It's More Than Just Making Them Sweat: A Career Training Guide for Personal Fitness Trainers (Paperback)

by Ed Thornton (Author)
Key Phrases: caloric metabolism, successful trainers, Making Them Sweat, Krebs Cycle, Real Market (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This book carves out a unique niche in the field of fitness publishing. No other book in this genre addresses more thoroughly the psychological factors of motivating clients and the how-to aspects of starting up and promoting a personal training business. No longer are personal trainers to be seen as glorified spotters just biding their time until the next career move. They are qualified health professionals who design and monitor the exercise programs that improve peoples' lives and health. The goal of this book is to promote a more reverent view of personal trainers.

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Robert D. Reed Publishers (October 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885003781
• ISBN-13: 978-1885003782
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #121,393 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "must have" book for personal trainers, February 12, 2007

By	Reader Views "www.readerviews.com" (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (1/07)

In my life, the job that I most enjoyed was being a personal trainer. I worked as a certified fitness counselor, which incorporated both personal training and nutrition, while I was in college. Because it didn't seem very lucrative for me, I never thought about doing it beyond college. I wish that I had read "It's More Than Just Making Them Sweat" back then. It would have given me a very different attitude. Having a different attitude would have made all the difference in the world. I could have made a career of it.

The author, Ed Thornton, researched the reasons why some trainers made it and some didn't. He wrote "It's More Than Making Them Sweat" to show trainers how to be successful. He offers concrete workable principles that make a lot of sense. Thornton doesn't just want to help you increase your income; he also wants you to enjoy the gratification that comes from helping others improve their quality of life. It is so obvious that helping others, in this way, is Thornton 's passion. He conveys this in his writing and in doing so will motivate trainers to want to excel at what they do. He states that to be able to inspire others you need to love what you do and live what you teach.

The first lesson that he teaches is to put your client's success before your own. You will never be more successful than your clients. Their success is also yours. Our primary goal as trainers is to help our clients gain natural and healthy control over their bodies. He also recommends getting to know the client as a person. This will allow the routines to be better customized to meet their particular needs.

If you are a personal trainer or are thinking of becoming one, you really should read "It's More Than Just Making Them Sweat." It will get you started on the right path to becoming a successful trainer and in doing so, you will be able to reach out to more people and improve their lives.

5.0 out of 5 stars I love my job..., May 2, 2009

By	Z. Maita (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A colleague told me about this book, and said I should read it.

What made it really valuable to me was that it reminded me (as crazy as it sounds) that I am here to help these people reach their fitness goals and that should be my number one focus -- how am I going to get them to reach their goal.

I think in the high pressure health club environment, it's easy to forget that and get caught up in how much training you are selling and how many clients you are retaining and re-signing. This meant that I was always obsessing about how to get them to sign with me, re-sign, how do I get more clients? How do I get them to like me and keep training with me?

Totally missing the point!

This book reminded me what my real focus should be, and I implemented it instantly. The same week, I came into work and carefully thought about what each one of my clients wanted to achieve and thought about what was holding them back and i talked to them about that and what else we could do together to get them where they wanted to be.

The response was amazing and so appreciative.

It was a great lesson to learn. Totally with the 10 bucks.

If you are a personal trainer who is serious about their career, and you sincerely want to be the best you can be, you should read this book.

4 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars First person narrative on success as a personal trainer, June 21, 2007

By	Not using my real name (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This book is a first person narrative on success as a personal trainer. I feel like the author is too emotionally invested on the subject (his own success as a trainer) and that the book isn't objective enough to give any real meaningful perspective on finding success as a personal trainer.

Also, the book is poorly made. The cover image is a little pixelated, the font is cheesey, and even worse, unprofessional fonts are consistently used throughout the book. That really annoys me.