There are plenty of telltale signs that a personal trainer isn’t up to par. If your trainer has you using equipment for a majority of your sessions this is a sign that he doesn’t know what he’s doing (or she doesn’t know what she’s doing).

Personal trainers do all kinds of bad things and you can tell a lot about a trainer by the amount of equipment they use in a session. If your trainer puts you on machines for just about everything, it’s an indication that you should find another trainer.

Regardless of fitness level, the majority of exercise should be done while standing. In the business we call them “ground-based, compound movements” (GBCM), and they are the most efficient and effective exercises that you can do.

Exercise in a machine does nothing to develop balance and stability, two vital skills, because the equipment is doing this work for you. There is no better way to train “the core” (which is much more then than the abdominal and lower back muscles) than to perform GBCMs;

• Squats
• Lunges
• Standing military (overhead) presses
• Push-ups
• Pull-ups
• Dead lift
• Explosive lifts

Take an exercise machine and there’s a free-weight/GBCM exercise equivalent that is superior.

In effect, balance and stability gets worse from using machines. The older we get, the more our nervous system deteriorates thanks to the inevitable aging process, the more we need to stay away from machines and “get into” GBCMs.  Trainers defend their use of machines along the lines of, “Mrs. Jones’ balance is so bad/back is so weak/range of motion is so diminished that she needs to work in a machine so she can regain some function.” Incorrect!

Machines avoid strengthening the weaknesses by taking them out of the equation. The person with bad balance who uses a hamstring curl machine instead of modified split squats or lunges, uses the leg press instead of body weight squats or military press machine instead of performing the lift standing with dumbbells, is not addressing their needs.

Athletes who use machines can’t improve performance and are training in a manner that impedes progress. Athletes never compete in a seated position (except for rowers!) and work in all planes of movement; machines cannot provide the proper training environment for athletes or weekend warriors.

Your personal trainer doesn’t know what they’re doing if they have you using exercise machines.

Personal trainers who have clients squat in the Smith machine are lazy, ignorant or an unflattering combination of both.

The squat is the king of exercises and I have written about the importance of working with a personal trainer who knows how to teach this exercise.  There is a reliable progression trainers must follow and things trainers should not do when teaching the squat.

If your trainer has you squatting in a Smith machine they are doing you a disservice and you should ask their reasons for putting you in this unfortunate situation.  Part of the excuse/explanation will likely deal with helping balance and stability while getting to the proper depth with proper form.  Which are all wrong answers/justifications.

Every day we move around in three-dimensional space so – as much as possible – we should exercise in this environment, especially when performing a ground-based, compound movement (GBCM) like the squat.  To squat in a machine would be like throwing a baseball while locked into a machine.  It’s ridiculous to think of someone throwing a baseball or football, swinging a bat or a golf club or shooting a basketball in a manner dictated by a machine and yet many people exercise this way.

When you squat using the Smith machine, the machine is providing you with balance and stability and as a result you will never improve in these vital areas.

As far as getting to the proper depth with proper form, a good personal trainer knows how to get clients to do this without the aid of a machine.  A trainer certified by a legitimate organization knows how to get you to squat.  As a matter of fact, thanks to the Internet anyone who is interested can learn how to squat properly.

Performing the squat – and other GBCMs – in a machine puts stresses on the musculoskeletal system that are potentially injurious, because the body moves in a manner that’s determined by the machine.  Squatting in the Smith machine forces the body to move in an inflexible, linear fashion and not the way the body should move while performing this exercise.  Joints and connective tissue are subjected to forces squatting in the Smith machine that are not encountered when doing squats properly.

The squat is an exercise that needs to be performed properly.  If your personal trainer does not know how to teach you squats, and does not squat properly in their own workouts, find a new trainer.

There are plenty of telltale signs that a personal trainer isn’t up to par. Starting a workout with stability ball crunches is a good sign that you’re personal trainer doesn’t know what he’s doing.

