Get Fit Now!: The Trainer Tells All

I used to do it, go on the trips, but I started to feel uncomfortable when they’d invite me to another black-tie event. Why was I going? What was I going to get out of it? It wasn’t like I was going to get more clients out of this. Clients didn’t want to share. They didn’t want to help you advance your business. If their friends started working with you, you’d be less available to them. You belonged to them. You were their special thing. That was the danger line for a trainer. Your clients were doing all of this for you, and in return, they expected you to be at their beck and call.

And that often led to crossing the other line in this industry. Sex is a big part of fitness. It just is. I’d see things going on between gym members. I walked out into the parking lot one time and saw Fred and Ginger, that’s what we called them, pretty much getting it on between cars. They were married. And not to each other.

But the real trouble came when trainers and clients started something, mostly male trainers and female clients. It’s easy to see how signals get confused, how clients spend so much time with you and start to trust you, and you’re focusing on them completely, handing out compliments left and right. And the client starts to think that the trainer really likes her, this trainer who might be giving her more attention in one hour than her husband gives her in a month. Then you have the trainer who is totally intrigued by this wealthy world, and totally flattered by the attention from these attractive women. And next thing you know … I’d watch people disappear into bathrooms, into locker rooms. I came in early the morning after the Christmas party so I could work out, and when I turned on the lights, there were a trainer and a client wrapped around each other, passed out on the floor. I would even hear rumors about myself: “I hear you’re sleeping with so-and-so.” And I’d say, “Am I? Did I enjoy it? Because I certainly don’t remember doing it.” But every trainer I knew was propositioned at least once. Some trainers did it. Some didn’t. And some of the ones who did, did it too much.

One guy was a friend of mine. When he started getting chummy with one of his clients, I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention. Then she started training more. And more. And more. Then, when he was spotting her while she was doing squats, he stood so close that her butt was pressed up against him. Then they started to schedule their training sessions outside the gym. I still didn’t say anything. And it appeared to cool down. Then it started happening again, with a different client. And again, later, with a different client. Finally, I had to say something.