The Client’s Guide to Hiring a Trainer

There is no coach that is universally right for everyone. It is up to the client to set the standard over which coaches compete to offer the highest quality services for the greatest value delivered with exceptional professionalism. In that field of competition is where a match for you will emerge. There is also no shortage of personal coaches or people that claim to be. Throw a rock in a crowd and chances are you’ll hit one. If you are seeking to contract the services of a coach, simply post in any local forum and brace yourself for a phenomenon I’ve affectionally labeled “The Swarm.” I can’t help but giggle every time I see it happen. Coaches come out of the woodwork and comment with the infamous “I sent you a private message.” My favorite thing to see are clients enthusiastically referring their own coach, especially if it is me. From your perspective, clients chiming in to refer a coach are certainly a positive sign, but is it enough? How do you choose? Does a higher rate equate to a higher quality of coaching?

Who’s Interviewing Who?

Part of the process of getting yourself a Personal Coach is the Interview and this goes both ways. You should immediately leave if a coach makes you uncomfortable, fails to listen, confuses you, resorts to predatory sales tactics, goes outside their scope of practice or anything else you deem a red flag. Examples include: attempting to get you to make payment and sign paperwork without all decision-makers present (such as a spouse), pushing you into a package outside your budget, nonconsensual touching, claims they can heal an existing injury (unless licensed as a physical therapist or athletic trainer), makes uncomfortable jokes about minorities, or just plain fails to communicate the value of their services. A coach is not entitled to have you as a client simply because they were the first one to interact with you. However, even if everything goes great, but you don’t feel like you are developing a good rapport, thank them for their time and try another coach. A crucial part of your program’s success is enjoying the professional relationship you develop with your coach. And finally, when you find a coach that you like and you feel heard, there’s one more step to being certain you have a legitimate coach you can trust with rates that are justified.

Vetting a Personal Coach’s Credentials

It may seem like a big step, but this can be done in less than a minute if your coach is being transparent and upfront about their qualifications. No matter how good their pitch is and how excited you are to retain them, you still need to complete your side of the Interview and that includes properly vetting their credentials. There are five things to look for in a legitimate Personal Coach and the first three are the minimum professional standard in the industry. I would consider the first 4 absolutely necessary for a coach providing services in the United States with the fifth being a completely optional asset to a great coach and a devastating liability to a bad coach.

Personal Trainer Certification by an Accredited Academy
Hands-on assessed CPR/AED Certification
Live proof of Liability Insurance
Certificate of “Good Standing” with a local and/or regional government authority
Accredited by the Better Business Bureau

Personal Trainer Certification

First and foremost, your coach should be a Certified Personal Trainer with valid, unexpired credentials from an accredited and reputable fitness academy. A reputable, accredited academy will have a publicly searchable database to validate your coach’s credentials. These agencies require recertification every two years by mandating continuing education in the form of seminars, webinars, updated program courses, proctored exams, conventions, and workshops. This perpetual credential maintenance is an investment a coach makes in themselves to offer the highest quality of professional services to their clients. The best courses can often cost hundreds to thousands of dollars. The cost of continuing education is one of the key factors of a Coach’s rates. If a coach’s cost appears to be higher than other coaches, do your homework and make sure they have an accredited education to back it up. A coach should be comfortable providing proof of their extensive credentials when backing up costs that are pushing or exceeding $100 or more per session.

There are five notable accredited academies in the United States for certifying personal trainers, the first of which you can find me in. Personally, I would only recommend the first one, but I understand my opinion is biased even though it is echoed in the majority of independent reviews as the gold standard. A Coach should be able to provide you their registered name and certificate number which can be verified in one of the following databases. Some databases, such as the first one, allow you to search by name, number, or both.

Beware of self-accredited academies like the NCSA that share the same address as their accrediting body. Furthermore, they have a lengthy coach validation request process. If you are very interested in a trainer with credentials like these, there will be a lot of extra homework, but this sort of nonsense gets a hard pass from me.

