Gwyneth's Fitness Muse Hires "Hot," Uncertified Trainers

Celebrity trainer and “tiny dancer body” advocate Tracy Anderson apparently hires trainers at her gyms based on their hotness — whether they’re certified or not.

A source close to Anderson tells Frank Digiacomo of the New York Daily News that the main requirement for trainers at Anderson’s gyms in New York, LA, and London is being “hot and fit.” Most big gyms require that trainers be certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association or the American College of Sports Medicine, but as long as potential employees look the part, Anderson reportedly doesn’t care if they’re certified. Given Anderson’s alleged financial misdeeds, it’s perhaps no surprise that she’s not the most principled about who she hires. But unqualified trainers can have serious consequences for customers — says the source, “clients could get a more qualified, safer, better-trained instructor for a third of the price – in most cases at a major gym. … The people she’s endorsing are obviously not the best out there.”

Author Deborah Rhode and many others have pointed out the unfairness of hiring for hotness. What doesn’t get as much attention, however, is that it can also be unsafe. Hiring American Apparel employees based on looks, while immoral, isn’t going to result in actual physical injury — but hiring unqualified trainers to work with complicated machines might. And this possibility shows that hiring for looks when a job requires other qualifications isn’t just wrong, it’s also dumb. Gwyneth Paltrow may be a fan of Anderson — so much so that she is apparently an investor in some of Anderson’s gyms. But those who don’t have money to waste might consider a facility whose trainers are, you know, trained.

Tracy Anderson’s Fitness Gurus May Be Cute, But They Don’t Know What They’re Doing [New York Daily News]

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