There are many reasons why people hire personal trainers. Some people want advice on creating a regimen that will help them lose weight or get fit. Maybe you need instruction on how to work out or just someone to hold you accountable for your goals. Whatever your goal is, a personal trainer can help you get there.
With that said, however, a lot of people still wonder if a personal trainer is worth it. How much the fees are can affect their decision. Or maybe they are too self-conscious about working out with a professional and they feel intimidated. The truth is, certified personal trainers are professionals and they know how to work with people at all levels of fitness. They do not expect you to be in the best of shape when you start out with them because their job is to help you achieve the fitness goal that you want. In addition, a lot of them understand the affordability issue and can work with you on a package that you can afford.
If you have been exercising but not seeing any improvement, or you want to get started with an exercise program, a personal trainer can be a valuable resource and support to you.
Below are ten reasons why hiring a personal trainer is a smart move.
1) Your Current Exercise Regimen Is Not Producing Results
It is frustrating if you have been putting in the time to exercise diligently, but have nothing to show for it. Whether your goal is shedding some extra pounds, getting stronger, or getting better at a sport, a trainer can help you reach your goal. Here are some things that he might do for you:
- Assess your current exercise routine: the trainer can determine how effective it is. He can look at your workout routine and modify it so that it is more effective.
- Evaluate whether your goals are realistic: If they are not, he can help you modify them.
- Motivate you to stick with it: When you know a fitness pro is going to check on your progress, you have more motivation to stick to your program.
- Challenge you a bit more: If you work out by yourself, it is easy to not push yourself as hard. That is one reason why you might not see any results. However, if there is a trainer who is pushing you and encouraging you along the way, you can achieve more.
- Hold you to your goals: The trainer can assist you with setting realistic goals for each week, then meet with you regularly to check on your progress.
- Provide instruction: There is a right way and a wrong way to exercise, and the personal trainer can teach you the right way. He is an expert in the field of fitness. For instance, if you want to lose weight, you cannot just rely on cardio exercises. You have to include training for your core and build strength. The trainer will teach you how to work out to achieve your goal.
Maybe your current workout is producing some results, but not the results that you want. If you want to lose weight, and your workout is resulting you in gaining muscle, you might actually gain some weight because muscle is heavier. A professional trainer can evaluate your workout with a neutral eye and help you tweak your routine so you will get the intended results.
You might only need to see the trainer several times to get some ideas and learn new things. When you have some fresh ideas to work with, you can continue with the new routine without the trainer checking in on you.
2) You Have No Idea Where To Begin
No one is born with the knowledge of how to work out properly. The techniques in weight training, cardio exercises, and gaining flexibility need to be learned and practiced. There are countless ways to exercise, but you need to know how to do it correctly and how to incorporate it into your lifestyle. Trying to learn this on your own can be confusing. You can get overwhelmed with so much information that you end up not taking any action.
A trainer helps you sort through all of that and zeros in on what is effective for you. Your exercise routine should follow the F.I.T.T model: Frequency, Intensity, Time, and Type. With the help of your trainer, you create your workout based on these elements and make changes as you progress. Here is what your trainer can help you with:
- Recommend exercises that are suitable for your body, for which you have the right equipment, and which fit your schedule.
- Help you determine the proper intensity of your workout and the right way to monitor it.
- Teach you how to select the right exercises and equipment, and how many reps and sets to do.
- Show you how to use various tools to track your progress or monitor your heart rate for a more effective workout.
- Teach you how to optimize your workout routine without overdoing it.
3) You Feel Uninspired With Your Exercise Routines
If you have been exercising on your own for a while, maybe you have never thought of using a personal trainer. But without fresh ideas, your same old workout routine can become stale and boring. You could reach a plateau and no longer gain any improvement. Or, working out the same muscles, again and again, might lead to injuries from overuse. You can burn out.
A personal trainer can help you spice up your routines and help you get out of your workout rut. Here are some other ways a trainer can help in this regard:
- Give you fresh ideas: The trainer can look at your workout with a fresh pair of eyes and see things in your workout that can be made more interesting or challenging. He can make it fun again.
- Make you work harder: The trainer can see where you have plateaued and make your routine more challenging so you can push yourself more and start seeing results again.
- Help you try out new routines and equipment: Professional trainers are experts in all types of exercise equipment and techniques. If there is something that piques your interest, the trainer can show you how it is done. There are all kinds of methods in strength training, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), pyramid training, and more. There are many types of advanced training equipment that you might want to try.
