(Contest Prep) Trainer problems...need some help guys. (Cliff Notes)

[DiGiTaL]

Hey guys,

I need some advice as what to do cause right now I dont know what the fuck is going on.

Ive been training with the same lady, who is an IFBB pro, a local judge to BB competitions, smart as fuck. She has a lot of clients that got their pro card. first places. overalls. all the bullshit. she knows whats she doing.

Ive been with her since December. I paid her about $700 for offseason. Which was December..till June. My show is in October so contest prep has to start June 1st for me. She gave me a diet in the beginning, and every week I'd email her my progress, my weight, measurements and a lot of the time she would just reply "keep going you're doing well." This went on from December til now, she changed my diet once. (Didnt even give me a training program, using my old one) And I saw her ONCE all this time. One hour session.
I never questioned her cause everyone always says she knows what shes doing.

So today, about an hour ago. I havent been able to sleep so I made this thread. She asked me last week to pay her near $1200 for contest prep (june to oct, 16 weeks)...This shocked me, I had already paid $700. Most trainers in the city you pay like $800 and your good till end of your contest. Im in debt right now so been stressing where I will find this money to pay her off, while maintain my training, dieting and supplements and etc....then my friend tells me tonight that shes charging everyone, especially new guys around $600 for contest prep. Nationals and Pro competitors more for obvious reasons. So Im pay double and getting ripped out of my asshole here.

I found out through a friend. I emailed her already. She usually takes a few days to answer.
All we did this time was email back and forth.


So I dont know, should I pay her? Im thinking of finding another trainer, heck even if its someone online who can do my diet and training and not charge me that Much I'll be fine.

I wish Built trained people for contest. I'd pay to have her coach me.


Cliffs for the lazy
- Paid trainer $700 for email once a week saying "goodjob keep going"
- Changed diet once in 6 months.
- Seen her once for an hour
- Now she wants $1200 for contest prep
- She charges everyone else $600 for contest prep
- Fuck everything about this sport right now.

 

[easymoneymike]

I guess it depends on a lot of things. To me, if you have only seen her once for an hour and she has changed your diet once in 6 months it wouldn't be worth it imo. Anyone could have been doing the same thing for free. It would be hard to pass on someone with that kind of knowledge but there is no way I could picture myself giving someone that kind of money unless they really worked with me or they were someone like Hany or George type of caliber trainers. If I were you, I would do some looking around locally or on the web to find someone who is going to work with you closer and give you more input, not just someone who is going to give you a pat on the back and tell you not to eat crap all the time.

 

[ebn2002]

I might be ignorant here, but isn't all the information she could tell you available for free on the internet? Like tried and true theories for contest prep that you can just follow yourself? It would be worth it if she was coaching you but you can do what shes doing for free.

Or can't you pay one of her ex-clients like $50 for the info she gave him on contest prep?

 

[sassy69]

There are lots of people who are "qualified" to do contest prep and have a boatload of positive results in terms of people they've prepped. That doesn't make them right for you.

I would start w/, have you made progress during the off-season where you're not getting much change in your diet? If not, that's a big illustration of how that particular model works or doesn't. Have you voiced the fact that you would've expected greater engagement w/ her? Me personally, it drives me fucking nuts when I don't feel like I'm getting the attention of the person I paid a lot of money to for prep. And ESPECIALLY for on-season when it does matter. It doesn't matter if you've got Arnold himself prepping you, and he is only giving you enough attention to say "you're doing great, I'll be back", its still a waste of your time, money and your trust of him to do the prep you believe you paid for.

I also feel it is incredibly important to have a sense of trust w/ your trainer that he/she will be there and engage w/ you w/o you having to drag it out of them. That's a big part of the trust foundation that goes into a solid prep relationship. I realize this is ideal and you can't just keep jumping trainers until you find the perfect relationship, but IMO its something that should play into it. If you simply can't get that sort of engagement, then it might not be for you. On the other hand, if you haven't expressed that concern, the trainer won't necessarily be aware of it and take the lack of response as "I guess everything is ok". I would generally judge a trainer on their ability to answer my questions readily.

That said, start w/ your review of your results during the off-season, and frankly I think you're justified in doing a little bit of a postmortem w/ the trainer on that subject. I.e. "We went in w/ this goal. How do you think it turned out? Is there anything you think I did or didn't do? I was expecting < this > and < did or didn't achieve that >. How frequently do you make changes in a program or How frequently should I expect changes? .. " etc etc etc.

If this is the first time you've done an on-season prep w/ the person I'd be asking for the expectation - how frequently do you usually make changes? I'd like to get critique on my progress every week. Can we schedule a weekly half hour call to review? etc etc etc. Again - if you don't get some sort of indication of HOW you're going to engage w/ this person, esp raising the concerns from the off-season experience and noting how friggen critical regular feedback on prep is going into a show, esp for that amount of money, then I'd probably go look somewhere else. Not your job to make this trainer feel good about themselves if you don't want to work with them. But IMO you gotta speak up first. If you don't get a satisfactory response when you do, that's just that much more ammo to move on.

 

[XYZ]

All I can really tell you is I worked with Cam and Tracy, and they were awesome. You might want to send a PM to Islandgirl or Paradise Cup and get the information. I know Heavyiron has used them also.

