Now, if you keep up with my articles, you know I have no problem ranting and letting it all come out in said rant. Surprise: today is no exception! I wanted to talk about something that occurred at my gym this past week and probably many others. Quite frankly, it's pissing me off (can I say pissed off? Oops did it again).

I am a professional at what I do, meaning, I have a degree from an actual 4-year university and other certifications on personal training. I pride myself on knowing my stuff each and every day and always looking to get better at what I do. Then there are the “meatheads.” You know the type, the “I work out all the time copying workouts from 30 years ago, so I think I am as qualified as any other trainer now” type.

Now, let me clarify a little: I’m perfectly okay with making friends at the gym and bouncing ideas off one another but when you offer “free training” and start giving people crap advice that makes me want to cringe….ding ding ding you are the problem!

Sure, you are proud that you no longer have the ability to touch your shoulder because your biceps are “huge,” and you are “so jacked” (gains!), but that doesn’t make you qualified to help someone else who isn’t as jacked as you are.

I have a bigger problem if those meatheads end up befriending someone who is 10 to 20 years older than you. The older person could have more injuries and just not be as mobile as you are or not as strong as you believe you are, Mr. Wannabe Trainer.

I speak from personal experience -- this week one of my clients who befriended a twenty-something-year-old guy told me about the “free training advice” she got from him on my day off just because she believed bigger muscles actually meant something in my profession. Don’t you worry, I took care of that one in the greatest, most memorable way I could have and it will never happen again. Not on my watch.

Let me make one thing perfectly clear: I don’t care if you have lost your ability to touch your shoulders, have a 12-pack and carry a gallon of Poland Spring water around with you at the gym. This doesn’t mean you are a trainer or can offer any advice to someone else.

I’m sure there are exceptions of which people know a little more and can offer something to the table, but the majority of gym goers shouldn’t be offering free advice to other members and definitely shouldn't be making them do the exact same weight as “the trainer” is. I guess someone has to keep the emergency room busy.

Training yourself and training others is not the same thing. You can’t feel what the person is feeling or know how to coach them through an exercise from how that person’s body mechanics are, and you certainly couldn’t correct any postural weaknesses that arise.

You could end up hurting that person more than helping and then where does that leave you? You’re the living embodiment of that horrible Planet Fitness commercial where the muscular man only says that he “lifts things up and puts them down.” Please stay away from offering real training advice besides, “hey, I read David Studen’s articles on Odyssey and you should too!”

So, now you’re probably saying “well then, what do I do if someone asks for help?” You can always direct them to an actual certified trainer or any online publication with qualified sources that you’ve come across.

You can give general advice if they decline to read my articles (who would do that?) like saying, “yea, squats are a great exercise to do,” but depending on who the person is, young or old, I would leave it with just saying that.

Personal training is hard...wait, let me amend that: actually knowing how and why the body moves to apply it to others in the form of personal training is hard because honestly, there are so many posers out there trying to give away free advice that it’s like a van of free candy and we all know how that ends.