Hiring a Personal Trainer
Greetings! I hope the month of July was good for you. On my end, I moved to Baltimore, decided to let go of one of my many obligations, released five podcast episodes, went on a few trips, and started a personal training job. It was much needed time off, but I’m glad to be back to releasing bi-weekly blog posts. In honor of starting my training job, I figured I would write about the value of a personal trainer. In the past few weeks, it has occurred to me that most people are unaware of why a personal trainer is worth the investment. While it seems expensive upfront, the benefits from personal training far outweigh the costs. Here are some reasons to hire a personal trainer, and things to consider when testing trainers out to get the most from the investment.
Why to Hire a Personal Trainer
An investment in your health now can certainly save you from future medical bills and wasting time in the gym. Here are a few reasons to hire a personal trainer.
1. A trainer will tailor programming to your body
There are hundreds of prewritten programs on the internet, but there are 7 billion people on the planet. These prewritten programs aren’t tailored to your unique needs. Even if a program advertises that it will help you achieve your goals, the program will not match your individuality. A personal trainer will assess you for your goals, likes and dislikes, and strengths and weaknesses in order to generate a program that will be effective for you. Additionally, a trainer will know how to periodize your workouts to switch things up so that you consistently see progress rather than plateauing after a few months.
2. A trainer will address muscle imbalances that may contribute to pain
In your initial assessment, a trainer should take the time to figure out small muscle imbalances that may contribute to pain, either now or in the future. Noticing these imbalances is important as correcting them is necessary to help prevent injury and muscle strain in the future. Assessing yourself is not nearly as effective because you won’t pick up on everything since you’ll do your best to perform the assessment’s exercise properly. I had my first session with another personal trainer the other day who noticed something in my posture that hadn’t occurred to me before. Now, we are doing exercises to strengthen the surrounding muscles so that it won’t result in back pain later in life. An investment in training now will save you the investment of hospital bills in the future.
3. A trainer will help you stay accountable
In an earlier blog post, I mentioned the four tendencies framework. Certain people need a form of outer accountability to develop consistency with working out. If you are paying another person for training, it is difficult to justify skipping the gym—you wouldn’t want to lose your money, and you wouldn’t want to disappoint your trainer by cancelling. Another way they keep you accountable is through pushing you to an appropriate level for progress. When working out by yourself, it’s easy to get comfortable with performing a specific exercise with a specific weight, but a trainer will push you to the next level rather than let you stay where you feel comfortable. Most of the time, you don’t know what you’re capable of until you are challenged by someone else.
4. A trainer will give you nutrition guidance
Nutrition is very important for general health. Even if you’re not trying to lose or gain weight, you should be aware of what you’re putting into your body. A trainer will give you guidance on how to properly manage your nutrition in order to have more energy and lead a healthy lifestyle. Keep in mind, however, that not all trainers have nutrition certifications, so finding a trainer with a nutrition certification or hiring an actual registered dietitian may be best for you.
5. A trainer will direct you to your goals so you reach them faster
The internet is full of information about what to do, but weeding through it to figure out where you should start and the path you should take is very difficult. A personal trainer removes the guesswork and provides a direct path to your goals. They have done all the research and have gotten the certification to prove it. While things are doable on your own, consider getting at least a few sessions to determine the perfect plan for you.
Things to Look for in a Good Personal Trainer
Now that you know why it is beneficial to get a personal trainer, here’s what you should look for in a personal trainer to ensure that you’re getting the most from your investment.
1. There should be some type of assessment
When you sign up with a personal trainer, the first thing that should be done is an assessment to see where you’re at. This typically involves a brief interview to assess your background and current habits, a series of exercises to determine your strength levels, and at least one form assessment to determine your muscle imbalances. If your trainer does not start out with this, there is no way they know enough about your baseline to develop an individualized program with you.
2. Your programming should be different than the other clients’
If your trainer seems to be doing the same series of exercises with their other clients, this might mean that they are following a cookie-cutter program. Your exercise plan should be individualized because you are asking for personal training. If your program seems to not be modified for your needs, ask your trainer about it, and then decide whether you are getting enough benefit from their program.
3. Your programming should be based on what you enjoy
This is a variation of the last point. Your individualized exercise program should be something you look forward to. If you absolutely hate burpees, your trainer should not be adding them to your program every workout. Additionally, if you find you enjoy a certain style of training, your work with the trainer should reflect that training. This, however, can change as time goes on because certain exercises and styles of workouts might be beneficial to you in order to prevent plateauing and address issues.
4. You should be pushed to a level appropriate to you
Some trainers can push you hard by making you do reps to failure, whereas others can push you by encouraging you to keep going. If you like someone to yell at you and push you to failure, find a trainer who can do that. If you don’t like that approach and prefer a more laidback style, find a trainer who does that. Ultimately, you want a trainer that you will look forward to seeing each session. You don’t want to form any sort of resentment because their style isn’t meeting your needs. Additionally, any trainer you have should push you at an appropriate level. You shouldn’t be pushed to failure, but you shouldn’t be getting away with an easy workout either. Every workout should be challenging but doable to complete.
5. Your trainer should discuss nutrition
As I mentioned before, nutrition is incredibly important to most goals you have in the gym. If your trainer doesn’t mention this in any of your sessions, they probably are not the best person to work with. While a trainer is not a nutritionist, each trainer should address nutrition and how it is important for your goals. A good trainer should give you guidelines on how you can change your eating habits for the better.
I hope this post has helped you understand why it may be worth investing in a personal trainer, and ways to help determine if one is right for you. I’m currently accepting clients virtually and within the Baltimore area. If you’re interested in personal training, please email me at pigottjasmine@gmail.com so we can set something up. I’ll be back in two weeks. In the meantime, if you haven’t already, check out some of the latest episodes of Harmony and Healing, my health and wellness podcast. As always, share, subscribe, tell a friend, and let me know if anything resonated with you or if you have any other topic ideas.