I see personal trainers do all kinds of bad things and can tell a lot about a trainer by how they start their sessions.  If your trainer starts a workout by having you do any kind of crunches it’s a great indication that you should find another trainer.

Workouts should start with low-intensity compound movements – calisthenics, dynamic flexibility exercises, an easy couple of minutes on a rowing machine, etc. – and transition to higher intensity exercises as the session progresses.  This is Training Knowledge 101. A trainer who starts sessions with any kind of crunches is lazy and interested in killing time rather than providing clients with an efficient and effective workout.

Personal trainers start training sessions with crunches because they are lazy and it gives them the opportunity to sit down – on the floor or on another stability ball – while not having to actually teach clients anything.  If you pay a personal trainer you should expect that you are going to get a workout that will challenge you, improve your fitness level and teach you something.  A workout that starts with crunches just doesn’t cut it.

Crunches, no matter when they are done, are one of the least effective exercises you can do.  If your trainer includes crunches in your routine this indicates they possess an extremely limited – and suspect – amount of knowledge; there are a litany of more useful exercises that strengthen abdominal muscles.

Trainers who incorporate crunches are unaware of the realities involved with strengthening the abdominal muscles and how these muscles function.  Lazy trainers defend their use of crunches based on the misguided believe that this exercise “protects” weak backs and trunks.  This is nonsense.

The only way to truly strengthen the trunk – which by the way extends beyond the muscles of the abdomen and back – is through the use of dynamic, full range-of-motion exercises that are performed in a variety of positions, not just lying on your back.  Your trainer might not know what they’re doing if they if sessions start with crunches and without you performing a proper warm up.

This week you’ll learn how to do step-ups, one of the best exercises that you can do.  Check out the latest video in my free online exercise program.

Step-ups are a great exercise that everybody, no matter their fitness level, should include in their workout routine.  Substitute step-ups for leg extensions, leg curls, the leg press and other machine-based leg exercises, as step-ups are a much more efficient and effective way to train.

Rather than break down and train the muscles of the lower body as if they were isolated, component parts – what you do when you use machines – perform step-ups.  When doing step-ups all of the muscles in your body must work together to produce movement, and as a result you get a much more efficient workout.  The balance and stability demands placed on the body while doing step-ups are much greater than any machine-based exercises, and as a result step-ups are a much more challenging exercise.

Including step-ups in your routine, along with other ground-based compound movements like lunges and squats – that you will learn later in the program – will provide you with the best workout possible.  These exercises have served as the basis for the training programs that I use with my personal training clients – and for myself – for the past 20 years and I can attest to the incredibly effective nature of these movements.

Step-ups an effective exercise that are extremely easy to learn.  So watch the video and get started on the first exercise in the strength training section of my free online exercise program.  If you have any questions contact me at Sal@HealthAndFitnessAdvice.com.

Thirty-five years ago the term “body building “ was synonymous with fitness.  But in 2008 these terms are mutually exclusive.  If your personal trainer is a bodybuilder, you should move on.

Back in the halcyon days of the mid-1970s bodybuilding rode into the public eye on the muscular back of Arnold Schwarzenegger in the movie “Pumping Iron.”  Filmmaker George Butler followed Arnold and his fellow competitors as they prepared for the 1975 Mr. Olympia and Mr. Universe contests, and this half-documentary, half-scripted movie is largely responsible for bringing bodybuilding to the masses.  Thanks to Arnold’s personality and physical presence, and the interesting mix of characters that comprised the supporting cast of “Pumping Iron,” bodybuilding single-handedly kicked off a fitness craze, the effects of which are still being felt today.

The problem with this is that bodybuilding has nothing to do with fitness.  In the mid-70s people saw these massive guys lifting massive weights (ignorant of the fact that steroids were producing the massive physiques) and living this Spartan life-style and figured that this was the way to be fit.  Without anything to compare to these guys and their lifestyle, it seemed obvious that lifting weights, following a strict diet and hanging out at the beach was the way to go.  At the time, these guys were living a healthier life-style than most people, even with using steroids.

