As a general rule, personal trainers will act as “tactile signals”, which will allow them to teach exercise techniques effectively and explain which muscles work. It's completely normal practice for coaches to touch you, but if you're uncomfortable with this, you can ask them not to. Yes, you expect your personal trainer to be enthusiastic and conversational. And yes, there are times when they may need to make physical contact with you to correct your posture.
But, despite tales that encourage coaches to flirt with their clients, engaging in this type of behavior is unethical and sometimes illegal. The tendency of some coaches to touch their clients may simply be due to a lack of guidance on what physical contact is appropriate and when from certification organizations, according to trainers. Even so, the burden of creating a safe and comfortable fitness learning experience shouldn't rest entirely on the client; coaches should also know how to train effectively without touching in the first place, Summers says. Both Summers and business partner Francine Delgado-Lugo, an NCSF certified personal trainer, say inappropriate contact between coaches and clients can be common within fitness spaces.
Working with a personal trainer can be expensive and you should receive the best fitness instruction you can buy with your money. This type of interaction may seem like NBD to the average viewer, but personal trainers or fitness class instructors touching clients, especially in persistent and potentially suggestive ways, shouldn't be the norm, Summers says. It's very rare for a coach to take advantage of this, and in fact, in more than ten years in the fitness industry, I've never heard of this happening in a gym I've worked at. As for the two specific cases you cited, both people deserve to be reported to your gym staff, the coach in particular, and especially if you are an employee of the gym (some trainers may be a kind of “freelance within a gym, which is a more flexible relationship, but they still need to follow the gym”.
rules and limits set by the administration). Coaches touch clients, clients reveal intimate details of life between sets, and the conversation often focuses on what, in any other context, could be uncomfortable truths about the physical appearance of both the coach and the client.
Fitness Trainer
