I'm Not Really a Personal Trainer…

My certification says Certified Personal Trainer. I also hold a Certified Nutrition Coach credential and a Corrective Exercise Specialist certification. So what does that make me exactly? Depends on who you ask — and honestly, I'm still working that out myself.

Here's what I know: the label "personal trainer" doesn't quite fit. Neither does "wellness coach," which conjures up images of vision boards and guided breathing exercises. I don't do that. I'm not going to ask you how your stress levels are and suggest you journal about it.

What I actually do is closer to this: I assess how you move, identify what's compensating for what, build a program around what I find, coach you through the execution of that program — actually coach it, not just watch and count — and address the nutrition side — (if wanted) that either supports or undermines all of it. That's not one thing. That's several things working together.

I've watched trainers at my gym work with clients. What I typically see is someone standing nearby while their client does a set, counting reps out loud, and occasionally helping unload the bar. I have never once seen one of them demo a movement. Never heard "bring your hands in a little, keep your shoulders back and down, that's it." Just counting. Just watching.

That's not a knock — I don't know what goes on in their full sessions. But it's what most people picture when they hear "personal trainer," and it's not what I do.

The distinction that matters most to me is this: I'm not teaching you a movement so you can do it while I'm in the room. I'm teaching you a movement so you understand it. So you know what a proper hip hinge feels like, why it matters, and what goes wrong when you skip it. So when you're not training with me, you're not guessing.

The goal isn't to make you dependent on a trainer for the rest of your life. The goal is to give you a level of physical literacy that stays with you whether we're working together or not. That's closer to coaching than training, and closer to education than either one.

The corrective exercise piece is where a lot of trainers stop. Most programs don't account for the fact that you've been sitting at a desk for twenty years, or that one shoulder sits higher than the other, or that your squat has been loading your lower back instead of your legs since the first time you ever squatted. An assessment changes what the program looks like. Without it, you're just guessing — and your best guess isn't good enough.

So I've stopped trying to make the label fit. Strength and movement coach is probably the most accurate thing I can call it. CPT covers the programming and training side. CNC covers the nutrition. CES covers what most people skip entirely. Together they cover the full picture — how you move, how you train, and how you eat to support both.

If you're looking for someone to count your reps, I'm probably not your person. If you want to actually understand what you're doing and why — that's exactly what Forge Strength Lab is built for.