I have coached since 2010, so I have watched a lot of people pick a trainer badly. Usually they picked the nearest one, or the cheapest one, or the one with the best photos. This is the list I would give a mate who was about to hand someone a couple of hundred pounds. It works for me or for anyone else.
1. Ask what they are qualified in, then check it
The minimum to call yourself a personal trainer in the UK is a Level 3 qualification. Ask for it by name. Ask what else they have done since, because a Level 3 on its own is the start, not the finish. Nutrition advice in particular should come from someone with a nutrition qualification, not a supplement sponsor. For the record, mine are Level 3 Personal Trainer (CIMSPA recognised), an HND in Health, Fitness and Exercise, Level 4 Sports Nutrition, Level 4 Obesity and Weight Management and a Strength and Conditioning diploma. Any coach worth paying will tell you theirs without being asked twice.
2. Find out who actually coaches you
At a lot of places the person who sells you the package is not the person in the room at 6am on a Tuesday. Ask who takes the sessions, whether that changes week to week, and what happens in a class if you are doing something badly. "Supervised" is not the same as "coached". Coached means someone is watching your technique and changing the load, the rep or the movement for you, in the session, out loud. Here it is me, every session, because there is nobody else.
3. Ask what gets measured
If nothing is measured at the start, nothing can be shown at the end, and you are left with "I feel a bit better". Ask what they record in week one and when they record it again. Weight on its own is a poor measure. Weight plus a full set of body measurements, taken the same way both times, is fair. Progress on the bar counts too. I take both in week one and week eight and put them side by side; here is why the tape beats the scales.
4. Is nutrition included or extra?
Training without nutrition is the slow road to fat loss. Ask whether a plan is included, whether it is written for you or a PDF everyone gets, and whether anyone looks at it again after week one. Then ask whether you have to buy anything to follow it. The honest answer to that last one is no.
5. Block or contract?
A rolling monthly contract is designed around the month you stop turning up. A block with a start and a finish is designed around you finishing. Ask what happens if you miss a week, what happens if you get injured, and how you cancel. If the answer needs a form, think twice. My packages are one payment for a fixed block, nothing rolling underneath: the prices are on one page.
6. See the room before you pay
Ask to visit, or to watch a session. You will learn more in ten minutes in the room than in an hour on Instagram. Is it private or a shared gym floor? Do people know each other? Is the coach coaching or on their phone? Where do you park, and how far is it from the station? Ours is at Spectrum House in Clydebank Business Park, a short walk from Singer station, and the first-visit page shows you the door.
7. Ask about your specific problem
Bad back, dodgy knee, twenty years off, shift pattern, kids at home. Say it out loud at the first conversation and listen to the answer. A good coach will tell you how they would train around it and, when it needs a physio or a GP first, will say so. A bad one will tell you it is fine and sell you the same plan as everyone else.
The red flags I would walk away from
- Guaranteed results, guaranteed pounds lost, or a number on a poster.
- Supplements, shakes or a "detox" as part of the plan.
- Nobody can tell you who coaches the session you would be in.
- A contract you cannot explain back to them.
- Pressure to sign today. A coach who is any good will still be there next week.
What it should cost
Around Glasgow, one-to-one personal training runs from roughly £30 a session at the cheaper end to £60 and more in the West End and city centre, usually with a gym membership on top. Coached small-group training comes in well under that per session. The cost guide goes through it properly. Cheapest is rarely the point; cost per coached session, with nutrition and measurements included, is the number to compare.
Then ask me the same questions
I would rather you asked all seven than none. The free consult is at the studio or on the phone, there is no contract underneath any package, and if something else would suit you better I will tell you that too.