Why Use a Personal Trainer and How Do You Choose the Best One?
Visit ten commercial gyms or fitness centres and ask them why you should use a Personal Trainer and you will get ten different answers, based around why you should use a Personal Trainer from their facility. The problem with the advice you are receiving from these professional sales people, is that the advice is driven by sales targets and is designed to help build the businesses of the resident Personal Trainers.
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Now don't get me wrong, I am a Personal Trainer working out
of a large commercial gym and I also want to build by business. Gaining access
to gym members who have been sold on the virtues and values of personal
training certainly makes that job so much easier. But, I would much rather have
my clients decide to use a Personal Trainer (preferably me) for valid reasons
and with a realistic view of what they can expect to receive in return for
their hard-earned dollars.
Let's start at the beginning; why is it best to workout with
a Personal Trainer? Essentially, there are ten reasons why most people choose
to engage a Personal Trainer and they are:
1. You are not seeing results. Many people will begin an
exercise regime with a general goal in mind, usually weight loss, and work like
crazy for weeks, months and even years without getting any discernible results.
A good Personal Trainer will begin your journey with a comprehensive Pre-Exercise
Screening questionnaire and will have an in depth discussion with you about
your goals, motivation and previous exercise history. Only then, after gaining
an understanding of where you currently are and where you want to get to, will
they begin formulating an exercise and nutrition plan specifically for you.
Included in the pre-exercise screening, will be body weight assessment, girth
measurements and possibly even skinfold measurements taken to establish a
baseline against which your future progress will be measure.
2. You don't know where to start. No Personal Trainer worth
spending your money on will assume that you have any prior knowledge of anatomy
& physiology, nutrition or exercise science. The reason is that if we
assume that every client is a blank canvas and develop the workouts based on
the principles of sound technique and progression, every client has the
opportunity to learn the safest, most effective way in which to build their
strength, cardio vascular fitness and insure against unnecessary injuries. Most
people who join gym don't know how to exercise effectively or safely and there
is no-one better to teach you how to do that than your Personal Trainer. A
large number of people will download a templated workout from their favourite
website or get advice from their "fit" friends. The problem with this
approach is that you may not know how to use the equipment safely and the
workout has not been tailored to suit your individual needs and/or limitations.
3. You are bored with the same old workouts. I know from
personal experience that if you do not change your workout on a regular basis,
or add interesting cross-training options into the mix, you become very bored
with the workout and are less likely to even attempt to do it. Bang, there goes
your motivation. A good Personal Trainer will be continually reviewing your
progress, how your body is adapting to the exercise and, assessing your
motivation. If any, or all, of these indicators show signs of plateauing or you
are less motivated, he will change your routine and add some variety into your
workout to keep it interesting and to continually challenge your body.
4. You need to be challenged. If you are like the majority
of the exercising population, there will be days when you simply don't feel
like pushing yourself to your limits or, you just feel like slacking off. A
Personal Trainer will not allow you to bring out the BS excuses to not workout.
He will push you to complete that last two reps and encourage you through the
set when the weight seems far too heavy. He will be your conscience, your
mentor and your cheer squad, but he will not be your Mother.
5. You want to learn how to exercise on your own. Even if
you want to exercise on your own, it is a great idea to engage a Personal
Trainer for a few sessions to learn the right way to exercise. This is
especially true if you want to learn about the muscles in your body, how to
target those muscles and how to complete the exercises with good technique.
Just a few sessions can teach you about your body, how it works and what you
can do the get the best out of it through exercise.
6. You need accountability and motivation. Personal Trainers
come with built-in motivation. You are investing both money and time in your
health and fitness and there is nothing like a standing appointment to get you
off your butt and moving. A good Personal Trainer will also provide
accountability; so if you don't turn up for an appointment, they will be
straight on to you to find out if you did the missed training in your own time.
They will regularly quiz you on your eating and sleeping habits to make sure
you are staying on track.
