The Show Up Fitness Podcast

$1.4m Trainer Lawsuit: Why PT assessments are so important

• Chris Hitchko, CEO Show Up Fitness • Season 3 • Episode 232

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What happens when a trainer skips proper assessment and puts a client with previous back surgery through burpees, jumping jacks, and speed deadlifts? A $1.4 million lawsuit and a powerful lesson for every fitness professional.

The landmark case of Baldy-Perry versus Kaifus exposes the dangers of negligence in personal training and why proper assessment protocols are non-negotiable. This eye-opening discussion dives into the court findings that held a trainer accountable for failing to evaluate fitness levels, implement safe exercises, and consider prior medical history—resulting in serious injury and substantial legal consequences.

We explore what separates qualified fitness professionals from textbook-certified trainers: understanding the human body, implementing thorough assessments, and knowing when to refer clients to appropriate medical professionals. Just as a restaurant server asks about allergies before taking your order, trainers must identify potential risks before designing exercise programs. This systematic approach demonstrates professionalism and elevates the entire fitness industry.

The conversation highlights essential assessment components every trainer should implement—from screening for medical history and risk factors to communication with healthcare providers for clients with previous surgeries. You'll learn why continuing education through workshops, seminars, and mentorship is crucial for staying current with best practices and expanding your knowledge beyond initial certification.

Whether you're a seasoned fitness professional or just starting your career, this podcast serves as both a warning and a roadmap to excellence. Invest in education beyond your certification, implement thorough assessment protocols for every client, and establish relationships with healthcare providers. Your clients trust you with their health and safety—a responsibility that should never be taken lightly.

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Show Up Fitness Podcast, where great personal trainers are made. We are changing the fitness industry, one qualified trainer at a time, with our in-person and online personal training certification. If you want to become an elite personal trainer, head on over to showupfitnesscom. Also, make sure to check out my book how to Become a Successful Personal Trainer. Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review. Have a great day and keep showing up. Howdy y'all. Welcome back to the Show Up Fitness Podcast.

Speaker 1:

Today we're going to be talking about the assessment protocols that we should be implementing and some lawsuits, and I love lawsuits because what it does to the fitness industry. One scares trainers, which should be happening more but two and more importantly, it provides accountability, and today trainers get certified through a simple textbook the EZ3, nasa, mace, issa and they go out there. They want to help people, but their ignorance of the human body gets people hurt. In the case today, baldy Dash Perry versus Glenn Kaffus, k-a-i-f-u-s out of New York, resulted in a $1.4 million reward for the victim and we need to highlight why this happened, and you can go and look into the report what happened. I'll talk about what the trainer had them do and how you can be better prepared to not have this happen to your clients, and I don't care if you're an online trainer or in person. This absolutely 100% should not be happening, and it happens all the freaking time. I just did a post on Instagram and these are the fear-based posts that I will do with my mentor, andrew Coates. He'll talk about the fear is what people are attracted to. It gets a ton of views and I want these to go viral to scare trainers Because, unfortunately, people reach out to me and they'll say things like oh, I just need to get certified because I need to go to this gym and start training.

Speaker 1:

You should not be training anybody. You need to go through an internship. You need to gain experience with proper supervision. Who are you asking questions to? Why are you having your clients do jumping jacks into burpees, into speed deadlifts? That's what this trainer had the client do, and so you can check this out. It came to litigation in 2015, $1.4 million.

Speaker 1:

Now, what actually happened to the trainer? I don't know. Could there be more that went into it? Sure, you need to interview the trainer and the victim to get both their sides of it, but the court cited on the account of the victim and this is really important for us to highlight because trainers do not understand the human body. That's the difference between a qualified trainer and your typical textbook. Certified trainer is understanding the human body and the assessment is so important In today's class.

