I see a lot of “Personal trainers” out there.  Fortunately, I am training at a gym that offers a wide variety of personal training.

Here are a couple of points I see as the difference between someone there to fill up time versus a real coach.  This is aside from the experience or expertise someone may have because that is a different topic.

1. Full Engagement
Text messages, checking the phone, not paying attention during exercise, watching TV, and many other things detract from th quality of the workout for many people. Staying fully engaged is essential if you want to help your clients succeed.

Even in a group setting where your attention is ‘divided’ you can stay immersed in offering feedback and helping multiple clients at once. There is nothing wrong with commissioning a client to watch his own rest period before they begin exercising. People are paying you a premium price to give them your expertise; to be aloof is a terrible disservice.

2. Meeting versus exceeding expectations
Meeting expectations is satisfactory (in school, a “C”). This is not what people are training with you for. If you don’t have raving fans, whose expectations you exceed then you can quickly lose them when the next best thing comes along. The value you give will come back to you in multiples. Referrals will be must easier to generate.

3. Professionalism
I can’t speak enough to this, and I hear faux paus all the time. Don’t talk about how hard you partied this weekend, don’t dress like trash, don’t dress like you’re doing something else and just happened to popped in to train, don’t talk, learn how to look presentable, work on your communication skills, don’t hurt people, don’t try to hurt people, etc. The list is endless and while I can’t name everything here, it’s often when someone violates this one.