thankfully, most personal trainers are not secretly plotting your downfall while pretending to care about your health, but finding a coach you can actually trust still matters.

If you're looking for a trainer who will listen to you, respect your boundaries, work with your whole person, and help you build a healthier relationship with movement rather than another set of rules to follow, that's exactly the kind of coaching we aim to provide at Work of A.R.T.

You can book a free consultation with us to see if we're a good fit. No shame, no grape policing, and absolutely no making you throw up on a treadmill.