Personal Trainer - Positive Experience
Personality is one of the most important factors in picking
a personal trainer to work with because you are going to be partnering with
them on your quest to achieve your fitness goals. Therefore it is a good idea
to meet them first somewhere casual-be it at the gym, a public restaurant or
coffee shop to get a feel for what they are like and what you can expect.
A personal trainer or fitness coach to
work with, you will want to keep consider their personality, people-skills,
level of professionalism, experience, education, and their location. If you
factor all of these elements into your decision, you are bound to come up with
a win-win relationship between yourself and your personal trainer.
Imagine if you are a happy, upbeat person who decides to get
started with a trainer that you have never met or had many conversations with
and during your first training session realize you have an evil, loud drill
sergeant on your hands who shows no mercy during your training sessions? What
if that is the last type of trainer that you would like to work with? Gulp!
Select a personal trainer or fitness coach with a
personality that you feel compliments your own and that you can respect. After
all, you want to look forward to your personal training sessions with them and
if you do, they will be more productive for both of you.
Professionalism is another important consideration. Your
personal trainer should be a good listener, understand what your goals are and
help you devise a fitness plan to reach those goals. From time-to-time they
should track your progress so that you can see the progress you have been
making each month or every other month.
Being professional also includes giving you their full,
undivided attention during your personal training sessions. They should not
answer their cell phones all the time when their working with you, should
show-up on time and stay on schedule, just as they expect you to do as a good
client. In addition, they themselves should workout and train on a regular
basis.
Experience & Education will factor into how you pick a
personal trainer or fitness coach as well and as a general rule- the more
experienced and educated the trainer the more they charge per session.
When you decide how much experience your trainer should
have, try to stay open-minded. Newer trainers are not necessarily less
desirable than trainers who have been around for a while depending on what your
goals are. They can be motivated and enthused and fun to work with. However, if
you have a very specific type of training you are after, then it is best to
interview the trainer to see if the area is something that they feel comfortable
with.
For example, let us say you are a competitive swimmer and
want to work with a trainer to help enhance your swimming skills. You will want
to make sure that your trainer is experienced in sports-specific training or is
willing to work with your swim coach and will research and include exercises to
best help you excel in your training plan.
Your trainer should have some type of educational background
in fitness or in the sports that they are specializing in. Most personal
trainers are certified in one or more organizations such as: IFA, IFPA, ACE,
AAFA, etc. Being certified still does not mean they know what they are doing,
however, they should have understand and know the basics of creating a safe,
workout program for you. Feel free to ask your trainer what their background
is, and what certifications that they have.
Location will be important to you and must be fairly
convenient if you are going to commit yourself to working with a personal
trainer. In an ideal world, it would be great if your trainer was located
between 5-10 minutes from your home, job, or some other location that you are
at on a regular basis. If you have to drive more than 15 minutes each way-then
you may begin to talk yourself out of your workouts.
If you are having your personal trainer or fitness coach
come to your home, that is even more convenient to your schedule, and to your
follow-through. It may be as much as $10.00-$30.00 more a session to host your
trainer at your residence or workplace, but again the benefit of saving you
20-30 minutes of travel time may outweigh the extra expense of each session.
When you pick a personal trainer following the suggestions
in this article, you are bound to select one that you will enjoy working with
and benefit from.
Best of luck to you as you strive to achieve your fitness
and health goals!
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