From the desk of Shane Doll CPT, CSCS
Founder, Shaping Concepts
Charleston, SC

February 05, 2012

Hi this is Shane, thanks for coming to check out this page to learn more about my Charleston personal trainers at Shaping Concepts. I understand that it's no small decision when you're considering hiring a personal trainer. After all you're essentially entrusting the care of your body to whoever you hire.

I’ll be the first one to tell you that while I’m very proud of my profession, not everyone with a business card that reads “personal trainer” is qualified to be giving you exercise prescription!

I’ve been in this industry a long time and witnessed first hand the dark side of personal training. Not that trainers don’t mean well, but just because someone can get themselves in shape, doesn’t necessarily mean they have the knowledge and education to safely train you.

Unfortunately, a lot of times that's exactly what you'll see especially in the health clubs and gyms. The problem is there’s no national guidelines or standards set that organizations must meet when issuing personal training certifications.

Many people are shocked when I tell them someone could literally become a “certified personal trainer” over the weekend by simply taking an on-line test.

Please do your homework before hiring a Charleston Personal Trainer…

I’ll never forget when one of my early mentors, Phil Kaplan, showed me a personal trainer certification for Ashley Kaplan. I assumed that was his wife or daughter. Would you believe Ashley Kaplan was the name of his family's cat?

It's true! As a leading advocate in the personal training industry he simply wanted to prove a point that anyone (including his pet cat!) could receive a personal training certification.

I’m telling you this certainly not to discourage you from using a personal trainer. Quite the opposite in fact as I truly believe that the RIGHT personal trainer can change a person's life.

I’m very passionate about what I do and find it a blessing to be able to help other people with my knowledge and abilities.

The thing is regardless of whether you choose to work with one of my Charleston personal trainers at Shaping Concepts or wherever you go, just please make sure you do your homework first.

What to look for and questions to ask when interviewing a personal trainer...

Here are a few tips and questions you should ask when interviewing a personal trainer. Obviously it’s important that your trainer “practices what they preach” by being physically active themselves. But just don’t assume you’ve got a good one because he or she is fit.

Failing to do your research in the beginning could lead to lost time, money, and worse yet get you injured!

Where did you receive your education or personal trainer certification?

The important thing here is to look for personal training certifications that have national accreditation through the NCCA (National Commission for Certifying Agencies).

The fly-by-night certifying organizations where you can get a personal training certification over the weekend obviously won’t meet the NCCA guidelines.

There are several good certifications out there with NCCA accreditation and with a simple “Google Search” you can find out in a matter of minutes how serious your prospective trainer is about their education.

Is a health questionnaire, fitness assessment, and other prerequisites issued before starting your first workout?

Any true fitness professional would always take these steps before ever issuing you exercise or taking you onto the floor for a full blown workout.

If they don’t it’s a big red flag. Number one how are they really going to personalize your fitness program if they don’t know that much about you? And number two this is how people get injured!

Ask to see social proof from the clients they’ve helped in the past.

Once again a real fitness professional will be able to show you "social proof" from clients they’ve helped in the past either from testimonials or before/after pictures. If they don’t have anything to show you it means either they’re brand new in the field, they're not that serious about what they do, or they're just simply not that good..

What you can expect when hiring a Charleston personal trainer at Shaping Concepts...

You can rest assured if you come to Shaping Concepts that regardless of the personal trainer you work with, you’ll be in the hands of a highly trained fitness professional.

When I started this business back in 2004 I set out to create a “results oriented” fitness facility by employing ONLY trainers that demonstrated their level of commitment and professionalism by receiving a solid education and/or certification.

You simply won’t find the college kid "out to make a few extra bucks" at Shaping Concepts like you might find in a local Charleston health club or gym.

I’ve raised the bar high in order to provide our clients with exceptional service and professional instruction. It’s one of the many reasons Shaping Concepts has grown to become the area's largest personal training studio with over 10 certified Charleston personal trainers.

Check out some of the differences between a Shaping Concepts "fitness professional" and other personal trainers.