4) You Need A More Challenging Workout
If you have reached a plateau and feel like you are getting nowhere, a professional trainer can help you get to the next level.
- Find competitive events and help you train for them: The trainer knows about all kinds of races and competitions such as the “Tough Mudder” that you can train for and up your game.
- Challenge you to your limits: If you feel stuck at a certain level, focus on weights. The trainer can recommend the correct weights for you to work with to make your exercises more challenging.
- Work out with you: The trainer can also work out along with you and challenge you to a friendly competition. Or, he can help with workouts that require a partner.
When you have a trainer right next to you, challenging you to push your limits, you get motivated to do a bit more. You can uncover strengths or abilities that have been suppressed. This will motivate you to reach a higher goal.
5) You Want To Be Independent and Effective In Working Out
If you want to design your own exercise routine, you can still hire a trainer and work with him a few times to learn how to design a good workout. This is good particularly if you are a novice in strength training. The trainer can help with the following:
- Recommend exercises for your targets: The trainer has a wealth of information about exercises. He can suggest exercises that can target specific muscle groups so you can use those and create your own routine.
- Show you the proper form: It is important for you to maintain the right form when you exercise in order to avoid injury. The trainer can show you how to get into the correct positions and how your body should move so the movements are done correctly and safely.
- Demonstrate the right way to lift weights: The trainer can teach you all about weights, like how much you should lift, how many reps, and so forth. There are countless ways to work with weights, and the trainer can guide you and create a routine that you can do on your own.
- Educate you on muscles: If you want to work out independently, it is important that you understand how your muscles work and what they need to get stronger.
- Support you in your progress: When you no longer work with a trainer, you can still use him as a resource. A professional trainer is usually okay with offering advice to his former clients every now and then when they have any questions. You might even have a session or two with him again.
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6) You Need More Motivation and Accountability
You probably have some level of self-motivation when you want to exercise. Maybe you are motivated by your desire for better health, or perhaps you want to be weaned off of medication for high blood pressure.
Even so, having an external force to motivate you as well can keep you on track with your workout. The personal trainer can be that external force. He can keep your motivation high in the following ways:
- Hold you accountable: Your trainer will check in on your progress on a regular basis. He will ask if you had worked out, what you did, how you did, what you ate, and more. If you knew in advance that your trainer will be asking you these questions, you are not as likely to slack off.
- Keep you committed: when you have a recurring session with your trainer, you feel more committed to stay the course because you don’t want to disappoint him.
- Give you your money’s worth: Since you paid good money for the trainer’s services, you have more reason to use what you paid for and stick with it instead of wasting your money.
- Give you your time’s worth: You are also investing your valuable time, so you want to keep with the regimen to get the most out of your time.
7) You Want to Incorporate Exercise But You Have Medical or Physical Limitations
If you are injured or have a medical issue, your doctor might recommend that you exercise so your body won’t weaken. However, how can you exercise without injuring yourself further or causing additional pain?
A lot of trainers have expertise in working with clients with injuries or special needs. They help people with all types of medical conditions. So, your trainer can offer you the following:
- Customize a workout program that is safe for your specific condition, without causing more pain or injury to you. They can deal with new or old injuries or other debilitating conditions.
- Create a suitable fitness plan if you are pregnant or planning to be pregnant.
- Help you exercise appropriately if you have diabetes, arthritis, or heart problems.
- Improve your core strength, balance and stability during your recovery from a fall.
- Managing pain in your neck and back areas.
If you do decide to hire a trainer, make sure you do the following first:
- Get medical clearance from your doctor to start exercising. If you have a particular medical issue, your personal trainer would want your doctor’s approval before he works with you.
- Involve your physical therapist if you are seeing one. Your trainer and physical therapist can collaborate on coming up with the do’s and don’ts in your choice of exercises.
- Find a trainer who has experience with your type of medical issues. Ask him about his certifications or training in this area to make sure that he is qualified to work with you.
8) You Need To Train For a Competition Or A Sport
If you are an athlete and need to train for a certain event or sport, a personal trainer can help you improve your performance.
This applies to any type of sport including running, golfing, cycling, and more. There are sports trainers who specialize in specific fields who can help athletes condition their bodies effectively. Be sure the one you hire has the expertise in conditioning for your sport. The sports trainer can help you in the following:
- Customize a workout regimen that is right for you: The sports trainer knows which groups of muscles and skills are needed in order for you to perform well in your sport, and he knows the exercises that can strengthen and improve those skills. He can create something challenging without you overexerting.
