A couple days ago, I saw something ridiculous in the gym. I witnessed a personal fitness trainer putting his client through activities more akin to practicing for a circus tryout than building a stronger and shapelier body. The client was being instructed to do pushups with one hand being elevated by a medium-sized, air-filled ball. In between pushup repetitions, the client was told to roll the ball back and forth between hands. He did a pushup with his left side elevated by the ball (shaking precariously while trying to balance) - then he pushed it across to the right hand. He trembled in getting it beneath his right hand for a repetition. Then he flung it over to his left hand again after a rather shaky (and unbalanced) right-handed pushup.

I was secretly rooting for the client to end the session by bouncing the ball off his trainer's head a few times.

What the hell was that all about? Is half the world going bonkers or is it just a lot of the personal fitness trainers and their clients who follow any instructions they're given, no matter how silly? You couldn't convince me with a Ph.D. candidate's dissertation that this client was deriving benefit from what his "personal trainer" was having him do. It was a complete and utter waste of time and appeared to only feed that trainer's ego with the belief that he was in possession of proprietary or esoteric knowledge.

Don't get me wrong. There are some good fitness trainers out there. They're just interspersed among a bunch that is mediocre at best and downright counterproductive at worst. In an apparent attempt to make their profession appear that it doesn't consist of merely demonstrating basic exercises and counting repetitions, many are taking this "core training" fad a bit too far, in my opinion. When will they come back to basics? When will they realize that there's much more value to provide a client within the realm of effective basic training combined with powerful mental performance enhancement? It's a visually nicer body that most people are seeking - not the ability to balance on their knees atop an exercise ball while attempting to do one-armed dumbell rows (I actually witnessed that too).

So how does one choose a personal fitness trainer? These guys and gals aren't cheap. They can charge a good chunk of change to essentially teach you some circus acts, or just arbitrarily walk you through some exercises. It's not pleasant to think of wasting time and money in this manner.

I have a unique criteria that I recommend people follow when choosing a personal fitness trainer. In fact, I'm not aware of anyone else who will provide you with this list. After going through it, however, you will find that it makes sense. These are not numbered in level of importance, but the final one listed is THE most important. So here it is:

1. MAKE SURE THE TRAINER IS IN GOOD PHYSICAL SHAPE

Sounds like a given, doesn't it? Well, it's amazing how often I see a client trudging along behind a personal trainer whose gut is hanging over his belt and whose muscles appear to have not been worked in years. I don't care if the trainer has a degree in Kinesiology or won a bodybuilding contest years ago; if that individual can't keep their own ass in shape, what makes you think they'll be of much help getting and keeping you that way? All else being equal, it's not motivating to have an out-of-shape fitness instructor and it can set doubts in your mind at a subconscious level.

2. HIRE SOMEONE WHO HAS MENTAL TRAINING CREDENTIALS AS WELL AS THE PHYSICAL ONES

Most of your ability to positively change your body and keep these positive changes is a mental thing. We know this intuitively. Yet how many people take it seriously enough to hire a personal fitness trainer who can also help them get their mindset in shape?

I recommend finding someone who has credentials in Sport's Mental Training or Hypnotherapy/NLP and can effectively combine these disciplines with the physical regimens when necessary. Believe me, you'll be glad you did.

3. MAKE SURE THE TRAINER IS CERTIFIED BY AN NCCA ACCREDITED COURSE OR REPUTABLE COLLEGE

The NCCA (National Commission for Certifying Agencies) is an accrediting organization holding standards for reputability of certification programs. Top quality fitness certifications that are NCCA accredited include N.F.P.T. (National Federation of Professional Trainers) and ACE (American Council on Exercise) and ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine).

Of course, certification from a reputable college or trade school also represents quality fitness credentials.

Bottom line: Be sure your trainer has high quality nutrition and exercise knowledge.

4. ASK THE TRAINER FOR REFERENCES

Just like hiring any other professional, it's best to ask for references. Make sure to ask for past clients who've gotten positive results within the same area of improvement that you're seeking for your body.

5. MAKE SURE THE TRAINER RECORDS PROGRESS FOR HIS/HER CLIENTS

I'll say it plain and simple: If a personal fitness trainer isn't keeping a record log of your workouts, then you're wasting your time and money. That is; unless you just want to pay them to be your friend.

A trainer who doesn't keep a record of what he or she has you doing is just arbitrarily choosing your exercises, sets, and repetitions. Assuming they've got a lot of clients, it's unlikely they're able to keep it all in memory.

Watch your prospective trainer handling other clients for about a week or two before deciding whether to hire them. If you're serious about improving your physique, don't shell out your money if they're not doing any writing along with their instructing.

There you have it; some tips for hiring a good personal fitness trainer. If you follow them, you'll be more likely on your way to a stronger and better looking body, and less likely to end up doing stupid human tricks with a ball on the gym floor.