When you’re looking to hire an online fitness coach or personal trainer, there are certain red flags you should be aware of. In this post, I’ll try to list as many as I have in mind at the moment but you should also rely on your own intuition when choosing your coach.
- Lack of accreditations and professional certificates
- Promoting fad diets like fasting, keto, and low carb diet to people without taking into account their personal behaviour and the problems these diets can lead to.
- Fake testimonials – we see this very often online so it’s important that you see legitimate testimonials which confirm the client and the experience are real.
- Promoting only one specific training method – people who promote too much their training style without acknowledging the broad variety of training methodologies are likely to be money focused and try to sell products without being too concerned about the people’s results.
- Too pushy and aggressive – this is not the type of coach you want to work with for the long run because there’s an obvious lack of empathy which is essential for a high-level coach.
- Always talking about selling and upselling – Coaching is a business and I understand that very well but there is a very thin line between trying to help people and trying to sell them your product. If someone is too pushy on the selling and you don’t feel comfortable there might be something else in his personality that won’t match with you as you go along.
- Struggling to explain the methods they use – Sometimes trainers prescribe exercises and diets to their clients just because they know that worked once or they see other people do it but that doesn’t mean they actually have the deep knowledge to justify and explain their actions. I would stay away from coaches like this because it shows a lack of professionalism.
If you’re not comfortable with the trainer or feel like they’re not a good match for you, it’s best to move on and find someone who is a better fit. I’ve written a very detailed article about how to find and select a decent Online Fitness Coach.
A few tips for communicating with a fitness coach: Remember to always ask questions! You must be the person asking questions until everything makes sense to you. Don’t feel intimidated by them and always speak in a direct manner. Avoid holding back anything that’s on your mind and make sure to always tell the truth and the full picture of your circumstances.
At the end of the day, hiring an online fitness coach or a personal trainer should be a positive and rewarding experience. By doing your research, being aware of these potential red flags and asking the right questions you’ll eventually find the best coach for you and you can achieve all of your fitness goals, and become healthier and happier in the process.
I hope that helps and thank you for reading!