- Create an effective training schedule: Training includes working out and resting. After you work out, your body needs time to recover. Your trainer knows how the body responds to workouts and can create a training schedule that will maximize the body conditioning while allowing your body sufficient recovery.
- Teach you how to avoid injury: Sports often use the same set of muscles for the same movements repeatedly. This can put your muscles at risk of overuse. Your trainer can come up with a plan that allows you to cross-train. This will let your muscles time to heal while you continue your conditioning in another way.
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9) You Prefer Support or Supervision While You Work Out
Although you might have experience with exercising correctly, you might still prefer to work out with a trainer present so he can guide and support you. Here is what he can do:
- Become a workout partner: Rather than just giving you verbal instructions, your trainer can do the workout with you and provide ongoing guidance at the same time.
- Help you stay focused: If you tend to lose focus or slack off, your trainer can keep you in line and encourage you to put more effort into it because he is watching what you are doing.
- Motivate you: If it is hard for you to motivate yourself, knowing that your trainer will be coming by or meeting you at the gym will give you that motivation to get up and go. You would not want to be seen as a slacker.
- Spot you when you work with weights: It is easier working with weights if you have a trainer who can rack your weights and make sure that you are lifting safely.
10) You Prefer to Exercise At Home
If you prefer to work out at home, but you do not have the right equipment or have something that you don’t know ow to use, a personal trainer who comes to your home can be a good option.
Here are the benefits of hiring an in-home personal trainer:
- Convenience: When the trainer comes right to your home, you won’t have to pack anything for the gym. It saves you travel time, too.
- Equipment suggestions: Your trainer might bring over portable workout equipment and gear for you to use, or he can recommend certain types of home exercise equipment that you can consider investing in.
- Practical Lessons: Your trainer can teach you the right way to work out with portable gear like dumbbells, exercise balls, resistance bands, and more. He can also teach you how to make the most of the things in your home for part of your workout, like a chair, your staircase, or even disposable plates.
- Private setting: You might feel less self-conscious and more comfortable if you work out at home instead of in a gym.
- Lots of options: Your in-home trainer can modify your workout as frequently as you prefer so you won’t get bored with the same routine.
How to Select A Personal Trainer?
You can start with your local gym. Gyms often have reasonable packages if you want to hire one of their personal trainers. Another way to search for a trainer is by looking online. You can use a service like IDEA FitnessConnect to find trainers near you.
You can expect to pay around $30 to $100 per session with a personal trainer. The cost depends on your trainer’s level of experience and your geographical location.
Keep in mind the following qualities and credentials during your search:
- Business Terms and Policies: The trainer should have a clear set of terms and policies of his services, fees, and how cancellations and refunds are handled.
- Qualifications and Certifications: Your trainer should at least be certified in first aid and CPR. He also should have current certification from training organizations like the YMCA, IDEA, NSCA, ACE, or ACSM.
- Experience: Be sure that your trainer has expertise and experience in the workout areas relating to your goals. For instance, if you are into bodybuilding, your trainer should have experience in conditioning for that.
- Specific knowledge of medical conditions: Although your trainer is not a health professional, he should have knowledge of certain medical conditions or types of injuries that will affect how you exercise. Your trainer should be educated in these related areas because he may need to collaborate with your physical therapist or doctor.
Qualities of an effective personal trainer?
- Attentive: During your workout sessions, his attention is all on you.
- Good listener: He listens to you carefully as you describe your goals so he will understand them.
- Monitors your performance and progress: He will do regular assessments during your sessions and will adjust your workout routine if needed.
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What To Expect In a Session
Typically, a session lasts around an hour. The first session will mostly be information gathering. Your trainer will take your weight and body measurements, including measurement of your body fat, evaluate the level of your fitness, get your health history, find out what exercises you are currently doing, and ask you what your fitness goals are.
After your first meeting, your future sessions will include exercises that might include weight training, cardio, exercises to improve your flexibility, and other activities that are appropriate for your goals. Your trainer will demonstrate how the exercises are done, how much weight you should work out with, and provide tips on how you can maximize the effectiveness of your workout.
Contact MBS Fitness to start your fitness journey with the right experts. We provide different kinds of services like Personal Training, Puppy Yoga, Acupuncture, Physiotherapist, and much more.
