Training for Trust traces several voyages of personal development. Interwoven are the stories of Joey Domenico, the venerable bodybuilding trainer, Joey's current young protégé, Alex, Malik the biochemistry student and his girlfriend Sophie, whose emotional dependence on Malik threatens her career and her happiness, as well as the narrator, Norm, a junior college teacher.

Joey Domenico has led an amazingly focused life dedicated to the pursuit of physical perfection. Starting as a child, he worked to achieve the ultimate in physical development personally and in others. He realized early on that he had a nearly infallible instinct for developing effective training routines for physical development and spent a lifetime working with the best in the world of bodybuilding. These factors allowed him to develop the experience to train almost anyone to achieve muscle definition unimaginable without his guidance.

Approaching the age of sixty, Norm decides to confront his own insecurities as a physically handicapped child, hoping to develop the physical acumen and emotional confidence that many develop during an active adolescence. After many years hanging around gyms, Norm decides to make the sacrifice of time and money and commits to training with Joey. His time in the gym teaches him a lot about himself. He achieves impressive physical results, but learns more about the vulnerability of the human condition, no matter what shape you're in.

Alex starts the novel as a 17-year-old, whose mother brings him to the gym during her own training sessions with Joey. Joey sees the boy's physical potential and begins training him. Too young to understand the commitment that Joey is asking of him, Alex throws himself into the life of the bodybuilder. The sport comes to dominate his life, putting his studies of business administration at risk. Threatened with expulsion from college, Alex must decide what path he wants his life to take. Complicating his choice, is his relationship with Joey, who has come to fill the emotional void left by the death of his father.

Malik is a biochemistry student who, like many of the others in his department, trains at Joey's gym. Sophie is another student in biochemistry. She and Malik become a couple. At graduation, they decide to take a trip around the world before moving on with their adult lives. As the four-month trip progresses, the young couple become increasingly emotionally dependent. Sophie is in love and commits totally to Malik. Malik loves Sophie, however, he cannot commit to a lifetime with her.

The title Training for Trust refers to the physical training of bodybuilding as well as the emotional growth that results from the characters' life experiences. The story ends as Alex, Joey's protégé, and Sophie meet and realize that they are at the beginnings of a possible relationship. Their painful recovery from their past experiences has left them wiser about the give and take of a more mature emotional commitment. Through the metaphor of the discipline of physical exercise, each of the main characters deals with issues of trust and the interplays between maturity, independence and the confidence to profit from a calculated risk.