If you know the parameters in advance, you can build an array $optionsfor use in the selection menu. This should give you exactly what you want:
$options = array(
array(
'name' => 'usertype',
'value' => '',
'disabled' => TRUE,
'selected' => TRUE
),
'athlete',
'trainer'
);
echo $this->Form->input('User.usertype_id', array('type' => 'select', 'options' => $options));
Maybe this might work, but I have not tested it:
echo $this- > Form- > input ('User.usertype_id', array ('type' = > 'select', 'empty' = > array ('text' = > 'usertype', ' selected '= > TRUE,' disabled '= > FALSE)));