In 2008 – and really for the past 25 years – bodybuilding has moved farther and farther away from the ideals that guys lived by back in the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s.  Since at least the ‘60s body builders have relied on steroids to create the physiques that have set them apart from the guy on the street.  As time passed guys started using more drugs, higher doses and new substances that helped them get bigger, stronger and freakier.  The workouts and diets became less important as the drugs took on more of a role in the development of muscular men and women.

Bodybuilders were using human growth hormone back in the mid-‘80s, almost 20 years before most people ever realized that HGH could be used to enhance performance.

Bodybuilding is based on a fatally flawed training philosophy, a philosophy that places importance on appearance rather than function and breaks down natural, multiple muscle group movements into less-efficient and less-effective component parts.  Personal trainers who fancy themselves bodybuilders are doing their clients a disservice as they implement training programs that rely on machines that work single joints and single muscle groups.

Working on equipment that affects a single muscle group is a waste of time.  Exercising while sitting down or lying down is foolish and for older members of the population is dangerous and potentially injurious.  Yet many personal trainers will tell you that people who have trouble with balance and stability need to use equipment.   This misinformation is based in bodybuilding-style thinking.

And at the root of the matter, bodybuilding would not exist if not for the steroids and human growth hormone that are responsible for the physiques that are featured in advertisements and articles that appear in just about every fitness publication.

Unfortunately, bodybuilding-based personal trainers are the last to know that their methods are obsolete and counter-productive.  There are actually “nationally recognized” personal training certifying organizations that use bodybuilders as poster boys and girls.  One of these organizations advertises their program in all of the major fitness magazines, and their ads actually feature 15-year old pictures of a male body builder doing biceps curls wearing only cut-off overalls and work boots.

In 2008 this kind of nonsense should not be recognized as legitimate personal training/fitness education, or as a worthwhile way to exercise.

Bodybuilding is the least effective method of training.  The only thing that bodybuilding is better than is inactivity, and there’s more than enough evidence that even the most sedentary of folks – both young and old – can benefit from training by doing total body, ground-based exercises.  The protestations come from the devotees that bodybuilding has helped so many people, when the reality is that people would be even that much better off if they had followed a valid training philosophy.

Rather than accept reality, move on and progress, bodybuilders continue to cling to the antiquated, out-dated methods of the past and ignore the reality that surrounds them.  Check out any current bodybuilding or fitness magazine and you’ll find routines that feature nothing but machine-based exercises.  And really, you don’t need to know how to do 5 different biceps exercises.  The biceps are just about the smallest muscle group and you don’t need to spend any real time working on them.  Bodybuilders have never understood that using total-body, multi-joint, ground-based exercises are the best way to develop strength and, by extension, a person’s physique.

If you want your arms to get bigger – and get super strong in the process – learn how to do pull-ups the right way, without wrist straps.  Learn how to do hang-cleans and dead lifts and the snatch.  Performance over appearance.

Before people knew any better it was understandable that bodybuilding was equated with fitness.  Now people know a lot better.

Professional certifying organizations such as the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) support and publish research that has advanced the field of conditioning and personal training to the point where real fitness pros know that performance-based methods of training are the most efficient and effective ways for all segments of our population to train.

Bodybuilding personal trainers want their clients to believe that biceps curls, triceps extensions, squats done in a Smith machine and leg extensions and leg curls are the best use of their time and effort.  The thought process goes that if it works for John the Juicer, it’ll work for John Doe.  Nothing could be further from the truth or reality.

As a matter of fact, the rest of us should ignore anything and everything that bodybuilders do.  From the obsession with appearance – and appearance as the main marker of success – to reliance on nutritional supplements with dubious pedigrees, and the core philosophy of the training methods, it’s time for bodybuilding to be put in the scrap heap of history.

