Does anyone really need one? Are they really all they’re cracked up to be, will a personal trainer really help, or are they just an expensive scam?
Well, the good news is that I was a personal trainer, but I’m not trying to sell you anything, so I can tell you honestly and truthfully that personal trainers do work, and I’ll be explaining exactly why.
Sound good? Let’s go…..
Do personal trainers work?
Personal trainers help their clients achieve their fitness goals in the safest, most effective, and time-efficient manner possible. They teach how to train optimally and to the correct intensity without their requiring their presence, allowing you to get a lot more out of your gym membership.
They’ll get you results fast!
Training on your own is great, and if you’re already doing that, then good for you, you’re on the right track.
However, there’s a good possibility that if you haven’t studied how to train In the most effective way, you could be missing important aspects from your training program that may double or even triple the rate at which you get the results you’re after.
Hiring a personal trainer allows you to gain all the knowledge you need without having to spend hours Googling training programs and diet advice from potentially dubious sources. Trainers have to go through tough certification programs that teach them what has been proven to be effective, so you’re buying their knowledge and saving yourself a hell of a lot of wasted time.
Your workouts will make sense
If you’re new to exercise, where should you start with your training, which exercises should you do, should you start working as hard as possible or take it easy, to begin with?
A trainer takes all these questions away from you so that there will be a clear and defined start and end point to each training session you have. There will be no guessing or wishy-washy workouts with expert tutoring.
Every rep, set, and rest period will be in your program for a specific purpose. Guessing is a fast route to failure, so take the advice of a trainer, and don’t let it happen to you.
A personal trainer will push you to work hard
This point alone is what can make personal trainers worth their weight in gold.
Gaining the results you’re after in a gym is not easy, at all!
You might know that using resistance equipment and free weights is a great way to get yourself in shape and improve the way your body looks or functions, but the truth is, your body doesn’t want to change, and for most people, neither does their brain.
Training is very physically demanding and it’s pretty easy to not give 100% every now and then. The problem with this is that not giving it your all each time will massively slow down the rate at which you see results from your training.
Your trainer will ensure that you are training at near-maximal effort for each set of each exercise. They won’t let you go easy on yourself, because they know that deep down, that’s not what you want or what you need.
Trainers know that in order for your body to make changes, it has to be pushed beyond what it is already capable of, repeatedly, and this is where most people really struggle when they are training on their own.
All the boring work is done for you
You may want to change the way your body looks or feels, or to perform better in a chosen sport, so what are your options? Again, as before, you could come home after work each night and read up on training techniques, diet information, and exercise routines and read forums that discuss the optimal rep and set ranges to maximize results, or you could hire a trainer who already knows all this and just listen to what they tell you.
If you’re into your exercise, you might consider training the fun part, and gaining the results you’re after certainly is pretty rewarding, but having to study relentlessly to know how to get there is pretty boring, and honestly, something that you don’t even need to do.
Make use of the fact that trainers have gone through training courses that allow them to know instantly what to prescribe for any given goal, be it sports improvement or purely aesthetics, a trainer will cut out all the reading and study time to get straight to the parts that matter.
You’ll always be on the path to success
Getting results takes time, and not everyone has the discipline or patience to carry on with a routine for the time it takes to get where they want to be. This is where a trainer can step in and make sure you are always on the right path.
It’s very easy to get bored with a training routine, especially if it’s not getting you what you want, so some people might find they start to look for alternative routines or programs after a very short time. Chopping and changing your workouts is not optimal for gaining results, in fact, you’ll be lucky if you make any at all.
When you hire a trainer, they will organize a training schedule that is optimized for results. You will perform the workouts for a specific amount of weeks to allow you to gain the maximum benefit, before changing to a new one that is more advanced or more intense.
Training in a methodical (and not haphazard) way has been proven to be the most effective and beneficial path to results, which is exactly what you’re paying for.
They will support you every step of the way
Doubt and uncertainty are a normal part of life, but it also has the potential to make people want to give up when they may be on the cusp of something great.
There will be points in your training where you are just plain fed up with eating a diet that is more strict than you’re used to, where you feel like you really can’t be bothered to lift heavy weights that make you ache the next day and where you start to question if the goals you have set for yourself are really something you can even realistically achieve.