Speaker 1:

Our soft tissue certification that we go through we make you link up with a physical therapist, go through shadowing to get the certification, and that's why it's significantly superior than your easy CES that you'll see a corrective exercise specialist, because you don't know how to assess pain. We're not physical therapists but we can do a lot as a fitness coach to know our lane and to refer out. And if a client comes in and they're reporting numbness or chest pain, we need to refer out to that respected medical professional. But there's still a lot that we can do with the proper screens for the shoulder, the hip, the knee all things that you'll learn when you go to one of our weekend seminars. I'll be in Miami Wednesday. Our seminar will be Friday and Saturday at Lifetime, coral Begables. We were there about 18 months ago. We've been to almost 20 plus lifetimes since then and we're leveling up trainers by getting the certification you go through the soft tissue, you get half of a credit for CEU's continuing education, which is really important for this lawsuit which you'll read about. But also then you're going to get into the soft tissue to get that certification once you complete that in person. And so it's just crazy to me that trainers think that our career is super easy, that you can just throw a random exercise at a person because it's hard or maybe because you know them, but where's the accountability?

Speaker 1:

So in the court the action alleged that the plaintiff client began personal training in an effort to stay active, as recommended by her physician. Her physician previously performed back surgery on the plaintiff because they had low back but also neck issues. He wanted her to go and work and become more physically active. She was later injured during the last workout with her personal trainer active. She was later injured during the last workout with her personal trainer. And the laundry list of negligence that took place from not performing a fitness evaluation, not implementing safe and proper exercises, not considering the prior injuries, performing that health risk appraisal, taking the necessary and proper steps to minimize the risk of injury to the plaintiff, identify the plaintiff as someone with an increased risk of injury and to provide adequate supervision of the plaintiff at all times these are all of the things that were held accountable for that trainer in the court of law. And it was really cool because what they will do is the judge is going to resource the actual, credible certifications, nsca and ACSM, two nonprofit organizations National Strength and Conditioning Association, which has a journal, the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Top professors of exercise kinesiology and exercise physiology in the world are part of this board, the ACSM American College of Sports Medicine. These are actual, respected certifications.

Speaker 1:

So I always crack up when people say, oh, this is the gold standard. According to who Like? Literally only textbook trainers will say their textbook is the gold standard because in the fitness realm, in academics, professors, actual doctors, they look at NSCA and ACSM because they know what goes into these things. And the trainer said that he knew the client and he felt that he knew their body inside and out end quotes. I knew her for a couple of years and I wasn't thinking maybe I should have her fill out this form to cover my ass. So during his trial testimony he admitted all this stuff. So just because you know someone, it doesn't mean you can start throwing random exercises at them. The client was 125 pounds and directed by the trainer to perform sets of burpees into jumping jacks, into speed deadlifts with 75 pounds, with no rest. And so during the trial, the cross-examination by the lawyers using the ACSM and NSCA, they found that you were not in the right. This is negligence and you need to be held accountable. And I love it because more trainers should be scared of the why behind your programming.

Speaker 1:

In class today we were discussing the juxtaposition of going to a restaurant and what a good waiter or waitress will do is, while they're taking your order or immediately after what, are they going to ask you Do you have any allergies? This is to eliminate any red flags. If there are red flags, they're obviously not going to put peanuts into your soup if you have a peanut allergy, but if there's not, then they're going to go into what do you want. You're not just going to start out by going to a fancy restaurant and they just bring you random salads and steaks and fish, assuming you're going to like it. There is a process in the restaurant industry. In the personal training industry, there needs to be a similar process. We need to eliminate red flags first off, and that's going to be based off of the ACSM.

Speaker 1:

Cad risk stratifications, coronary artery disease You're asking about their history, medical history, family history. Has your parents or siblings had a heart attack? What is your blood pressure? If you don't know, the trainer should be taking it. Every trainer should be taking blood pressure and it just blows my mind that trainers do not do that more. It's called the silent killer for a reason. Hypertension can be detected if the trainer does a simple blood pressure test. Are they overweight, obese? Do they smoke? Are they active? What are their lipid levels like? Do we know the LDLs and HDLs, total cholesterol? What about our fasting blood glucose levels? These are all things that we can learn from the client If they haven't been to the doctor in a couple of years. Make that suggestion.