Strength Training is not just for athletes, as people of all ages and ability levels can benefit from lifting weights.  Strength training is not just lifting heavy weights, as a wide-range of exercises - both with and without weights – can contribute to improving strength and ultimately improving your fitness level.

The basic, traditional strength training exercises include exercises like the squat, dead lift, over-head press, bench press, pull down, row and can be performed with both dumbbells and barbells.   Actually, most any exercise that is done with weights can be considered strength training.  However, some exercises are more effective and efficient than others when it comes to delivering benefits.

Olympic-style lifts such as the snatch, clean and jerks are complex strength training exercises that regular folk can learn to do – with the help of a certified strength professional/personal trainer.  People do not have to use a lot of weight to do these exercises in order to be able to take advantage of their awesome strength building potential.

Push-ups and pull-ups are two exercises that are done without weights, and are two of the best strength training exercises that can be done.  Regardless of a person’s fitness level, and no matter how good someone is at doing them, push-ups and pull-ups can serve as a never ending challenge, and can be adapted any number of ways.

An efficient and effective strength-training program should consist of ground-based, multi-joint/compound movements.  Simply put, exercises that work more than one muscle group at a time, and are done while standing are the best exercises that anyone can do.  As opposed to machine-based exercises where the machine provides stability and balance, ground-based, compound movements force the body to provide its own balance and stability, and as a result are more beneficial.

Strength training can benefit the young, old and everyone in between.  Including ground-based, compound movements like the squat, dead lift, push-ups and pull-ups in your strength training program will ensure that you will get the most out of your exercise time and effort.

The Split Jerk is a basic explosive lift and is one of the most effective and efficient lifts that you can do.  Don’t be intimidated by its pedigree; competitive athletes, beginners and personal trainers alike can take advantage of the benefits offered by the Split Jerk.

The Spilt Jerk is an explosive, ground-based, compound movement that can be done by practically anyone.  Not just for advanced, competitive athletes, proper execution of the Split Jerk results in every muscle in the body working together in order to perform this exercise, and develops balance and stability, as well.

The video clip provides a great illustration as to how the Split Jerk can be done with either dumbbells or barbells, and how this exercise is suitable for women.  My wife has included the Split Jerk in her routine for years.  Being that her workout time is limited – she works and we have three young boys – she includes the Split Jerk and other explosive, ground-based, compound movements in her workouts because they are extremely effective and time-efficient.

There are some key points to keep in mind when performing this exercise.

The most important element in doing the Split Jerk is that you want to move as fast as possible when performing the Split Jerk and folks who have been training on equipment or who have never done an explosive move before might have a hard time adjusting to the speed component of this lift.  Watch and listen the video clip, follow along and before using weights, try to do the Split Jerk without weights.  This will get you in the grove, so to speak, and help you get used to moving with the necessary speed.

Your starting stance is very important and you want to stand in a position as if you were trying to jump straight up, as high as possible.  The Split Jerk is actually a controlled jump that incorporates an abrupt, overhead press.  And as I mention in the video clip, you get off of the ground and re-establish your stance with one foot moving forward and the other moving back, effectively splitting your stance.  Don’t stress about which foot goes in which direction, just do what comes naturally and as you get better at the basic movement, you can work on variations that included alternating the lead leg.

Even though this movement needs to be done as fast as possible, you shouldn’t “rapid fire” it.  In other words, while each rep is performed explosively you need to take time in between each rep to reestablish the proper starting position.  Treat the Split Jerk like you would swinging a bat or a golf club in that each individual swing is explosive, but make sure you re-set and are totally balanced and in the proper position before and after each repetition in each set.

While introducing this lift into your routine take the time and effort to make sure you’re using proper form.  Explosive moves are done in a manner – and with a philosophy – completely at odds with techniques used to perform machine-based exercises.  This kind of explosive movement is done with a different purpose, and has a very different effect on the body than does traditional exercises. Since you aren’t working a single muscle or muscle group, you won’t feel the kind of burn associated with typical strength moves.  Explosive moves are nervous system actions and therefore don’t use the same mechanisms as tradition strength movements.

