1.)
I don't see why I need a trainer. If I just do the machines I'll be fine
If this were indeed the case, it would be great. However, next time you go to the gym, take a look around. Think about when you first started the gym. Are the same people doing the same machines? Ok. Have they made that much of a change?
Now, you'll get the people who are of course the exception to the rule. And if you just start the gym, of course doing some resistance training will obliviously give you more benefits than not. But by and large, I see people who come to my personal work out gym (opposed to my Work gym) who were the same weight I first saw them in back in 2011 when I joined it.
And honestly, people have so many body wants and desires (one wants to look like Beyonce, and one wants the physique of a professional soccer [football] player) and they somehow think that doing whatever machines they see will magically sculpt their body into that form. Pretty much not. If you want your body to look a certain way, you have to train it in that manner. You will look like a bodybuilder just doing the machines, as they are usually built for spot specification. Meaning your muscles will just get tighter... that is if you do it right.
2.)
Ok, so why don't you just write me up a program and I'll follow that?
This would be nice but in America, we live in a sue happy society. There have been many times I've explained an exercise to someone who gets it in the moment and forgets it later. People I trained with for months. Only when they show me they understand the exercise and where it is working out and how to do it with control do I eventually step back. That's my job. I teach people how to use their bodies to get their desired results. Why am I saying this?
Because if people get a program from me, get hurt, they'll say "well, I was just following what Obsidian gave me..." and they can sue. Strike that. They WILL sue. Especially if you live in New York. And they'll have a case. A case that many people have won and cost the gym a lot of money. If that plan has my name on it and you decide to do it and you get hurt... even if you sue and you promise you aren't going to come after me... it's going to get back to me. I will lose my job and others might also. That's why giving out work out programs are usually against reputable gym's policies.
3.)
That's bull. You just make money from training people and you don't want to give anything out for free.
Well, I have to congratulate you for getting it half right. Yes, I do make money from training people. That's very True. But I will also take this time to congratulate you for another thing. Having the sheer balls to actually try to shame someone into giving you something for free when you know full and well that I do make my living doing this.
What I have is a specific knowledge base that people find valuable. You yourself admit this by trying to tap into it. Our whole economy is based on that: specialists with skills we prize but don't have the time to learn ourselves. You wouldn't go to an Architect and say 'Oh, just draw the plans for me. I'll get it built'. You wouldn't go to college and say to the professor 'This is a scam job. There are tons of books out there that I can read and probably learn the same thing'. So why is it when it has to deal with the body, people short change the importance?
Well, that's where the last thing that gets on my nerves.
People do not have any respect of how little they know about their body. Especially the functioning.
There's so much to get into that last topic that I really don't even know where to begin. You'd be surprised how many people are shocked to find out that they a.) have been walking wrong their entire life and b.) might be the reason why their bodies ache or have constant breathing and/or fatigue problems. Yeah, we can work our bodies, but it's like a sword. Any idiot can swing around a sword and kill someone. But have you ever seen a true swordsperson work? It's frightening what he or she can do with the same instrument that other people so crudely wield. That comes from knowing their body. That comes from hard work. And a lot of the time, it comes from instruction.