Why Female Personal Trainers Kick Butt

Male V’s Female

It feels rather empowering writing a blog about how awesome females are, especially ones that are Personal Trainers, but genuinely I’m giving you some pretty good reasons of having a woman kick your butt into gear.

Personal Training is a very male orientated industry. It’s almost like ‘survival of the fittest’ only that now we are giving the guys a good run for their money.

I remember about 10 years ago I invited my Father to one of my group sessions. He has always been into fitness, mainly running, circuit training and weights. He was fit and strong, and always ‘looked out’ for the new people in the gym, coaching them in his own way and stressing they must ‘do it right’.

I honestly think his perception of me being in this environment was very similar. That I must be careful lifting weights and so on… But then he entered my territory and I was the boss for an hour.

My training ethos is, if I’m going to ask someone to give it their all, then I must be prepared to give it my all too. Not to just coach from the side line and not put in any grit. When I’m running a session and lifting weights, I’m choosing ones that are challenging and will push me to my maximum. On many occasions my weights were heavier than what the men were lifting. I’m not writing this to boast about my strength, but to demonstrate how I used it in session to get the most out of each client.

If I was a guy pressing the heaviest weights in session and asking others to push themselves to their maximum, I wonder if the response would be the same? Would members be inspired to work at their hardest or would they feel inadequate against the competition? I certainly felt I could use this in a positive way, not only for the guys but the females too. They wanted to feel strong and train hard, knowing if I could do it, they could too.

My Dad always comments about that session and how impressed he was. I was too – impressed that his opinion changed and he looked at strength training differently from that day.

The dirty little secret

Most members that join major health club chains and buy into Personal Training are over 40. Most personal trainers working in health clubs are men. The pairing of female clients to male trainers is more popular and dare I say it… sexual? Is a compliment from a male trainer taken differently from a compliment from a female trainer?

There is no doubt in my mind that the motivational techniques I use to train my male clients are slightly different to the ladies. It isn’t sexual, I just know as a female I can get away with being a little more brash to my male clients. Not to humiliate them or dominate, just to remind them why they are here and results happen once you step out of your comfort zone. I let the client lead the session initially then once I’ve established what I can get out of them, it’s ‘go hard or go home.’

I guess we are all different and have our preferences. My client base is 85% females and I enjoy coaching them for many reasons. I feel empathy, understand their story and can relate to their life experiences. The friendships that have been created and network of support and encouragement are by far the most rewarding part of being a female Personal Trainer

My suggestion to you if you’re thinking of employing a Personal Trainer, is to ask yourself the following questions:

What are my fitness goals?
What type of trainer will get me there?
What are my weaknesses when it comes to an exercise programme?
Who will keep me motivated to succeed?

When you find someone with the credentials that match your search, contact them for a consultation. Most will offer this as free. Never feel pressured into hiring someone you don’t feel at ease with. You can alway hire several and see who your prefer.