4 Things Your Personal Trainer Won't Tell You

1. "I am a specialist in marketing myself as an expert in health."

Personal Training is more popular than ever. Today it is estimated that 91% of the gyms that offer, and about 6.3 million Americans are signing up for the sessions, from four million in 1998, says the International Racquet and Sportsclub Association . But growth has spurred competition among the coaches, who are struggling to stand out. The last way: specialization. Trainers offer expertise in areas such as injury recovery, cardiac rehabilitation and the condition du jour, diabetes. "There is a real demand for these coaches," says Todd Galati, certification manager for the American Council on Exercise. "More people walking through the door are overweight or diabetic."

Yet, not all calls are specialists trained in the fast and flexible end of the range, you find the requirements for certification, at least, since a $ 500 fee and pass an online exam. That worries John Buse, president for medicine and science at the American Diabetes Association, as when the exercise is not done properly, any vision problems and nerve damage in the feet that some diabetics develop could worsen, he says, extreme cases to the point of blindness or amputation.

2. "I'm going to push until the collapse."

When Richard Thomas, of Brooklyn, New York, was a trainer at Bally Total Fitness in 2004, says he saw a man out of shape about 40 years is working hard for a coach colleagues who almost fainted. "I had to take," says Thomas. It sounds extreme, but not the only time he says he has seen a coach pushing too hard for customers to show how out of shape they are and therefore the need for more personal training sessions. (Bally Total Fitness declined to comment.)

Given that 37% of health club members are beginners, personal trainers are largely catering to the unfit, according to IDEA Health & Fitness Association, an organization based in San Diego for fitness professionals . Are coming to the elderly, as well as clients over 55 years is one of the fastest growing segment of gym members, says the executive director of IDEA, Kathie Davis. However, many coaches are guiding hand customers a less than smooth. "Most people who enter the club have not worked since gym class in school," says Thomas. "Then we are told that they work hard.'s Dangerous." If you feel your coach is being too hard, talk. Remember, you are the boss.

3. "Caution: may not work well with children."

One of the biggest trends in fitness today: Junior to join a little one-on-one training. Worried about their children's weight and lack of physical activity, parents are increasingly personal trainers at rates of up to $ 60 per hour. Seventeen percent of total personal training clients for more than a million were between the ages of six and 17 in 2006, says the IHRSA, that's a 20% increase since 1998.

This niche is growing because our children are: Approximately 15% of U.S. children are overweight, ranging from a high of 22.8% in Washington, DC, to a low of 8.5% in Utah, according to nonprofit trust's Health United States. But not all health clubs have trainers who work well with children or even know how to work safely, says Davis. Even a good personal trainer with a wrong attitude can turn impressionable children out to work out.

Bottom line: Be choosy. To begin, ask a coach with experience in the development of education, training or a child, says Davis. And if your child is involved in a particular sport, get a coach with a similar background can help develop specific muscles and avoid injury.

4. "Bring a few friends and I will charge half price."

The rates of personal trainers can be very pronounced. Sign up for a session with superstar Jackie Warner Skysport Personal Training & Spa in Beverly Hills, California, for example, and could run about $ 400 per hour. But with most of the coaches there a way to save in the neighborhood of 30% to 50% if you know what to ask: Over 70% of personal trainers offer group sessions at a discount, according to a recent study by IDEA. Even Warner has been known to offer reduced rates and again around 30% to training two to five clients at once.

Although health clubs do not usually hang the group option in front of you, most personal trainers how to do it if you ask. After all, it's a win-win. For a group of three, for example, the average rate of $ 60 per hour is reduced by half for each client, while the coach brings more than about 50% of what they normally do in an hour. And it might mean a better workout, "There is much to benefit from the camaraderie of the group, as long as you do not need a coach to have all the representatives who do," says Richard Cotton, national director of certification for the American College of Sports Medicine.