4 Signs a Trainer Is Average, Not Elite

It seems every fitness trainer with a collared shirt calls themselves “elite.” But, there is a massive difference between a trainer who has learned enough to pass a test, and an elite coach who actually understands how to get results.

Average trainers rely on recycled gym dogma. If you want to know if you are wasting your time and money, look out for these 4 specific signs:

1. Firstly, look to see if they have a history of getting people results. No Proof = Not Elite Trainers

That is the most important, most obvious way to tell if a trainer is elite. Do they have the results, testimonials, success stories and reviews to back it up? 

2. They Tell You "Progressive Overload" Is the Key to Results

Average trainers worship “progressive overload” as the ultimate goal. They treat training like a math problem where you must constantly add more weight or volume.

They miss the entire point. The body adapts to a stimulus, not a spreadsheet. Any reason progressive overload works in the first place is simply because it increases the odds of hitting the right biological stimuli that causes adaptation to occur. Whether that stimulus is depleting glycogen, activating lactate, triggering GLUT4 translocation, or creating metabolic stress, that metabolic, hormonal, cellular, physiological responses are what matter.

Progressive overload is a side effect of good training, not the focus. It is certainly not always necessary to get results.

3. They Focus entirely on "Calories In vs. Calories Out"

If a trainer's only solution to fat loss is to tell you to walk more, do more cardio, and eat less, they probably don't understand metabolism.

They place all their emphasis on the math of calories rather than the actual nutrients that help you manage your eating. They expect you to override your biology with willpower instead of using nutrition to fix the metabolic response, manage EPOC, and shift your Respiratory Exchange Ratio (RER).

Results from “move more/eat less will leave you in a plateau very fast. Metabolism…drops. Hunger…rises. Nutrient deficiencies…rise as well. Stubborn fat in your alpha dominant fat cells? Well, they get more stubborn. 

Truly elite trainers know to avoid this situation which only makes your fitness goals harder for your future self. 

4. They Waste Your Time on Long Assessments and "Pre-Hab"

It’s amazing how often this is happening at gyms by personal trainers. You hire a trainer to help you accomplish a specific goal. Instead of getting to work on that goal, an average trainer spends your paid time doing long, drawn-out assessments and passive corrective work. 

Usually they are just trying to use the methodology they just paid to learn at an expensive certification course the trainer was sold on. 

Look, if your knees, joints and back are perfectly healthy and pain-free, you certainly do not need to spend half your session doing "pre-hab" and stretching just because of how your overhead squat looks. It is a waste of time. Every moment spent on fixing a made up problem you didn’t know you had is a moment NOT being spent on your goals. An elite coach gets you moving and focuses the session directly on the exact goals you hired them for.

If a trainer cannot get you to your goals without “fixing” this and that first…they are not an “elite” trainer. They should be working with you and your current state to get you the goals you are paying them money to help with. 

The 6-Week Rule

Human biology does not take months to respond to the right stimulus. If you do not see real, measurable results within 6 weeks of starting a program, quit.

Seriously. Stop giving them money. 

If you don't see it in 6 weeks, you aren't ever going to get them from that trainer. 

Call us. Ritah and I will fix that. 

We’ve been training people for 30 and 20 years. We’ve been on Sathorn for the last 14 years. Want to learn more or see our 100s of testimonials and success stories? 

Check us out atwww.flashfitnessresults.com