Is Your Fitness Guru Genuine? 5 Tips to Find Out!

Fitness gurus. We all want a fitness guru to change our lives and transform our body - make me into a model, yes please!

Self-proclaimed gurus come out of the woodwork in gyms around the world. They all seem to be wearing stringers and bike shorts, strutting around the gym telling others how they aren’t doing exercises right nor are they lifting enough weight in his or her opinion...

Related - 10 Common Gym Idiots

You know the type. I think we all know that type. It kinda gives gyms a bad name and can prohibit clients from coming in on a regular basis.

I once had a gym douche slash self-proclaimed fitness guru tell me to put clips on the ends of my plates when I was benching. Then, when he was going to spot me, he walked away talking with someone.

The role of shame never felt so... embarrassing. I was never so humiliated. And when he came back, he told me, “Good job, now you know how to save your own life if someone wasn’t there to spot you.”

Really? Wh#$%the#$*k?!

My spidey senses told me somehow to never go back to that gym. Go figure. I think they call it gymtimidation. Yup, I was gymtimidated.

So do you listen to the gym “town crier” that goes around and spouts his incredible knowledge of macros, military presses, and all things related to muscle building or do you disregard what he says?

Here are some tips on how you can decide to either hang on your fitness gurus every word or ignore and possibly run the other way. These tips can give you ideas on how to know if your “guru” really knows what he/she is talking about or not, so here goes.

5 Tips - Is Your Fitness Guru Genuine?

1. Is the Unsolicited Advice Good Advice?

If your guru offers unsolicited advice, really think about what they are offering. Is it advice that may be beneficial even though it was unsolicited? Was it about an exercise or something that you could improve on?

If so, it would behoove you to research what they were saying and see if they were right. If so, they may be someone you can trust. May is the key word here.

2. Steer Clear of Demeaning Behavior

If a fitness professional exhibits demeaning behavior toward another that he is training, you may want to steer clear. This may be a huge sign that they will likely treat you the same way.

If someone is demeaning, it's usually because they may have lowered self-esteem or feel as though they are superior to others, which either way is no bueno and puts your own self-esteem at risk.

3. Check the Guru's Credentials

You may want to check your fitness gurus credentials. If they have no credentials you may want to rethink taking their advice. If they have a certification, it does not mean that they are the absolute “guru” either.

Talk to them and asking others that are training with your guru to see if they have gotten results and feel good from the training they are receiving. Just because you have a certain certification does not mean that you have enough knowledge to make you a decent trainer let alone a fitness guru.

4. Do They Know Your Medical History?

If they do not ask your medical history or if you have previous injuries they don't ask you about, they are likely no fitness guru. This is terribly important, because what if you are asked to do some exercise or perform some movement that could leave you at risk for injury?

This is incredibly important, as your guru could be your nightmare if things go wrong. Even if you are the one that volunteers the information, it should be written down and noted so that they can have your information to reference. If they don't even ask, that's a big problem.

5. Your Goals Matter

If they don’t factor in your goals in a program that they are having you do, they may not be the right guru for you.

If you have told your guru fitness trainer that you want to have a booty like Kim Kardashian and they have you doing the only upper body, then you may want to ask a whole bunch of questions. The first of which should be “why are we not working dat booty?”

If your guru trainer does not take into consideration your wants and needs as a client, it may be a disastrous combination, even if they are a trainer to the stars. That old chestnut of a patriarchal type of relationship with a training professional and client are gone.

You pay your trainer. That means you should absolutely have a say as to what is going on with your body and how you want it to look.

Final Thoughts

Bottom line is that a fitness professional that is knowledgeable will tell you why they are doing what they are doing. They will explain things in great detail and take time to get to know you, your wants and your reasonings as to why you want training or nutritional support.

These things are what make up a tried and true fitness guru. And it doesn’t stop there. These genuine gurus will be advancing their knowledge on a frequent basis so that they can best assist their clients in the best outcome for them.

Fitness professionals that are kind, do not talk down to their clients but want to impart knowledge are exactly the kind of guru you want to hire. Sometimes it is difficult to ferret out a diamond amongst the fake gems, but it is possible.

Research is key. Even though you are hiring a professional that can help you get a better butt or 6 pack abs or even just lose a few pounds, this does not exclude you from some culpability as far as information that is given to you. It is important for you to do your research and be as informed as possible.

If you feel someone could be giving you faulty information, it is up to you to research and ask questions. Blindly following someone because they train your favorite actress or train fitness models isn’t something that you should ever do-there is a lot of information out there that can prompt you to ask intelligent questions to a fitness authority.

In closing, you want to make sure that the person that you are listening to or hiring is reputable, knowledgeable and will treat your goals like their own. Do your research and ask intelligent questions, and for god sakes, do NOT put clips on the bar when you bench.