Personal Trainer
It all started when Hong Kong got too hot for running outdoors. Unwilling to give up the fitness I’ve managed to achieve since September, I decided to invest in a gym membership and ended up getting a personal trainer as well.
The personal trainer has an interesting skill set, one that I think teachers will appreciate. To be a trainer, you must have:
- Knowledge of how the body works.
- A friendly, supportive, but also challenging personality.
- Observation skills in case your client is tired but unwilling to say so.
- Recorded assessment of muscle performance — every session.
- The ability to demonstrate the technique they want you to learn.
One thing that is fundamentally different about the trainer / client and teacher / student dynamic is that clients come to the personal trainer with money and pay for feedback.
It’s always a enlightening to step outside the authority position in instruction. For example, when someone smiles at you, it’s usually a good thing. However, I’ve come to realize that when a personal trainer smiles at you, it means that you’re about to experience pain. I wonder if there are any ironic gestures that we display to students.