 

[CG]

in to see where this one goes

 

[tinyshrek]

Here is an amazing idea. CONTACT SHELBY STARNES. Great prep guy online and telephone. 16 week prep will be 400-500 bucks cheaper. And his guys show up pealed every fuckin time. He has his own website

 

[DiGiTaL]

I guess it depends on a lot of things. To me, if you have only seen her once for an hour and she has changed your diet once in 6 months it wouldn't be worth it imo. Anyone could have been doing the same thing for free. It would be hard to pass on someone with that kind of knowledge but there is no way I could picture myself giving someone that kind of money unless they really worked with me or they were someone like Hany or George type of caliber trainers. If I were you, I would do some looking around locally or on the web to find someone who is going to work with you closer and give you more input, not just someone who is going to give you a pat on the back and tell you not to eat crap all the time.

Ya I know what you mean. I never felt like I had her attention. My old coach was an ifbb pro as well, he was with me in the gym 4 times a week. I learned a lot from him. He pushed me beyond my limits and convinced me to think of competing, he said I'd do well. He unfortunately had to go to states last year prior to olympia cause he qualified for the 202 olympia class. He recommended this lady to me before leaving.

I might be ignorant here, but isn't all the information she could tell you available for free on the internet? Like tried and true theories for contest prep that you can just follow yourself? It would be worth it if she was coaching you but you can do what shes doing for free.

Or can't you pay one of her ex-clients like $50 for the info she gave him on contest prep?

The info doesnt really matter, Im sure even online I can find some contest preparation information. I need more of a coach to kind of teach me as we go along how a contest prep really works. As well, learning to pose which seems to be a big part of competing.

There are lots of people who are "qualified" to do contest prep and have a boatload of positive results in terms of people they've prepped. That doesn't make them right for you.

I would start w/, have you made progress during the off-season where you're not getting much change in your diet? If not, that's a big illustration of how that particular model works or doesn't. Have you voiced the fact that you would've expected greater engagement w/ her? Me personally, it drives me fucking nuts when I don't feel like I'm getting the attention of the person I paid a lot of money to for prep. And ESPECIALLY for on-season when it does matter. It doesn't matter if you've got Arnold himself prepping you, and he is only giving you enough attention to say "you're doing great, I'll be back", its still a waste of your time, money and your trust of him to do the prep you believe you paid for.

I also feel it is incredibly important to have a sense of trust w/ your trainer that he/she will be there and engage w/ you w/o you having to drag it out of them. That's a big part of the trust foundation that goes into a solid prep relationship. I realize this is ideal and you can't just keep jumping trainers until you find the perfect relationship, but IMO its something that should play into it. If you simply can't get that sort of engagement, then it might not be for you. On the other hand, if you haven't expressed that concern, the trainer won't necessarily be aware of it and take the lack of response as "I guess everything is ok". I would generally judge a trainer on their ability to answer my questions readily.

That said, start w/ your review of your results during the off-season, and frankly I think you're justified in doing a little bit of a postmortem w/ the trainer on that subject. I.e. "We went in w/ this goal. How do you think it turned out? Is there anything you think I did or didn't do? I was expecting < this > and < did or didn't achieve that >. How frequently do you make changes in a program or How frequently should I expect changes? .. " etc etc etc.

If this is the first time you've done an on-season prep w/ the person I'd be asking for the expectation - how frequently do you usually make changes? I'd like to get critique on my progress every week. Can we schedule a weekly half hour call to review? etc etc etc. Again - if you don't get some sort of indication of HOW you're going to engage w/ this person, esp raising the concerns from the off-season experience and noting how friggen critical regular feedback on prep is going into a show, esp for that amount of money, then I'd probably go look somewhere else. Not your job to make this trainer feel good about themselves if you don't want to work with them. But IMO you gotta speak up first. If you don't get a satisfactory response when you do, that's just that much more ammo to move on.

Thank you Sassy.

You've brought up a lot of good questions for me to ask my future trainers. I think there should be a relationship between trainer and client. I felt like there was none with me. I mean. I trained hard, gave it my 110% whenever, but I never felt once "oh shes gonna be so proud of me" no, she didnt even care if my strength went up. She just wanted to know if my weight is going up...

Like I understand she has a lot of clients...but Im paying just as much as them..maybe even more. Wouldnt mind a little bit of support.

All I can really tell you is I worked with Cam and Tracy, and they were awesome. You might want to send a PM to Islandgirl or Paradise Cup and get the information. I know Heavyiron has used them also.

I will look into that thank you.

in to see where this one goes

I'll keep updating it.

 

[DiGiTaL]

Here is an amazing idea. CONTACT SHELBY STARNES. Great prep guy online and telephone. 16 week prep will be 400-500 bucks cheaper. And his guys show up pealed every fuckin time. He has his own website

Im looking at his website right now. He looks good. Thank you.

 

[tinyshrek]

No prob brother!

 

[tinyshrek]

Research if you need too. He is a sponsor over at professional muscle. He has some QA over there. I do mountain dog training by John meadows and Shelby does his diet, and Shelby does his training. Both are very knowledgable guys. John has a website as well. Mountaindogdiet.com