Vent RE: "Professionals" and Misinformation
 

I have worked with 4 personal trainers over the past year, due to living in 3 different cities over that time. One of them pretty much knew her stuff, although she was of the old school mindset of "fat makes you fat, no fat allowed". With everything else though she pretty much knew her stuff so I'll forgive her that.

But they seem to be getting progressively worse in terms of, helpful and motivating enough, know the proper form and how to avoid injury during strength training but in terms of the big picture, they really don't seem to get it

For instance, my current trainer. First "OMG did she really just say that" thing she said to me was: "A woman should not have more than 20 pounds of body fat" followed by "You should put on 10 pounds of muscle through training". She's also talked previously about the fact that getting much below 20% body fat "wouldn't really be realistic for someone your age" (I'm 38).

Fortunately I'm one of those dorks who carries a calculator everywhere so I said "Are you sure that's accurate information? Check this out." Her eyes googled in her head as I showed her the calculations that she basically just told me that I should be at 14% bodyfat.

She says "Oh nooooo - that's way too low". So I said yes, I agree. But you can't say I should be at 122 LBM and 20 pounds of fat and 20% bodyfat - it just doesn't add up. I tried to teach her the simple formula to calculate this on her own so she could stop providing misinformation to other less dorky clients without calculators and she said "Oh god I havent done math like that since high school, don't even show me, I can't do it."

Okay then!

Then today she says Wow, I can really see the cuts in your arms. As I was saying "Yay!" she says under her breath "Now if we could just get you doing some CARDIO to burn off the FAT you could see them even more"

She KNOWS I have lost 40 pounds since February. That's 7 pounds average per month. How much faster do I need to be burning off the FAT to be successful?

I know, this is just the opinion of someone who obviously hasn't done too much reading or learning since she first started her fitness career 20 years ago. But what scares me is that from my experience over the past year, this ignorance seems to be the norm. I guess I should have known better when she dismissed my questions about her opinion on HIIT with "Oh GOD no, you need to stay in the CARDIO zone or else you're not burning any FAT if !"
your heart rate gets above 120!"

Honey my heart rate gets above 120 getting out of bed in the morning LOL

And then the Physicians Weight Loss center trip today. I had signed up for program last March, stopped going because I had to go up north for the summer, so when I came home I stopped in there figuring I'd paid for the program, I may as well make use of their body composition scale, since mine at home is very slow to move due to the weight training. Today I went in and I had put on 1 pound of fat since last Monday. I said to the cute skinny girl whose husband owns the place and she works there weighing the clients and selling them protein shakes and what not, "Wow that's odd. I have been eating no more than 1500 calories a day and working out 4 times a week, it seems it would be impossible that I'd put on a pound of fat." She said but what are you eating? I said yogurt, fish, chicken, vegetables, bran cereal with 0 sugar...She said yes, but what KIND of yogurt? I said NON fat, of course. She says and you say you eat fish, how do you make the fish? I say NO I dont put butter on the fish, or breadcrumbs, and 1500 calories is 1500 calories, you're missing the point. She says right....Are you eating late at night? And drinking your water?

AAaaaaaah! I'll buy my own body composition scale! I dont mind greater or lesser levels of knowledge about nutrition and fat loss but people that you PAY to know more about these things than you do - should know more than you do! Or at least not be so silly as to suggest that it's possible that you could put on a pound of fat eating 1500 calories a day with a BMR or 1500 calories and 4 strenuous workouts a week because you put BUTTER on your fish!

I know the simple answer is, if I dont like these people, dont work with them. Im just venting. I just think it's scary that there are people out there who actually trust what these people are saying :( Because, we SHOULD be able to trust them.

Ahhh i think that would drive me nuts! I went to my dr the other day and mentioned my plateau to them and explained what i'd done (no loss since december, yes I have changed exercise up/down/more intense/less intense, yes I have changed my calorie intake up/down/changed composition etc etc etc) and asked for a blood test just in case somethings out of whack- her advice was to use a smaller plate :dizzy:

fortunately i have a great personal trainer who knows much more than i do about food, exercise, hormone levels etc etc and always has something up his sleeve. Otherwise i would have fired him :lol: given the amount we pay we have to get the good stuff!

it is scary that people out there will be believing what they say when they are wrong :(

Well, I just don't expect too much out of a trainer. Some of them have only a very basic level of information, and that's OK for dealing with most people at the average gym. I do expect them to show me how to use equipment in the right way, and also to take me through a workout routine, but as far as weight loss stuff goes? Well, not so much.

Sometimes you have to look around and try a few before you find one that's suitable.

