Six reasons to work with a personal trainer
I’ll be honest. I didn’t really know all of the benefits of working with a personal trainer until I became one. While some people may think of having a personal trainer as a luxury, it’s actually a great way to maximize your time in the gym and get the most out of what you spend on fitness. And there’s so much more to it than you’d think. Let me explain …
Six reasons to work with a personal trainer
1. A personal trainer will do a full assessment on your body, natural movement patterns, goals, needs, overall health and wellness and design a workout program tailored just for you.
While group fitness classes are excellent for staying in shape, there’s no comparison to having a certified fitness professional giving you individual attention for an hour at a time. Your workout plan will be different from that of anyone else, because it will be designed to account for all of your needs. Maybe you have bad knees or are nursing an injury that would make it hard for you to do certain activities. A personal trainer will take all of that into mind when putting together a layout for your fitness routine. Your program will be just for you, and there’s no better way for it to be.
2. A personal trainer will correct your form to help you optimize your movement.
You may think you know what you’re doing in the gym, but maybe you don’t. After years of being in the fitness industry, I’ve found that people tend to have less body awareness than they know. Instead of risking an injury, or wasting your time doing moves improperly, a personal trainer can help you achieve perfect form, which gives your body the most results quickly. Do you have good mobility in your shoulders and hips? Do you really know what it means to “brace your abs”? Are you able to focus on proper breathing patterns and fully engage your butt and glute muscles? Maybe not, but even for a casual exerciser, these are essential techniques to master.
3. A personal trainer does all the thinking and planning for you, so all you have to do is show up.
A good personal trainer will have a program on hand for you every day you arrive to the gym, as well as offer you recommendations for cardio and classes you should be doing on other days of the week. If you don’t want to put together your own workout ideas, then working with a trainer is a way to take the thought out of it for you. Just show up and do what you’re told. It’s going to be good for you, every single time, and it takes away the guessing game of “what should I do for a workout today”?
4. A personal trainer holds you accountable to your appointments for workouts.
When you invest your money into working with a personal trainer, you’ll likely set appointments weeks out for your sessions. Those sessions will be on both of your calendars and you’re required to be there, or risk losing the sessions. If you struggle with staying consistent in a gym routine, perhaps working with a trainer will give you that added motivation to go several times a week.
5. A personal trainer will ask you hard questions about your lifestyle.
Do you drink too much? Do you sit too much? There are so many habits that we have that are unhealthy for us, and we just choose not to talk about them. But when you work with a personal trainer, they’re probably going to ask you if you got any sleep or remembered to eat breakfast. And they’ll be asking that, because they know so many things play into an overall healthy lifestyle. Would you benefit from an extra little angel sitting on your shoulder devoted to whispering healthy motivation in your ear?
6. A personal trainer will help you reach your goals the fastest and safest way possible.
In order to be certified to be a personal trainer, you have to learn, understand and master a number of health, science and kinesiology principles, which you use to put together plans to help clients. A training session is not just a few exercise moves thrown together to make you sweat. In fact, a real workout program is designed with things you want to do and things you should do, based on your overall fitness and needs. Therefore, if you have a goal in mind, such as running a half marathon or getting in shape for a wedding, a personal trainer can give you a science-backed way to do it, which will take into account safety, but will also maximize your time in the gym. While Google and YouTube can teach you a lot, online research can never replace the advice of a professional and personal hands-on assistance a few times a week, keeping you on track to achieve something. And no goal is too small. I have clients who say they just want to feel better every day, and I have some clients who have goals as specific as one day being able to complete aerial silk acrobatics. True story.
My advice? Give it a shot, just to see what you learn about yourself. Sometimes just six weeks with a trainer can really be a game-changer for your health and wellness.
How to find a personal trainer
If you’re shopping around for new gyms, see if they offer a complimentary assessment and session with a trainer before you join. Many do, and that would be a good time to get a taste for the personal attention of a professional. From there, you can see if there is a personality fit with you and the trainer and be open about what you need from them.
But you don’t have to be a member of a big corporate gym to find a good personal trainer at all. Many small private gyms allow contractor personal trainers to bring in their own clients for workouts. Or sometimes you can find a personal trainer to come to your own home as well. Ask around for referrals and do some online research. Whatever you do, just make sure your trainer has an accredited certification and they’re willing to take time to listen to your needs.
