Josko and Brandon from Kraken Fitness in North Burnaby have been personal trainers for over 10 years. They’ve been bad trainers themselves – and now they coach other trainers on their staff. So when they say there are signs that a trainer is setting you up to fail (or get hurt), it’s worth knowing what to look for.
Here are the 3 biggest red flags before you commit to a personal trainer.
Watch the full video on YouTube:
Red Flag 1: No Assessment Before You Train
If a trainer takes you straight to the gym floor on day one without asking a single question about your history, that’s a problem. Skipping an assessment is the fitness equivalent of a doctor handing you a prescription before running any tests.
The point of an assessment isn’t paperwork. It’s context. Your trainer needs to know what brought you in, what your goals are, whether anything hurts, and what injuries you’ve had. None of that is small talk – it shapes every programming decision they make from day one.
At Kraken Fitness in North Burnaby, the assessment process covers three things before any real training starts: a blueprint meeting to talk about goals, a 3D body scan to capture body composition data, and a movement analysis to see how your body actually moves. That’s one to two sessions just for the baseline. Everything after gets built on top of it.
The right starting point is different for every person. Someone who’s never lifted before needs a different entry point than someone coming back from knee surgery. Someone trying to lose 30 pounds has different priorities than someone training for a 10K. Without an assessment, a trainer is guessing – and you’re the one who pays for those guesses.
If you showed up to your first session and your trainer never asked what brought you in, what hurts, or what you’re trying to accomplish – that’s worth paying attention to.
Red Flag 2: Talking in Absolutes
Watch out for trainers who say things like “the only way to build your biceps is…” or “you should never feel a deadlift in your lower back” or “you have to hit this many reps to build muscle.” That kind of absolute language sounds confident. It’s usually a sign the trainer isn’t thinking about you specifically.
The problem with absolutes in fitness is that the right answer almost always depends on the person in front of you. Squat mechanics vary by hip structure. What looks like bad form for one person might be completely appropriate for another based on their build. A trainer who applies the same rules to every client isn’t coaching – they’re running a template.
A good trainer adjusts based on where you are and what you can currently do, then pushes you just enough past that to create adaptation. That’s the job. Telling someone “your knees must go out in a squat” or “never do this exercise, it’s the worst for your shoulder” without individualizing any of it is just noise.
It’s easy to understand why absolute language gets popular. It makes good social media content and sounds authoritative. But in a real training environment with a real person who has real history, it breaks down fast.
Pay attention to the language. Phrases like “for most people” or “depending on your situation” or “for you, I’d adjust this because…” are signals of a trainer who’s actually thinking. Same cues for every client, no adjustments, absolute rules – that’s a red flag.
Red Flag 3: Overusing a Timer
Timers aren’t inherently a problem. The red flag is arbitrary timer use – “do as many burpees as you can in two minutes” or “get 20 mountain climbers in under a minute” – without knowing whether you can hit those targets with your form intact.
What usually happens: by rep 10 or 12, you’re tired, your form starts breaking down, and you’re grinding through the last few reps just to hit a number someone picked out of nowhere. That’s when injuries happen.
This shows up most often with coaches who came up in CrossFit. CrossFit programming is built for athletes – it’s intense, competitive, and assumes a base level of movement competence. When that same format gets applied to someone who just started working out, it’s a mismatch. Not because CrossFit is bad, but because the programming wasn’t designed for that person.
At Kraken in Burnaby, the coaches use timers with purpose. There’s a difference between “30 seconds this week, 35 seconds next week, 40 the week after” and telling someone to go as hard as they can for two minutes and see what happens. The first is progressive overload. The second is performance theater with a decent chance of getting you hurt.
If you’re training to build strength or muscle, working within a rep range with proper rest is going to outperform timed circuits almost every time. The goal is quality reps, not the appearance of intensity.
FAQ
What should happen at my first personal training session in Burnaby?
Your first session should be an assessment, not a workout. A good trainer will ask about your goals, injury history, and current fitness level. At Kraken Fitness in North Burnaby, new clients go through a blueprint meeting, a 3D body scan, and a movement analysis before any training begins – typically over one or two sessions.
Is it a red flag if my trainer gives everyone the same program?
Yes. A good trainer adjusts exercises, cues, and programming based on each client’s individual mechanics, injury history, and goals. If your trainer is running the same template on every client with no modifications, they’re not actually coaching you.
Why do some trainers use so many timed circuits?
Timed circuits look and feel intense – clients sweat, move fast, and feel like they worked hard. But “feeling hard” and “being appropriate for your body” aren’t the same thing. Trainers who use arbitrary timed sets are often optimizing for perceived effort rather than actual progress.
What’s the difference between good and bad timer use in training?
Good timer use is tied to a known baseline – a 30-second plank you can hold with solid form, then 35 seconds next week. Bad timer use is picking an arbitrary number (“20 burpees in a minute”) without knowing if you can hit it without your form falling apart.
How do I know if a personal trainer in Burnaby is right for me?
Watch for whether they assess you before programming, whether they adjust exercises to your specific situation, and whether they prioritize your form over hitting targets. A trainer who asks good questions, listens to the answers, and builds a plan around you – not a generic template – is worth keeping.
Ready to Start?
If you’re in North Burnaby and looking for a trainer who starts by actually understanding your body before handing you a program, Kraken Fitness offers a free trial week. Come in, meet the coaches, and see what training built around you looks like.
