How to find a good personal trainer

There's a scene in the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie "The Running Man" that includes a TV commercial "Captain Freedom's Workout" in which an impassioned personal trainer (played by Jesse Ventura) yells, "Are you ready for pain? Are you ready for suffering?"

If your trainer behaves like that, start running — away.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are over 250,000 fitness trainers and instructors in the United States. That's a lot to choose from. Some of their clients have horror stories; others refer to personal trainers as lifesavers.

First, some horror.

"I have club feet, and my trainer tried to get me to do things that were impossible for me," said Sara Ross, 34, a small-business owner in Lawrenceville, N.J. She'd had surgery as a child to synthetically lengthen her Achilles tendons and was looking to improve her body's functionality and flexibility. But the trainer at a country club gym wasn't a good listener.

"I told her my ankles didn't have the flexibility to do a full squat," she said. The trainer pushed her to do it anyway, with added weight. Ross heard a pop in her Achilles. The trainer asserted it was all in her head. Ross stormed out of the session, never to return. She had trouble walking for weeks.

"Training is something you do for someone, not to someone; you're looking for a facilitator, not a dictator," said Florida-based trainer Nick Tumminello, who was named the 2016 Personal Trainer of the Year by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).

His description of a good trainer? "They make it about you. Good listener. Someone who asks you questions about what you want rather than say what they want to inflict on you." A trainer needs to understand a client's goals and devise the safest and most effective method of reaching those goals, he said.

Richard Cotton, national director of certification for the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), said the industry is working on reining in renegade trainers.

"There has been self-policing to improve standards and develop best practices," he said.

Most trainers have some form of certification — ACSM and NSCA are two well-respected groups — but that doesn't guarantee quality.

Both Tumminello and Cotton recommend seeking out a trainer with relevant experience. Seniors, for example, should look for someone who understands how to work with older adults. Cotton is a big fan of word-of-mouth referrals.

"He adapted the exercise to my ability," she said.

Tumminello warned against any trainer who insists exercises be done a certain way, saying it shows a lack of understanding of variations in human movement.