A woman hired a personal trainer, but started questioning their practices and technique. That’s because the trainer has been “fixing her form” by contacting her in a way she feels is inappropriate and squeezing her body.
In a video with over 20,800 views on TikTok since Dec. 17, Arya Rae (@aryaraeeeee) discussed the uncomfortable physical contact.
“ I hired a personal trainer, and he keeps, like, touching my butt and saying it’s because he’s trying to fix my form, but I don’t know,” she told her viewers. “He touched it for, like, and started squeezing it. So, I don’t think that’s right.”
Despite this, viewers have let her know it may not be as inappropriate as it seems.
Is It Normal for a Personal Trainer to Touch a Client for ‘Muscle Activation ’?
Some commenters immediately chimed in to let Arya know that this may be a normal practice. As one commenter concluded, “touching the muscles establishes [a] mind/muscle connection. I cannot say if his reasoning is professional or not, but asking if he can touch you and state the reasoning why is a professional courtesy he should have extended to you.”
Muscle activation generally refers to activating a specific group of muscles. In this case, a personal trainer might check to make sure that their client is using their muscles properly and following through on an exercise throughout a workout.
But, trainers should also ask for feedback throughout the workout and regularly communicate why and how they’re touching their client, especially if it’s their first time working together. Generally, a trainer can also ask their client for general feedback to see if a workout is feeling right, and incorporate warm-ups into their routine to ensure a better likelihood of the results they’re looking for.
A good trainer may not necessarily need to “squeeze for results” multiple times during a set once they’ve verified that their client is working out with appropriate form.
As Fitness and Health reiterates, trainers should “avoid touching clients unless it is essential for instruction, using verbal cues and demonstrating on [their] own body in preference to touching the client. Most trainers might touch their clients during a first set, but may not continue doing so after verifying form.”
Based on Arya’s video, it didn’t necessarily seem like the trainer was “avoiding touching” his client unless absolutely necessary.
What she described in her video was a trainer’s habit to touch her multiple times during a set, not just one or two instances. She mentioned how he “[kept] trying” to touch her, without any explanation.
A fitness and lifestyle coach even wrote, “I’ve worked with hundreds of people and I’ve probably touched 4 shoulders. Fire the man.”
Overall, there was an emphasis that touching her repeatedly during a workout wasn’t necessarily “normal,” especially in inappropriate areas. Those generally include the breast, crotch, or butt.
AllHipHop reached out to Arya for comment via TikTok direct message. We’ll let you know if she responds to our request.
@aryaraeeeee ♬ original sound – Arya Rae
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