9 Signs You Should Fire Your Personal Trainer

People sometimes put off firing their personal trainer because they've forged a relationship and developed a level of trust with that individual, says Erin Mahoney, vice president of education with the International Sports Sciences Association, a global personal training firm based in Phoenix that educates and accredits personal trainers. "You should be evaluating your trainer" on an ongoing basis, she says. Here are nine signs it's time to fire your personal trainer:

If you've been working with your trainer consistently for three to six months while consuming the proper nutrition, and you don't feel stronger and see progress in attaining your fitness goals, it's time for a change, says Rodrick Covington, founder and chief executive officer of Core Rhythm Fitness, a fitness and nutrition outfit in New York City. "At that point, it's time to have a conversation with your trainer about your goals, and if they are not in alignment, it's time to fire your trainer," Covington says.

An in-depth assessment of a client is one of the most important things a trainer can do – and it shouldn't be limited to how much you weigh or how many pounds you lift, Mahoney says. Instead, your trainer should be getting a number of measurements, including weight, body composition, circumference measurements, cardio-respiratory efficiency, strength, posture and movement quality, for example. Your trainer should do these assessments at least every 30 days. "When you have a solid understanding of what your starting level is, you can more easily track progress or lack thereof," Mahoney says. Your trainer should reassess these fitness metrics on a monthly basis, so you'll know whether you're on track for meeting your goals.

Not everyone can hit his or her training goals every week. "However, if you have clear goals for yourself that you and your trainer developed together, it's important to look at what went wrong when there is a miss," Mahoney says. If your trainer is accepting that you’re not meeting your fitness goals, he or she may be complacent about your program, which is not what you need. "It's critical for your trainer to make a change to their approach if you aren't consistently achieving what you first came to them for." For example, let's say you're trying to lose 20 pounds, and you and your trainer estimate you can lose 2 pounds per week. After three weeks, if you've only lost 2 pounds and your trainer is fine with this progress, it might be time to get a different trainer.

Your personal trainer should be on time, says Steven McDaniels, a certified personal trainer and director of fitness and recreation at Beacon College in Leesburg, Florida. "The client's time is valuable, and a personal trainer should respect that," McDaniels says. "This means not only should the appointment begin on time, it should end at the scheduled time, as well. If you see that your personal trainer is frequently late or eating away at your free time, you should fire that trainer and find one (who) will respect your time."

Making healthy changes is hard, so if your trainer is rigid about your fitness and nutrition program, that can hinder you from reaching your goals, Mahoney says. "For example, if (your trainer) wants you to eat six small meals per day but eating that frequently slows you down or is too tough to plan for, you're not going to stick with the recommendations," she says. The trainer should learn about you and your needs and then develop workout routines and meal plans that make sense for you.

Not all pain is equal, says Dr. Kaliq Chang, a pain management physician with the Atlantic Spine Center, based in West Orange, New Jersey. Some personal trainers don't always take that into account, which could harm their clients. "Pain from a harmful condition is sharp, stabbing or severe in intensity," Chang says. If you say you're experiencing what may be harmful pain while doing a certain exercise and your trainer exhorts you to push through it, that's a red flag. A trainer shouldn't encourage you to work on a painful body part that hasn't been assessed by a physician.

If your trainer crosses physical or emotional lines without your consent and doesn't respond to constructive feedback about setting limits, it's time to terminate the partnership, says Dana Dorfman, a psychotherapist in New York City. Touching you without your consent is an example of a violation of a physical line. And being prodded to talk about personal matters that you don't want to discuss with your trainer is a violation of emotional boundaries.

If your trainer consistently says things about your body or character that make you feel worse about yourself, you should fire him or her, Dorfman says. A trainer should encourage you to reach your fitness goals, not denigrate your shape or your level of commitment or integrity.

If your trainer’s distracted by eating, talking on the phone, browsing Instagram or emailing during your session, it’s time to fire him or her, Covington says. “During your sessions, you are 100% the focus,” he says. The same goes if your trainer is constantly talking about his or her life during sessions.

• You're not making progress.
• Your trainer's not regularly assessing your progress.
• Your trainer isn't critically analyzing why you aren't attaining your goals.
• Your trainer's consistently late.
• The program's not tailored to you and your lifestyle.
• Your trainer wants you to push through pain.
• Your trainer violates physical or emotional boundaries.
• Body and character shaming.
• It's not about you (because it should be).