I have more in common with a track and field coach than I do a personal trainer.

Seems to me most track and field coaches I have met put a lot of thought into programming so that their client is making progress on a weekly basis and getting them ready for an end goal. This is very similar to strength training. Everything is precise and calculated in order to get you "stronger" each session. If I'm not getting you stronger, then why am I wasting your time?

Most personal trainers I meet have their clients do random exercises each session for the sake of getting a good workout. They almost brag about how when their clients are done they are left laying on the ground in a pool of sweat because the workout was so hard. But what is the overall goal? And are they making weekly progress towards that goal?

I have many clients who come from that world and they get humbled very quickly on their true strength in natural human movement patterns. They are shocked that after working their ass off in a gym for 5 days a week for a few years, that they aren't as strong as they thought they would be. Same thing happened to me. After ten years of trying every program under the sun and hiring multiple personal trainers along the way, I was in shock when I finally went to a strength coach and found out how weak I was.

I'm of the opinion, if you are going to enter a gym with weights you should have a goal of getting stronger. If you are going to take up basketball, I'm sure you want to get better. If you join Jiu Jitsu, don't you want to get better each week?

Can you imagine hiring a track and field coach for the long jump and your coach has you doing all these crazy type of workouts that leave you super tired and exhausted but only improved your long jump for a couple of weeks? Then you spend another 8 months and your coach made no progress on the distance you can jump?

That's what happens to most people who hire a personal trainer. They get a little stronger the first couple of weeks due to being a novice then they plateau. And you can stay plateaued for months and years.

If you are not jumping further in the long jump, you are not making progress. If you are not throwing the shot put further, you are not making progress. If you are not improving your speed in the 100M run then you are not making progress. And if you are not getting stronger in the gym then you are not making progress. This is something that Track and Field and Strength Coaches understand but most personal trainers don't.