Be patient when introducing the Split Jerk.  Practice the move without weights.  Don’t do any more than 6 repetitions in a single set and don’t do any more than 5 or 6 sets, including the body weight “practice” sets.  When you add resistance, you’ll do 2 warm up sets and then 3 work sets – sets done with the most weight that you can handle for 5 or 6 reps.

Start doing the Split Jerk and take your routine to the next level.

This week’s video fitness tip features a superset that consists of sledgehammer training combined with the hang clean-front squat and press that’s performed with Apollon’s Axle, a 2-inch thick bar.  The thicker bar totally changes the dynamic involved with performing any exercise, and makes this particular exercise extremely challenging.

As I’ve been telling you, sledgehammer training is a great alternative to traditional methods of strength training.  This week I’m going to show you how to combine sledgehammer training with a compound, complex movement to create an intense workout that is more efficient and effective than your standard workout.

The sledgehammer training part of this workout speaks for itself, so I’ll spend a little time describing the hang clean-front squat and press.  A quick note, some refer to the front squat and press as a “barbell thruster,” but I prefer my more descriptive term.  For the purpose of brevity, in the title of my item I used “barbell thrusters” despite the fact that I added the hang clean.  Anyway…

The hang-clean-front squat and press is a very challenging complex, one that certainly can be performed as a stand-alone exercise.  This move is called a “complex” because it combines two or more compound movements, in this case I’ve combined three.  This kind of routine – if performed properly – provides the highest possible level of intensity.

As you can see in the video, the complex starts with a hang clean, and after the bar is in the rack position across the collarbone, I perform a front squat and start the push press during the decent.

Rather than use a regular 7-foot Olympic bar, I chose to use my Apollon’s Axle for this week’s workout. The 2-inch thick bar does more for grip strength and can make any lift more difficult.  It’s 7-feet long just like the Olympic bar and weighs in at about 35-pounds – 10 pounds less than it’s fancy Olympic cousin – but is way more difficult to handle, especially when used for any explosive, pulling movement.

This week’s workout is pretty simple.  I started with 40 swings with my 10-pound sledge and followed up with 5 repetitions of the complex, took about 20-seconds before I took 20 swings with my 20-pound sledgehammer and another 5 reps of the complex.  This took me about 4 minutes.  After the tape stopped rolling, I took 4 minutes off before completed another round of this superset.

In general, I usually rest for a period of time equal to the amount of time it took me to complete the superset.  However, if heavier weights/lower repetitions are used I will rest for as much as twice as long. When designing your own workouts use your judgment, but make sure you don’t rush.  It is always better to take an extra minute or two of rest if that rest allows you to perform more work.

With this kind of high-intensity routine you will be done working after about 20-25 minutes, including your warm up period.  Give this workout a try and see how high-intensity training can kick your butt in less than half the time that it takes to complete a traditional workout.

What do you do when you’re staying in a hotel that has an embarrassingly bad gym?  As long as the gym has dumbbells and there is enough space to do a push up – and you are creative – you can get a great workout.

Recently I stayed in a hotel where the workout room was under construction, and the makeshift gym was flat out putrid.  The hotel gym was just three hotel rooms; each room contained a different type of equipment.  The person who is used to working out on equipment is out of luck.

Actually, if I weren’t so lazy I would have ventured outside the comfy confines offered by the hotel and found a local gym.  But thanks to my overall laziness I stuck it out and did the best to use the substandard facility that was at my disposal.

Being that I use dumbbells and ground-based movements exclusively in my workouts, coming up with an effective workout plan in this kind of gym isn’t too hard.  Even without barbells, this kind of bare-bones facility shouldn’t keep anyone from getting a worthwhile workout, and if you employ this mode of thinking when designing your own workouts you’ll have no problem overcoming this kind of environment.

Using a circuit-training program in this setting is usually the best way to get the most effective workout.  When designing a circuit-training program alternate upper and lower body exercises and/or pushing and pulling upper body exercises.

