Irish Cannon
Legend
Ok then...
How many of us here have personal trainers that are on AM? I can think of ONE. Crader. That's all that I personally know of. Should a trainer have to be a bodybuilder or powerlifter? Of course not. Should they have proper knowledge about weight lifting? Of course. You guys make it sound like every trainer has to be Charles Glass or something.
Now the question becomes, who typically uses a trainer, and why do they use them?
The answer is (for a majority): Non-self-motivated fat people who want to lose weight. These people don't need guys and girls like us telling them to do situps and windsprints until they puke. They'd quit after a few days, if not the first. It takes dedication/motivation/ and a whole lot of time invested to be able to train the way we do. I wouldn't call any of us on here the "average gym-goer". So, what these people need is someone to go ahead and get them motivated and to teach them the basics. That's all most trainers are, and most people stop using a trainer once they are ready to add some weight on the barbell and have gained some confidence in themselves. Unless you guys go to a "hardcore" gym (and if you do I am truly envious), most of the trainers don't need the kind of routines and knowledge we do. These people they are training aren't trying to get into contest shape, they are trying to live past 55. Who really give's a sh*t if someone other than yourself lifts light or heavy, that shouldn't be the determining factor in your opinion of their abilities. Maybe it isn't light to them. I mean, if this trainer is walking around spewing BS all day then, fine, she shouldn't train people. But if she simply has different methods than you, give her a break, her clients probably don't have your goals, and probably aren't ready to be at your level of working out.
Lastly, it comes down to liability. If you are training someone and they get hurt while you are training them, well, that is probably gonna be your ass on the chopping block.
If 85% of the people at my gym were working out "too-light" for results, as you described it, then I would change gyms.
And it's pathetic that trainers have turned into that. I used to be a trainer myself, and quit because I got sick of those lazy, fat, unomotivated people you speak of hiring me, complaining about what I tell them to do, and blaming me for not seeing results.
A trainer NEEDS to know the correct form of exercises. They need to know what fits different individuals. They need to know how to create programs that work for different goals.
My favorite clients were the ones that came to me to setup a new program for them. They'd work with me for a week or two, I'd show them the exercies, write out the rep-ranges and starting weight, and then they'd go off on their own. They didn't have motivational issues. They wanted to be there. They wanted to work. They just didn't have the knowledge themselves, and asked someone who did. THOSE are the people that get let down by crappy trainers.