Poor Practices, Bad Advice and their Consequences

Poor Practices, Bad Advice and their Consequences

Choosing the right support at the beginning of your fitness journey is important for many reasons, some obvious and others not so much so. The obvious being that you want your hard earned money to show results, if you are investing your time and energy into following a program provided by a professional, you want to see positive changes inside and out. You are perfectly within your right to feel that way! However poor practices and bad advice is dangerous and can leave you worse off then when you started, along with a burn hole in your pocket of where your money used to be.

The UK fitness market is estimated to be worth £5bn, as the number of gym locations surpasses the 7,000 mark, this excludes many of the areas of coaching and new unregulated jobs have been born. Some quick fix courses lead by providers using clever marketing tactics ‘earn 60k a year in 12 weeks’ (for example) offer accreditation in areas such as exercise, fitness, nutrition and means becoming qualified can be very fast with little to no experience. Not only does it undermine the individual looking to make a good honest living as a fitness professional but the industry as a whole. Education within this sector is important as a building block in which experience is formed, so advice and direction when given in the future is safe. If you are unsure about the experience and qualifications of your personal trainer then we recommend you…

• Request testimonials
• Ask for qualifications and check accrediting bodies
• If unsure of qualification type Google (boring I know) and do a bit of research on the course
• Keep away from multiple sales offerings (bad sign for confidence in delivering one service)
• Below is a few respected governing bodies you should look out for when asking for qualifications in fitness.

If you are wondering in what way poor practices and bad advice can lead to detrimental consequences, then you will not have to wonder for long. For example lifting weights can put incredible strain on the human body, and if your body form is wrong this can lead to back problems, severe injury, slipped discs and any other number of incredibly painful experiences which could lead to time off work, along with massive setbacks in your health. It is important that any fitness or health advisor can offer safe advice which takes into account your wellbeing at all times. Try not to worry, this is not to say that anything bad will happen to you, but you can take preventative measures by doing a little homework before you sign up with a professional without knowing their background and experience.

If you are looking for a personal trainer and still feel a little unsure, have a quick read of our blog “What you should consider when choosing the right personal trainer for you”.