Martha Rial, Post-Gazette Personal trainer Eric Lugg spots for Phyllis Pollock, of Squirrel Hill, who is doing pushups on pushup bars at Club One in Shadyside. "Eric just keeps me motivated," she said. Click photo for larger image.

More Americans than ever before are joining health clubs, and more health club members than ever before are hiring personal trainers to help them meet their fitness goals.

According to a study by American Sports Data Inc., which collects statistics on the fitness industry, more than 41.3 million Americans belonged to health clubs last year -- up from 29.5 million in 1998 -- and more than 6 million of them hired personal trainers to guide them in their workouts.

The growth has been fueled by older Americans, said Harvey Lauer, president of American Sports Data Inc. The number of regular exercisers age 55 and older increased by 33 percent between 1998 and 2004, while that for Americans age 35-54 increased by 13 percent. The growth rate was zero for Americans age 18-34, traditionally the largest fitness group.

A quarter of health club members are now age 55 or older, Mr. Lauer said.

Suzanne Salak wishes her mother were one of them.

"My family does not exercise," she said. "Physical fitness was never preached to my Mom. Middle age is the hardest time to start, but the most important."

Ms. Salak, 26, should know. She's the new fitness director for the Downtown Athletic Club. As fitness director, Ms. Salak assesses the physical condition of new members; designs group exercise classes, and supervises the personal trainers affiliated with the club.

Pam Panchak, Post-Gazette Suzanne Salak, right, fitness director and personal trainer at the Downtown Athletic Club, works with Kristine Fritz, of Pittsburgh, on the treadmill during a workout at the club. Click photo for larger image.

Ms. Salak is a personal trainer herself. Her first client in Pittsburgh is Kristine Fritz, 26, who graduated this year from Duquesne law school.

"My dad and my sister and I are going to run in a 5K [race] over the Labor Day weekend," Ms. Fritz said. "I need some help getting ready for it."

People who have never exercised before should consider having a few sessions with a personal trainer to make sure they're doing the exercises most likely to lead to their fitness goals.

A personal trainer is a particularly good idea for middle-aged and older Americans, who are more likely than younger people to hurt themselves if they do exercises improperly.

Ms. Salak will meet with Ms. Fritz for an hour twice a week throughout the summer. She'll design an exercise program for Ms. Fritz to follow when they are not together, and will make nutritional recommendations.

"I always want to give knowledge, to explain why we're doing what we're doing," Ms. Salak said.

There are two basic reasons why people hire personal trainers, say Ms. Salak and Eric Lugg, 37, who has been a personal trainer for 15 years, the last 14 at Club One in Shadyside.

"The No. 1 reason is people seek a safe exercise program," he said. "The motivation part comes second, but it's a close second."

"Eric just keeps me motivated," said Phyllis Pollock, 39, an attorney from Squirrel Hill who has been a client for nearly five years. "On the days you don't feel like working out, he gets you going."

"I've had people who've never exercised before," Ms. Salak said. "But a lot of my clients keep coming in just because they knew I was there waiting for them."

The motivation doesn't come cheap. Club One charges $45 for an hour of personal training. The Downtown Athletic Club charges $50 ($30 for half an hour).

The median annual earnings of personal trainers in 2004 was $25,470, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The figure is low because many personal trainers work part time.

Those like Mr. Lugg who work full time can make a good living. He currently has 84 clients. The youngest is 16; the oldest, 82. Almost all his current clients are referrals from earlier clients.

"I look at each client as if they were a fingerprint," he said. "I take a medical history, find out if they are involved in a recreational sport. I try to give each client what they need."

If you are thinking of hiring a personal trainer, you should check his or her qualifications, and perhaps ask for references, Ms. Salak and Mr. Lugg said.

They both are well qualified. She has a master's degree in exercise physiology from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He has a master's degree in exercise physiology from Pitt.

But many personal trainers have only a certificate obtained from a correspondence course, or from a weekend training seminar.

Dozens of institutions offer certification in personal training, but the certification courses vary greatly in quality.

Dr. Sal Arria likens the status of the fitness industry today to that of medicine at the turn of the last century.

"In the late 1800s there were more than 500 medical schools, he said. "There was no national standard."

Dr. Arria is president of the National Board of Fitness Examiners, a group created in 2003 to devise a standard examination for personal trainers and other subgroups of the fitness industry, such as group exercise instructors.

The Santa Barbara-based NBFE has designed a written examination that takes two to three hours to complete, and plans to have a practical examination ready to go by the end of the year.

Passing the exam would be the equivalent of board certification in medicine. Prerequisites for taking the exam would be a graduate or undergraduate degree in exercise physiology or a related field, or completion of a training course from an NBFE-recognized organization, such as the American Council on Exercise or the National Council for Certified Personal Trainers.

Chris Labishak, fitness director at Club One, says he hires as trainers only people who have college degrees in exercise physiology, or certification from ACE or NCCPT. In addition, he gives an exam of his own design.

A good personal trainer can design a program to help you meet your specific fitness goals safely, but, Mr. Lugg and Ms. Salak emphasize, it's up to you to do the work.

"The hardest part of my job is behavior modification," Mr. Lugg said. "They're meeting with me on a regular basis, but they're not meeting on a regular basis with their goals."