Speaker 1:

I'm 100% all for not taking the client through a workout until you get more thorough analysis done. You get that blood chemistry and all it does for you as the trainers. It makes you significantly more special because they're thinking you're just a crazy trainer. You're like Arnold. You just flex and look in the mirror all day. Oh my gosh, look at my calves. They're amazing. That's what people think of trainers and that's why we have a bad rep. When you go to a doctor, there's a very thorough assessment that takes place. They're learning about your background, signs and symptoms, things that are going on, and then you meet with the professional, who's an expert, who has a ton of experience and competence in this arena, but the average trainer doesn't.

Speaker 1:

And I always have to say this because trainers get their panties and jockstraps in the bundle. Why are you making fun of trainers? Because I've been doing this for 20 years and I've never experienced it firsthand. I only get the secondhand stories Trainers that have had clients do back squats and do power cleans and they blew out their back. And I asked the client why didn't you sue the trainer? There needs to be more lawsuits. Take that trainer to court. That trainer needs to be held accountable. It needs to be broadcasted over the internet. Hell, they should serve time. People go and serve time for the stupidest shit today. Why aren't trainers serving time? There needs to be a higher standard for this industry and we will not be respected until more of this stuff is called out.

Speaker 1:

You need to ask your clients questions such as how does your body hold up? Have you had any health issues I should be aware of On your questionnaire? Do you have shortness of breath when you stand up? Do you get lightheaded or dizzy? Are you pregnant? Do you have asthma, any metabolic disease, pulmonary disease, coronary artery disease? Those signs and symptoms, or one of those diseases, is an automatic refer out because that's a high risk factor. The average trainer doesn't even assess. This person had a degree in kinesiology. Their certification expired, which tells you why you need to get our certification for life, because you don't have to worry about that. But you are a qualified trainer. You have them fill out the assessment.

Speaker 1:

If someone came in and they had low back surgery, I'm going to say that's awesome. What's the name of your doctor? I would love to reach out to them and schedule a time where I can talk to them further. Are you currently working with a physical therapist? Awesome. I would love to schedule time to talk with them to learn about any contraindications for things that we can and cannot do. I'm going to keep today's workout very simple. We're going to go through some stable spine exercises like a plank, a bird, dog, dead bug. We're going to do very safe exercises, low intensity. I'm not having you doing jumping jacks to get your heart rate up there to try and annihilate you. Why Burpees and then into speed deadlifts? That's brilliant. I can only imagine if the judge brought on some professionals, which they will do.

Speaker 1:

I have a buddy who's a couple of years before me, went to the University of Connecticut, learned under Dr Kramer, now has his PhD and is on the board for one of these prestigious associations and people will call him into court to analyze the programming that trainers are doing when people get hurt. I love his stories and I need to share more of them because he literally rolls his eyes like I don't know what the hell they were doing. A stability ball press with 30-pound dumbbells and the ball popped. That's just stupid. You think that's going to hold up in a court a lot, because my textbook said they need to be stable and put them on a stability ball, which they've never done before because it was hard and it scares them. Then it's easier for you to sell at the end because you suck at sales.

Speaker 1:

We are not fear-based, we are pro-movement based and this stuff just pisses me off, because we need more respect and in order to be respected, you have to be competent. Confidence comes from competence Experience as well. When you go through an internship, when you go to a seminar. That's continuing your education and one of the things that they highlight in this report is the trainer had no continuing education. So how are you becoming better and looking out for the client's best interest? Life happens, you can get hurt. But in that situation, if you didn't have that stupid-ass circuit that he was doing and your client got hurt but you're certified, you had them do an assessment, you talk to your physical therapist, you're doing your continuing education and you have your insurance, I'm very confident you would not have lost. I'm not saying it was right, but you would have been protected, because there's always an inherent risk with movement.

