You’ve decided this is it – you’re finally ready to invest some time into building the best you possible. You’re ready to make fitness a priority by eating better and exercising more. There’s just one small problem – you’re really not sure where to start. Or maybe you’ve been working out for a while and you’re not seeing the results you think you should see. If either of these is you, you already have some great reasons to hire a personal trainer. Read on to discover a few more.
You have no idea where to start
Starting an exercise program can be intimidating. You might have started your search by looking up ‘how to get fit’ on the internet, and been bombarded with a ton of information on cardio and weight training. Yet you found nothing that definitively tells you what steps you need to take, and in what order.
This is a perfect reason to hire a personal trainer. A personal trainer will discuss your fitness goals, assess your current health and activity level, and create that training blueprint for you.
It doesn’t matter if you chose to work out at a gym, a private studio, or at home. A personal trainer will teach you the right way to use the equipment available to you, make modifications to some exercises for any physical ailments or limitations, set a workable schedule, and motivate you to achieve your best results.
Your current training plan isn’t delivering results
I’ve gotten my best results with a personal trainer.
If your current exercise program isn’t delivering the results you think it should be, this is a great reason to hire a personal trainer. A good personal trainer can assess what you are doing and make tweaks to help you make the most gains possible. Are you stuck at a certain weight with your bicep curls? A personal trainer can help you breakthrough that plateau.
In assessing your current training plan, a personal trainer may see some things that you don’t. Using this information, they may recommend some changes based on some physical limitations, your age, your current fitness level, and your goals. If you’re still working out at home with limited equipment, it’s hard to know what to change so you can continue to see results.
Help with proper form
Good form is key to preventing injuries. A personal trainer will make sure that you are doing all strength training exercises with proper form. What’s more, once you know proper form and where you’re supposed to feel correct muscle tension, you can focus on proper form. This is huge.
Provide appropriate modifications for injuries
Knees, hips and shoulders – if you’re my age, you might have already encountered issues with any one of these joints.
It could be age-related arthritis, or an old sports injury acting up. With any joint-related injury or illness, listening to your body and knowing when to discontinue and exercise or look for a modification is important. A personal trainer can help you identify modifications for traditional exercises that will still yield the same results.
My knees sound like a bowl of rice crispies and I struggle with lateral movements. That means that lunges aren’t the best quad or glute exercise for me. I’m okay with squats and leg presses, so I stick with that.
Count for you!
This sounds silly but hear me out.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been going through my weight training plan with headphones in my ears, music on full blast, and my mind wandering…and completely lost track of my reps. So having your trainer count for you is a big deal.
Add this to ‘help with proper form’ and all you have to do is concentrate on doing the exercise the right way.
Know when to increase your reps/weights
If it becomes easier to lift the weight you’re using, should you increase the weight or increase the reps? It depends on your goals.
This is one of those riddles your personal trainer can help you with. For as long as I’ve been weight training, this is still a question I struggle with.
When I jump up the weights, I lower the reps until it gets easy, then I jump up the reps. Wash, rinse, repeat. But is this the right thing to do? Still not sure.
Know when you need to take an exercise break
Exercise breaks are real and your body needs them.
When you embark on a program, you are bound to feel some fatigue and soreness. When this is persistent, your body is telling you its time to take a break. A personal trainer can help you identify and read the cues your body is giving you and recommend an appropriate exercise break.
A trainer would also advocate that you don’t spend that break lying on the sofa binge-watching Netflix. Instead, they may recommend a long walk or a leisurely bike ride, yoga, stretching, or some other activity that still keeps you moving.
Know when you need to change up your routine
You know your body best. You may already know what your body responds to and what it doesn’t. A good personal trainer will listen to your history and personal assessment, then see how you respond with their professional perspective mixed in. They may see your body responding in ways you don’t see and consequently, know when and how your routine needs to be changed up.
One of the several personal trainers I worked with over the years always worked my glutes really hard. What he noticed (that I had not) was that my knees were really weak, and as a result, it was necessary to strengthen my glutes. To me it was just another body part that needed exercise; to him, it was all about overall strength and stability.
Set you up with a program you can grow on your own
Hiring a personal trainer is a good investment, but can certainly be costly over time. If you are motivated to keep going on your own, a personal trainer can design a program that you can execute on your own.
Will you work out at a gym or at home? What kind of equipment do you have available to you? A good personal trainer will help you build a base program that takes all of that into account and allows room for progress.
Just keep in mind that it’s always good to go back for a tune-up from time to time. This way you continue to make progress and see the results that you want to see.
Help you get your best results
This was my reason for initially seeking out a personal trainer, and for signing up for their services time and time again. I’ve been weight training for quite a while but at some point, I hit a wall and stop seeing results.
While I do quite a bit of research on my own, it becomes information overload, even for someone like me who culls through tons of information on a regular basis. For me, a personal trainer helps cut through the noise and gets me to where I want to be.
If you have a hectic schedule or can only commit to a couple of days a week to exercise, a personal trainer can help you maximize the time you do have so you can achieve the results you want.
Conclusion
Personal trainers are well worth the investment and can really help if you’re stuck or don’t know where to start.
However, with everything they can help you with, there is one thing they will never be able to do; they cannot do the work for you!
YOU have to put in the effort and commit to the investment in yourself. YOU have to care about getting results. They’ll all be happy to take your money and help you get results, but YOU have to want it as well.