7. You have a specific illness, injury or condition. If you
have specific conditions like, Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Disease, arthritis or old
injuries, working with a Personal Trainer, who can work with your Doctor,
Physiotherapist or Chiropractor, can help you find a program that suits your
particular circumstances, help heal injuries and, avoid further problems. Keep
in mind that you want to find a trainer who has experience with your issues and
make sure that trainer works closely with your doctor and/or physical therapist
for the best experience.
8. You are training for a sport or event. If you're training
for a marathon, the football season or some other type of sport or event, an
experienced Personal Trainer can help you decide what you need to do to stay
strong without detracting from your other training. He can also help create a
training program and map out a periodisation plan for the coming event. Just
make sure he's experienced in the sport you're training for since not all
trainers do sport-specific training.
9. You want supervision and support. Some people do know how
to exercise for best results and do know how to exercise safely but still want
to have a Personal Trainer around to supervise their workout and provide
support (including spotting heavy weights) during the workout. The Personal
Trainer then becomes more of a training partner.
10. You want to workout at home. Many people have a good
collection of exercise equipment at home but aren't sure how to use what they
have or, lack the motivation and discipline to actually exercise. A Personal
Trainer can show you exactly how to use what you have got and the knowledge
that your Trainer will be arriving at a particular time in the specified day
will help motivate you to do the work.
Now that you have some really compelling reasons why you
should use a Personal Trainer, the next question is: How do you pick the best
one?
I could be facetious and simply say, "pick me!"
but there are some fundamental, and non-negotiable, criteria that you should
insist on seeing. The first of these is an appropriate, recognise qualification
in fitness or exercise science. As an absolute minimum, the Personal Trainer
must have a Certificate III & IV in Fitness. If they have a Diploma in
Fitness or Under Graduate Degree in Sports or Exercise Science, then so much
the better.
Secondly, if they do not have additional qualifications,
e.g. Certificate or Diploma level, in Nutrition or Dietetics, they should not
be offering nutritional or dietary advice beyond the scope of the National
Dietary Guidelines. If, on the other hand, they do have additional
qualifications in Nutrition and/or Dietetics, they can help you analyse your
diet and offer nutritional guidance and advice.
The third factor to consider is their specialisation. Every
Personal Trainer has been educated to a level that will allow them to offer
support and guidance to a broad range of people with a broad range of
objectives and challenges. However, I have yet to meet a single Personal
Trainer who does not have a specialisation or, a preference for a particular
type of training. If you have been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and your goal
is to lose weight and control your condition, it would be pointless teaming up
with a Personal Trainer whose specialisation or preference is for body building
and competition. It would be equally pointless for an aspiring body builder to
team up with a Trainer who specialises in post-pregnancy weight loss. The
experience would be underwhelming and frustrating for both parties.
Finally, compatibility is a key factor in deciding who you
should entrust with your health and fitness journey. You might have found the
best Personal Trainer on the planet but if he has a huge ego and has difficulty
relating to you, on your level, he is not the guy for you. Spend the time to
sit down and have a chat, find out something about the Trainer's background,
their personal fitness journey and what they enjoy doing in the gym. If you
find a kindred spirit who has all of the qualifications and a specialisation
that fits your needs, they are the Trainer for you.
When you do find that perfect Personal Trainer, don't make
the mistake of putting dollars in the way of achieving your goals. The
investment in the right Personal Trainer will be worth every cent. Let's say
you are asked to invest $50 per session twice every week to get the Trainer of
your choice. In isolation, $100 can seem like quite a large amount of money but
you need to put it into context; what is your life and long term health worth?
If you eliminated all junk food, cigarettes and alcohol from your diet, how
much would that save you each week? If you were able to stop taking the drugs
that are currently keeping you healthy, how much would you save? The dollars
should not be the determining factor.
It is very easy for me to state "I can get you into the
best shape of your life" and in fact, many of my contemporaries do exactly
that in their advertising, but what does that mean in the context of your life?
I would much rather say: "I can help you find the strength of purpose and
discipline to be fit and healthy for the rest of your life." This is a
reality that we can both commit to and make it happen. Only you can change your
life; I can teach you how and help you achieve it. Contact AS Personal Training Edinburgh.
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