Jay

Originally Posted by SunnyP:
I dont mind greater or lesser levels of knowledge about nutrition and fat loss but people that you PAY to know more about these things than you do - should know more than you do! Or at least not be so silly as to suggest that it's possible that you could put on a pound of fat eating 1500 calories a day with a BMR or 1500 calories and 4 strenuous workouts a week because you put BUTTER on your fish!

Sunny, I hope you don't mind that I nearly died laughing when I read this... I've got a few stories of my own... a nurse that told me to stop eating almonds everyday ("they're full of fat!"), a nutritionist who recommended doing a starvation cleanse ("you know, to detoxify..."), and a trainer who told me to lift lighter weights and do more reps ("because that's better for women.") My cousin, a 6'6" athlete who weighs 200 pounds at 12% body fat went to a dietician for advice on leaning out a bit more. She put him on a 1000 calorie diet. Guess what happened...

If you're a fan of Jeff Dunham, do you know Achmed's tag line?

Originally Posted by Ija:
If you're a fan of Jeff Dunham, do you know Achmed's tag line?

I KILLL YOUU!! *eyes maniacally raised*

Love Jeff Dunham :D

To the OP: Sorry, haven't worked with fitness professionals ever. I'm with Jay - I don't think they have classes throughout their career to bring them up to date on nutrition. My doctors have always said "you know you should lose 5-10 lbs, then your cholesterol and other numbers will go down." I just say "ok, will do" and move on. Never really got into a discussion because I figured I'd just get angry. :P Sorry you're having such a miserable experience.

I'm sorry you've had these experiences, but really appreciate the humor in your rant!! YAY for Dork Power!!! :)

Ha!! I can so relate! The last trainer I worked with told me I should have hit my goal (75 lbs) within four months. I just looked at him like "if I had that easy of a time losing weight, do you think I'd be here asking for your help?!"

When I DIDN'T lose weight working out with him, he told me my fat was shifting around and that's why I wasn't dropping on the scale.

Needless to say, I stopped working with him after my six sessions were up.

He then got fired for stealing from the gym, but that's another story :lol:

I also enjoyed your rant. FYI, I'm almost 37 and my last BF % (measured by 9-pt calipers by an experienced person) was 14%.

I love my trainers. The owner of the gym is a PhD candidate and has been involved with research in the exercise science department at the University here. She trains professiona athletes (and midwives!) Her small team of trainers either have bachelors degrees in exercise science or are within a semester of graduating and are currently students. I know I am lucky and this is a rare situation, but I just wanted to point out that there are trainers who are educated in research, theory and practical applications of exercise science.

Originally Posted by Fat Pants:
When I DIDN'T lose weight working out with him, he told me my fat was shifting around and that's why I wasn't dropping on the scale.

Hmm, migrating fat... I'll have to remember that one :lol:

Originally Posted by Ija:
Hmm, migrating fat... I'll have to remember that one :lol:

I know... now every time the scale doesn't cooperate, I'll just tell myself my fat is shifting! :rofl:

I have met some of both. Good ones and ... well ...

I think my favourite (and this came from two PTs and one dietician) is the notion that I should be careful of my expectations at my age.

Do you have to be a PT to work in a gym or can they hire you and teach you the ropes at that particular facility?

LOL Sunny. I am afraid in my area that sort of "expertise" seems to be extending to every field. I am so sorry you are having that experience. I absolutely could not continue working w/a trainer like that.

I think absolutely the best source of information is YOURSELF. Your own reading, you own experimentation with your own body. I have to offer credit where credit is due though. So many members here at 3FC have given me some serious FANTABULOUS information.

For the record, Sunny we are the same age. I am way below 20% body fat. BMI charts don't apply to me anymore actually.

Originally Posted by Thighs Be Gone:
For the record, Sunny we are the same age. I am way below 20% body fat. BMI charts don't apply to me anymore actually.

That's great to hear! Did you achieve this low body fat with weight/resistance training?

Personally, I would like to see what my body looks like at 19%. This is why I don't really have a "weight goal" per se - since I don't know how much lean body mass I'll be able to put on with my weight training, and I don't know what my body will look like at any particular bodyfat % (except the ones over 35%! :) I'm going to see how it goes as I keep working at it. I'll know my goal when I get there :)

Originally Posted by JayEll:
Well, I just don't expect too much out of a trainer. Some of them have only a very basic level of information, and that's OK for dealing with most people at the average gym. I do expect them to show me how to use equipment in the right way, and also to take me through a workout routine, but as far as weight loss stuff goes? Well, not so much.

Sometimes you have to look around and try a few before you find one that's suitable.

Jay

I completely accept this. If they would just agree to keep their mouth shut and do what they know how to do, instead of offering advice on things they don't know about, I'd be totally content with that. :)