So in the case of the lack luster hotel gym my circuit was dumbbell front squat, dumbbell curl and military press, body weight lunge, bent over one-arm dumbbell row and push-ups.  The repetition scheme can vary depending on the emphasis of the circuit, but keep the reps between 10-15 per set and try to get through the circuit 4 or 5 times.  The best approach is to use the first circuit as part of the warm up and to get a feel for what kind of weights you’ll use in the meat of the workout.  During the workout limit the time between exercises to 30 seconds and give yourself a 3-minute rest after each time through the circuit.

Completing five trips through this circuit should take around 35 minutes and this workout is challenging enough to serve as beneficial for everyone, regardless of fitness level.  Keep in mind that every workout shouldn’t be an epic, body-crushing experience, and that grabbing a quick and effective circuit-training workout while you’re on the road can do every bit as much for you as a 90-minute session can.

Remember, when the facility is lacking, circuit training can save the day.

Over the past 20 years, the definition of what a personal trainer is and does has changed drastically. As a result, many people don’t know what to look for, and expect, from a personal trainer.  Since the mid-1980s the fitness profession has evolved and the kinds of trainers – and personal training – that are available has changed.

Actually the term “personal trainer” has changed to the point where personal trainers in the year 2007 bear little resemblance to the trainers of 2 decades ago.  Unfortunately, in too many cases these changes and differences are not for the better.

The term personal trainer has been cheapened over the years as many people have tried to cash in on the growing popularity of personal trainers and as the fitness trend became more and more popular.  The title personal trainer is pretty much meaningless today, is usually indicative of a lower level of knowledge and – in my opinion – carries a negative connotation, as well.

For this reason, I prefer the term strength and conditioning coach rather than the term personal trainer.

There are very few certifying organizations that have stringent standards when it comes to providing credentials to fitness professionals, and with the exception of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), there aren’t any certifying organizations that I put much faith in.  Every staff member at my facility is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) as designated by the NSCA, and when we hire new staff the CSCS certification is a requirement.  Furthermore, we have adopted the procedures and protocols designed by the NSCA with regard to testing and teaching.

USA Weightlifting conducts a stringent educational process in order to certify coaches, and any coach who has undergone this training should be considered a serious strength and conditioning pro worthy of consideration.  Don’t make the mistake of thinking that only competitive athletes can benefit from working with this kind of high-level professional.

I am a USA Weightlifting Certified Coach and use the knowledge that I gained from this program every day with my regular, non-competitive athlete clients.  I have 60-year old grandmothers, 40-year old men, 70-year old retirees, high school kids and every other imaginable demographic taking advantage of the high-level knowledge and techniques promoted by USA Weightlifting.

Ideally people should look for a fitness professional that is a performance based strength and conditioning coach and not just a “personal trainer.”  In a perfect world, there would be more qualified fitness professionals and finding CSCS certified fitness pros would be easy, but this isn’t the case.  The NSCA offers a Certified Personal Trainer designation that is the best in the field, and a person holding this credential is really the only option to the CSCS.

Find out if your gym – or potential gym – has as an overall training philosophy that their trainers must follow.  A facility should make the effort to insist that their staff follow a proven program and take steps to ensure that their coach’s knowledge base is kept current.  Never become a member of a facility that has free-lance, independent trainers that do not follow a protocol, and do not work with a strength coach that does not have a discernable, coherent training philosophy.

To get the best idea of how a trainer works and what their philosophy is you should observe a session.  Stay away from any trainer that uses machines in lieu of ground-based exercises.  For instance, look for a coach that includes squats, step ups and lunges in their program, and avoids the Smith machine, leg extension, leg curl and leg press machines.

And of course get references from any strength coach that you are considering working with.

There’s no sure-fire way to guarantee that you will hire the best possible strength coach, but if you keep these tips in mind you will give yourself the best chance possible to find the coach that’s best for you.