Credential Verification Databases

CPR/AED Certification

At the very minimum, your coach should be maximizing your safety by having a valid, unexpired CPR/AED certification that includes a hands-on skills assessment. COVID-19 protocol has allowed many coaches to forgo a hands-on assessment, but personal experience has given me a biased opinion of certifications completed solely online because I’ve witnessed many people in a classroom-setting failing to perform effective chest compressions. CPR/AED classes have reopened around the country with effective modifications to prevent the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. My trainer offered me a one-on-one class. While I know from experience that NASM requires a renewed CPR/AED certification when recertifying every 2 years, I won’t speak for the other fitness academies. Ideally, there will be a live certificate of proof that includes the instructor’s credentials. Ultimately, it will be up to you to do your homework on a coach, including the reputation of the certifying body of their credential.

Live Proof of Liability Insurance

Personal Coaching businesses are often small, limited liability companies consisting of a single employee with limited company assets. If you were injured or had your rights violated, it may cost you more to sue than a judgment could possibly remedy. That’s where liability insurance comes in. Liability coverages vary, but most cover about $500,000 per claim. A Coach’s liability insurance is an asset to the client because it ensures a payout for medical expenses and punitive damages whereas an uninsured Coach could simply bankrupt their LLC and stick you with the bill. There are certainly too many insurance providers to list, but those that I would consider trustworthy, professional, and reputable can be immediately verified with a live certificate of proof. NEXT is certainly one of the most popular liability insurance providers for Personal Coaches due to their relationship with NASM. The rates are also very reasonable for coaches and that’s likely because NASM’s certification process puts significant focus on safety and professionalism. I can’t vouch for any other providers, so that’ll be another homework assignment for you if the coach you are interviewing uses a different provider.

Certificate of “Good Standing”

Finally, it is ideal that any freelance trainer is also registered with some kind of local or regional regulatory authority where you live as this provides you another avenue to report a business that may be in violation of any laws or regulations. Hopefully, your trainer will make it easy for you by posting a certificate of “Good Standing.” Depending where you live, these can require some extra legwork to verify their status so don’t trouble yourself unless you suspect your trainer of being deceptive.

BBB Accreditation

Accreditation by the Better Business Bureau is optional but a very big bonus for clients. Businesses pay a fee for this service with annual costs for a single-employee coaching businesses totaling around $650. The BBB vetting process is thorough and a Coach that is BBB accredited will have one more reason to make their clients exceptionally happy. Part of this vetting process is verifying that the business has been around for at least 6 months and has maintained a good reputation. Accreditation can be revoked for failing to maintain ethical business practices, remedy complaints, or violations of any laws and regulations. Thus, it can be a tremendous asset to a great coach or a costly liability to a bad one. Due to the ever-expanding use of extremely predatory sales tactics used on vulnerable people with exploitable insecurities, many trainers stay as far from the BBB as possible. If the “business” focuses on closing sales and not getting the results they promise, it will look like Peleton. It is even possible to get referrals through the BBB which can often offset the cost, but don’t be surprised if a high-demand coach with a lot of positive reviews decides to use this as a basis to command a higher rate.

Final Thoughts

I wrote this because I get a lot of inquiries from people looking for in-person coaching outside my geographic availability. Needless to say, I’ve gotten some interesting messages and comments from uncertified people pretending to be coaches or unprofessional coaches who refuse to care about client safety by carrying liability insurance or maintaining a CPR/AED certification. I do not consider the uncertified fraud or the unprofessional coach my colleague or peer. However, there is also a minority of legitimate coaches who are simply uncomfortable with scrutiny and get defensive when asked about their legitimate credentials. My advice to them is to simply be fully transparent and make this information easily accessible; be proud of your credentials and thank the client who does their due diligence and still chooses you.

The Client’s Guide to Hiring a Trainer

Who’s Interviewing Who?