Speaker 1:

But just because they sign a waiver it's also important to understand it doesn't clear you of your negligence. How many times have you gone to the doctor and you sign your life away? But then you hear about these stories where doctors are sued. Just because you sign that waiver doesn't mean the doctor can show up drunk and do stupid stuff. That's negligence. There's active negligence, where you actively pursued knowing it was wrong, and that's the case for this one.

Speaker 1:

And there's passive negligence, where I'm at our gym here in Santa Monica, or if you're at an Equinox and you're a trainer or Lifetime or wherever it may be, and you're doing a circuit for whatever reason, and you have some dumbbells in the corner and you have your jump rope over there and you've got your foam roller and bose ball over there and another client, or even your client, is exhausted and they trip over something, fall, break their wrist, jack up their clavicle, final destination game. That's what I call it. That's passive negligence. You didn't do it on purpose, but you're still liable for it, and one of the things that really scares me about this is the fact that it's not highlighted more, because you can do your research and you can look and the trainer is still training, working with kids, and I just wonder if there was any ramifications or if there's a little slap on the wrist. I have my insurance, or maybe mom and dad are rich and they paid it off and I'm back there doing it. There's a lot of uncertainty that I don't know, which isn't fair. I get it, but I'd be willing to bet the trainers going back to the same stuff that they were doing in the past and just coming up with random exercises. When you have a foundation and you have systems in play, you are mitigating the risk significantly, and that's why we ask those questions Every client that comes in.

Speaker 1:

I'm doing a CCA. I'm going to modify it based on the health assessment. If they smoke and they're overweight and they have elevated lipid levels, I may just do a C, I may just do an A, but I'm regressing. I'm going to rest longer, not shorter. Think about this If you've ever hurt yourself, do you hurt yourself on the first rep or the last rep? It's typically when we're tired.

Speaker 1:

So imagine doing jumping jacks and burpees into a speed deadlift. It's the perfect recipe for an injury, especially when you have a fused lumbar vertebrae. Why are we deadlifting off the ground? Why are we deadlifting at all? For that individual, a hip thrust would be significantly safer and more appropriate for that individual. If you felt like jumping was appropriate, you could do a jump into a hip thrust, into a plank and then rest for a couple minutes after.

Speaker 1:

You've trained them for months and years because you really understood their body. I understand the human body, but I'm still learning your body. So in the beginning I don't annihilate my clients. I let them know from the get-go I'm not here to smoke you. If you want that, go to one of those classes. And that's why so many people get hurt, because they just smoke you. They're not checking out your form. You come to me because you're going to get in the best shape of your life, but you're also safe. In worst case scenario, something comes up outside, you're playing pickleball and you jack up your ankle. I can refer you to my physical therapist. I have the best team. You are safe. So once you learn about your client's goals and that there are no red flags, then you learn what their goals are and you ask better questions and you dig deeper. Just because you screen them and you find out they don't have any coronary artery disease risk stratifications, it doesn't mean I'm just going to start doing stupid ass exercises. Why do you want to lose 10 pounds? Let's talk about that.

Speaker 1:

I'm a big believer in sitting down and being patient during the assessment process. As long as you set the expectations from the get go, I get it. Some gyms may just throw you out there and say get your client out there as fast as you can get them moving. They want to sweat and it's even more challenging if you're doing 25 minute sessions. That should be an alarm for you, a little red flag thinking. Do I really want to be here? I want to be in an environment where I'm very confident in my coworkers. Or if I'm away for a week, I just say go work with this person over there because you're going to be safe, and when I come back, you come back and work with me. I left for a week and I had my clients trainers here at Show Up. At no point was I thinking oh my gosh, megan's going to hurt my client. Oh my God, no, I know that my client's safe because Megan's an expert trainer.