The good news is, everyone can achieve their goals, but it takes hard work and plenty of it.
Trainers are taught how to support their clients through the tough points in their training and how to overcome physical or psychological barriers. They understand the signs and symptoms of training fatigue and will know exactly when to step in and reassure you that you are indeed headed on the right path and to not give up.
It might be easy to assume that they are only doing this because they don’t want to lose you as a client, but in reality, trainers get most of their business from getting people results and the positive word of mouth that comes from this. It’s in their interest to get you exactly what you have paid for, so they will do their absolute best to help you in every way they can.
Hiring a trainer motivates you
Waking up at 6:30 am in time to start your 7 am gym session before you begin a day at work sounds easy in principle, doesn’t it?
The reality for a lot of people is that it’s not easy at all.
Waking up to an early alarm knowing that you need to go to the gym and get sweaty and train hard is enough to make the majority turn over and go back to sleep for another half an hour.
This is where a trainer comes in.
You’ve paid for your session, booked a time, and you know that your trainer will be patiently waiting for you to arrive, so you know that even if you’re really not feeling up to it, you’re going to end up going to your session.
Being consistent in your training plays a huge part in the results you can expect to achieve, so hiring a trainer to make sure you turn up to each session will certainly help you achieve that.
Personal trainers keep you safe
Enthusiasm is a wonderful thing, being determined to get what you want out of your training is also pretty great, but working in a dangerous way certainly isn’t, and this is where a trainer will help you a great deal.
Without wishing to worry anyone, working out can be dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing. It’s very easy to cause yourself injuries if you aren’t performing exercises correctly, or not lifting in the correct manner.
Trainers simply don’t let this happen, they have been trained to teach the safe and effective methods of lifting and training to ensure all their clients stay safe throughout their routines. Lifting that extra 10kg might seem like a great idea, but blowing your back out and not being able to train for the next month certainly isn’t.
Fitness trainers take your personal circumstances into consideration
Every single client is different, and you’ll be treated as such.
No trainer should be giving you the same workouts or diet advice as their other clients, every detail of your regime should be tailored to your unique goals, lifestyle, dietary needs, and wants.
If you can only afford to train once per week, they should give you workouts to complete on your own several times a week, and if you have any injuries, these will be considered when prescribing your exercises.
Even your stress levels will be taken into account, in fact, using exercise is an excellent way to help clients with high-stress careers to unwind and lower their overall stress levels.
A personal trainer will help you enjoy training again
Looking forward to stepping up onto the cross trainer for another 40-minute cardio session?
Of course, you’re not, that’s about as boring as you can get, and apart from almost certainly not getting the results you’re after, there’s going to be very little drive for you to get up and go into that session knowing you’re doing the same thing day in day out.
A trainer will help you to try new exercises and train in new ways that you’ve never experienced, yes, it’ll still be difficult (that’s kind of the point), but it will at least be ten times more interesting than what you have been previously doing.
You may even find yourself using pieces of kit in the gym that you felt intimated by or entering whole sections of the gym you would never have dreamt of going into on your own.
Hiring a personal trainer doesn’t just help, it can be lifechanging
I’ve personally dealt with several of my clients who have told me that hiring a personal trainer was the best thing they ever did. It’s not always about losing weight or packing on muscle, some people just didn’t have the confidence to go to a gym and work out on their own, but by the time they had finished, they were confident that they could continue happily on their own.
For a lot of people, it does come down to the usual goals of either losing weight or getting in shape, and I was lucky enough to be able to help people prepare for really important days like weddings and sporting events.
The difference that is made to a person’s life from achieving their fitness goals can be huge, confidence, happiness and health are just the start of how a trainer can help you.
Conclusion
Hopefully, by now, I have answered the question “Do personal trainers work? They aren’t just the meatheads you see portrayed in movies that stand over their clients, barely paying attention whilst guzzling down a protein shake, they probably care more about getting you the results you’re after than you are!
If you’re considering hiring a trainer, or even just doing a little research about what taking one up would entail, I can honestly say, I’d be very surprised if it didn’t have a positive impact on your life.
Whether you decide to use a trainer or not, I wish you the very best.
Have a great day!
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