'I'm a personal trainer, and these are my biggest pet peeves with clients.'

I haven't slept and I'm MAD.

While the not sleeping thing was self-inflicted, the result is still the same: I'm mad (tired, grumpy, vague). 

So I thought it was a good idea to let it all hang out right here and share with you some of my favourite PT pet peeves.

Attitude to technique.

You would be surprised at the amount of attitude we get when trying to correct technique. I wish to caveat that statement and say that it's not unsolicited advice – that is, we're not just approaching randoms as they do their own thing on the gym floor. 

I cannot tell you over my career how often I have gotten filthy looks, completely ignored, or argued with as I try to advise technique that will make the movement more comfortable, effective and saves your knees, back and shoulders from a lifetime of agony, misery and medical bills. 

I can definitively tell you this, PTs will stop approaching you to help correct technique after one or two of these instances, so if you are lamenting why during your session you aren't receiving assistance, as Tom Cruise famously said: "put your manners back in."

Side note: watch how the horoscopes work out. Story continues after video.

Maybe it's the era of the inter-webs where we are all an expert, or "I've been doing it this way for years", or maybe we've had an entire day of being told what to do and this is the final straw, but just know we are approaching you because we care and… this is literally our job.

Ignoring expertise.

Speaking of the inter-web expert era, I've genuinely second guessed my expertise on more occasions that I care to mention, such is the disregard for advice. After these instances I'll contact a fellow expert to check my facts and lo-and-behold, I'm not losing my mind. 

Here are but 3 of my most ignored pieces of advice:

• You don't have to work at 100 per cent capacity and exercise to the point of death, destruction and/or vomit every day to get an effective workout. I can promise you I can get you the same results without seeing your lunch regurgitated.
• A rest day is a training day. Recovery days are essential to maintain results and generally not be a broken sack of bones.
• Lifting weights a few times a week will not make you look like a pro-wrestler.

Please understand we have been doing this gig for a very long time. We have not only studied in the field (scrolling through fitness influencers on Insta doesn't count), but we have observed hundreds upon hundreds of bodies before you making exactly the same mistakes with the same predictable outcomes. 

It doesn't matter what logic you have come up with in your own mind to justify your resistance to (factual real life) advice, but understand we are telling you FACTS that will benefit you in the long run.

Excuses.

By the time someone approaches a PT, there is typically a series of events and self-talk in the lead up. Nine times out of 10 it's not the most positive of scenarios that have led them to us – usually it comes down to dissatisfaction with some aspect of their lives. 

We know as PTs it may have taken you months or even years to finally take action. You have spent so long to get to this point, and you are doing something about it. We are bloody proud of you even before we start and we are ready to help change your life. This is not an understatement.

So it frazzles our brain when, very soon after this breakthrough, the excuses start: "too tired", "not enough time", "it's too hard".

If I literally had a single dollar for every time I heard these...

To achieve literally anything outside of the grind of day-to-day life, it's going to take extra effort. It's going to take effort, discomfort and sacrifice – will the result be worth it? Your confidence, your mental and physical health, your quality of life, the friendships you make in the process? Even in my sleep-deprived stupor I am 100 per cent certain it's worth it.

Honestly, it would be less frustrating to hear "I just don't care enough" than to assign blame to something else. So for us, it's so incredibly frustrating to hear these predictable excuses knowing your story and knowing with our entire being how much you will benefit.

Thank you and goodnight.

Read more from Marie:

• 'As a fitness professional, this is what I want to say about THAT Nicole Kidman cover.'
• 'I own a fitness franchise like F45. This is what I want you to know.'
• 'I'm a personal trainer. These are my 3 golden rules of fitness.'
  

Marie has been a fitness industry professional since 2005 and currently owns UBX Boxing + Strength in Belconnen. She is a qualified Personal Trainer, Les Mills group fitness instructor, CrossFit coach and Pilates teacher. Follow her on Instagram  here.

Feature Image: Instagram @marie_anagnostis.