Speaker 1:

When you're qualified, you're not like all the other textbook trainers out there. So the big takeaway from this is you have to give the client what they want. Find out their allergies. In retrospect to what I was saying with the restaurant scenario If they have allergies, don't give them that food. If they have a red flag shoulder pain, do the screens that we teach at the soft tissue. You can still get our soft tissue mobilization certification without going to a seminar, but you need to intern and shadow a physical therapist. There's a test at the end. You get your CEUs. It shows you're continuing your education. That's the stuff that's going to prevent these types of scenarios in the future. It's always bringing you back to step one.

Speaker 1:

Why are we doing this? To help people. But ignorance is not bliss. We are working with human bodies. So if you really want to be a successful qualified trainer, you have to do what others are not willing to do Hands-on learning Just because you have a degree in kinesiology. You have to do what others are not willing to do Hands-on learning Just because you have a degree in kinesiology, you're not getting a lot of specific hands-on learning. As a trainer, you're learning about the Krebs cycle and biomechanics and how far a fucking cannonball goes if you shoot it at a 30-degree angle and the wind's blowing at you 15 degrees. Sokotoa, whatever that bullshit is. You're learning all that stuff. There isn't a ton of hands-on learning with degrees. Now it's a case by case. I cannot put a blanket statement saying all degrees are the same, because when I was at University of Connecticut it was very hands-on. But we're more clinical based, doing a lot of laboratory testing force plate, blood draws, biopsies of muscles, looking at type one, type two, hypertrophy a bunch of cool stuff.

Speaker 1:

I wasn't actually training people when I left and I started interning at a physical therapy clinic. That's where I really got my experience with injuries and then I started gaining my personal experience at a gym. But I had a great mentor who I could work with. So what the average trainer does? They get certified and they go out there and say I'm going to go gain experience. Who's mentoring you? Who's shadowing you? How are you gaining continuing education?

Speaker 1:

So I hope you're a little scared from this today. I hope this puts it in perspective that we are working with human bodies. I also hope this puts into perspective that the industry is not saturated. It's saturated with thousands of textbook trainers who don't have the continuing education with hands-on learning. If you've never gone to a hands-on learning course, get to our seminars Miami this weekend, two days. You will learn more than any textbook certification, I guarantee it. But what you're really doing is you're networking with other qualified trainers and your net worth is your network. You're going to be able to build that confidence so you can have conversations with physical therapists, doctors, rds, and you're going to have a constant stream of clients coming to you. It's not hard to have clients when they're knocking at your door because their orthopedic surgeon sends them to you or their concierge doctor sends them to you because you're qualified. Let me know what you think about today's podcast.

Speaker 1:

I will continue to go through more case examples like this that are brought to the Supreme Court, like in the case of Baldy-Perry versus K-I-F-A-S at a 360 Fitness in New York. This is really stuff that we should be learning about in the foundation within these textbooks, because there should be fear when you design a program for someone. That's why the template of a CCA makes your life that much easier, because you're going to know when to regress and when to progress appropriately based on the condition in the assessment that you did with your client. There's a great little back and forth. I did with Doc Farnsworth on our recent post and we're talking about if you're not assessing, you're just guessing, and that's so true.

Speaker 1:

I'm not a big believer in the overhead squat assessment or the FMS, and that's just me, because I see trainers using these as fear-based practices. If you're going to do the overhead squat assessment and you believe in it, you want to tell your clients your doctors are overactive. That's fine, but you better retest them 30 days later. If you do the FMS, you better do it again 30 days later and show the improvements of going from a one to a two, helping a client who had shoulder discomfort. Now they're out of it because of the correctives you're implementing the soft tissue course that we teach.

Speaker 1:

In the assessments you screen pain, so if you need to refer out, you do, but we teach you soft tissues that are within your scope of practice. We're not mobilizing joints. You're going to soft tissue and then you're releasing and then you get into appropriate correctives to build the foundation for stability, mobility and strength. If you're a trainer and you need to get certified for life, our CPTs can also teach you how to program with critical thinking behind it, daily live calls where you get to interact with instructors and you get to level up your business, most importantly, helping your clients safely. Remember big biceps are better than small ones and keep showing up.