Having thousands of Instagram followers doesn’t make someone an expert in EMS training.
Maybe you’ve been stuck with the wrong EMS personal trainer for months — or even years. Perhaps you have customers who are bouncing back from injuries and don’t want them to get sidelined. Or maybe you’ve just finally determined that you don’t know much about effective EMS sessions and you want to work with someone who really does.
Whatever reason you have for wanting a quality EMS personal trainer, we commend you.
Aside from having constant new customers who want to get in shape, this is the best desire you can possibly have for your EMS studio.
In addition to the entire knowing how to design an EMS workout sesion, there’s the accountability factors: customers scheduling a workout with someone are most likely to show up — especially if they’re paying that trainer to be there. A great EMS professor will help clients navigate unfamiliar EMS equipments, avoid injuries, create a schedule that helps them reach their goals as quickly as possible and perhaps, most important, motivate them to keep showing up and enjoy their EMS workouts. These last two points are key because obviously, if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, you’re not going to do it for long.
But you might have some doubts — quality EMS trainers cost money — sometimes a lot of money if they’re well-established or have large Instagram accounts. And just because someone calls himself a great EMS trainer, by fancying his large social media followers list, doesn’t mean that they know much more than you do as an investor about getting into shape using EMS equipment. Honestly, it can simply mean that they know how to market themselves.
After more than 10 years as EMS professionals, our company found that asking these seven questions will help determine if your customers are getting their money’s worth out of every EMS workout.
What’s their certification?
EMS workouts aren’t regulated like other health and wellness jobs. For example, nutritionists, doctors and physical therapists had to complete years of academic work and perform hundreds (maybe thousands) of internship hours before they applied for a national exam. You can be certain of these facts, as well as for the fact that they likely have to continue education, while with EMS personal trainers you can’t take any of the above for granted.
At this time, there are no laws governing the practice of EMS personal training. Literally, anyone can decide to call themselves EMS personal trainers. If you simply have a couple hundred of euros / dollars and a free weekend, there are plenty of ghost companies that will be more than happy to make you an “official”.
There are currently just 3 accredited certifying companies for EMS personal trainers in the world. As long as the EMS personal trainer is credentialed by one of those, you can be sure that they had to go through a rigorous course that proves a deep know-how of workout science and practice. Does that mean that all certified EMS personal trainers are effective employees? Not at all.
Can they provide evidence?
Don’t be ashamed to ask for their certification. It’s not only proof of expertise, but it’s also their badge of honor that you want to frame in your EMS studio and most quality EMS trainers are only too happy to brag about it. When they show it off, check out the date. All EMS personal trainers have to start somewhere, but unless you enjoy having your clients be test subjects, you want to make sure they have had the opportunity to put their skills into practice for at least 6 months. That might seem to back down some candidates, but ideally, you want it all: a trainer that is both certified by one of the 3 accredited companies and one with a good experience when it comes to applying their knowledge in the real world.
Of course, you also want to make sure they’re effective at applying that know-how and you won’t get that from a framed certificate. Ask for recommendations (and actually talk to them), request before / after images of customers and most important, pay attention to how quick and easy the EMS personal trainer can provide all that information.
You’re looking for passion, as well as experience — someone who is not only effective at getting results, but also takes pride in them by caring enough to save any good information.
What are his / her specialties?
You also want to imagine your customers in those before /after photos. Not literally (that would be weird), but you should be able to determine the kind of clients with whom your EMS personal trainer tens to work — age, sex, fitness level and goals.
Do your customers have more than 25 kg to lose? Then you want to see photos showing dramatic weight loss.
Do you vibe?
Most EMS studio owners tens to underestimate the importance of customers liking their EMS trainer on a personal level. An EMS personal trainer might be the ONE in your area for weight loss (or muscle gain, or athlete training), but if your customers don’t enjoy spending time with that person, they are not going to enjoy their EMS workouts.
We recommend watching a few test EMS sessions and observe from afar how the trainer motivates customers, if they’re using positive reinforcement and motivation, or if they’re taking more of a drill sergeant approach. Do they provide minute-by-minute feedback and encouragement or do they wait until the end of the EMS session to determine performance and suggest improvements? Whatever their workout style, make sure it works for you.
Can you afford that EMS trainer?
It doesn’t matter how experienced an EMS trainer is or how perfectly matched they are to your customers’ goals if you can’t afford their monthly pay check. A motivating salary depends on everything from geographic area, popularity, experience, years in the EMS business and the size of their client list (the longer the list, the more expensive they’re likely to be).
Your customer’s health and results are the most important, but still, that doesn’t mean you should break the bank, and it’s almost always possible to find a solution that works with your EMS studio’s budget.