I honestly think that personal training can work for anyone, whether you’re in shape, out of shape, an athlete, totally sedentary or anything in between. Yes, it does cost money to train in a one-on-one setting, but it’s an investment in one of the most important things in the world — your health.
Questions of the day
Have you ever worked with a personal trainer before?
What’s your number one health and fitness goal right now?
These are great! Definitely sharing on my coaching page 🙂
Hi Bri! Thanks!
I had a personal trainer for 4 years! I loved it and actually had three different trainers at different times during those 4 years! Due to their schedules, leaving the gym etc, I was able to have the variety of different trainers with different teaching methods! I loved being able to go twice a week and have killer workouts set out for me! Unfortunately the cost was too much to handle over the years and with that on top of a gym membership it got to be too much! If I had a million dollars I would get a personal trainer again in a hot minute!
My number one fitness goal right now is to work on increasing my weights in BodyPump. I have been hitting a plateau and been trying increase the weight in different body parts each class but now I’m trying to put them all together to increase in all body parts overall.. It’s tough but I’m working on it!
Hi Fiona! That’s awesome you’ve experienced different training styles. The best way to increase your weight in BODYPUMP is to lift heavier weights outside of class during short sets in the gym!! Give it a go!
I worked out with a personal trainer for 2 years and it was the best investment ever! It changed the way I workout and made me so aware of many of the items that you mention in your post.
My number one health and fitness goal right now is trying to achieve balance in my workouts. I like HIIT and strength workouts the most so if I’m not careful I forget to balance my workouts out. The past few months I’ve been more careful to add in yoga, pilates, body weight, cardio (kickboxing, dance, etc) in my routine and it’s been really paying off.
Hi Catherine! That’s great you’ve experienced personal training. I too tend to gravitate to the more intense workouts, but we could all use a little more yoga in our lives. Have an awesome day!
Wow love this! I am in the process of researching programs to get my accreditation. Do you have an recommendations? Can you tell me about your personal training? I currently teach group exercise classes but want to get more involved in peoples health and fitness goals. This post has cemented to me that personal training is the next step. I want to be the person that helps others with these things. Thanks for any advice you have!!
Hi Sam,
I was also a group fitness instructor before becoming a personal trainer. Being a trainer will make you a better instructor, because you learn so much more about movement, muscles and the science behind the body. I received my initial personal trainer certification through NESTA – an accredited organization recognized by most gyms. I studied for the exam and took a workshop with hands-on guidance, which was helpful. You can also do all self-study. If you have a gym in mind, be sure you check out what they require for trainers to have. The more certifications you have, the more you will get paid per hour. Corporate gyms tend to take a huge share of your rate, but they also offer a lot of training to get you better quickly. Equinox is probably the best in the business and they continue to train us, develop us and help us get big client loads. Here is a link to my personal trainer story https://aladygoeswest.com/2014/04/17/how-i-became-a-certified-personal-trainer/, and if you go to my Fitness page above, you can find out about my other training certifications. Let me know what other questions you have.
Funny…I actually wrote a similar post last week. My boyfriend and I met because he was my personal trainer. Working with him taught me so much and I really think that one on one training is so so helpful.
Hi Lauren, Too funny. I didn’t see that post but will go back and check it out. You’re dating your trainer? Wonderful way to meet a good guy!
I have mad respect for trainers! It’s a hard life they lead (and hence why I just wasn’t cut out for that specific way of helping people reach their goals). Awesome post full of great tips, Ashley!
Thanks, Annette!
Hello Ashley, I really enjoyed reading these six reasons to work with personal trainer. Actually my wife is getting fat and her belly is getting fetish, so I’ve decided before she gets some serious fatness in belly, it’s better to reduce right now. So looking forward to hire a personal trainer for her for regular exercising!
I think you are spot on with your last point: a personal trainer can help you reach your goals efficiently and safely. If I were to tackle my own fitness goals, I might overkill it at first. Or, even worse, I might not be doing everything I need to, and I would never end up losing any weight. Thus, a personal trainer is a great way to lose weight safely!
Glad you agree, Kayla!
Hey Ashley,
I totally agree with all the points that you’ve highlighted. Adding on, personal trainers help us to maintain our daily routine. When we try out this ourselves without any help, its really difficult to maintain a routine.
But if we are under someone’s guidance,we can maintain a daily routine and do it in a much better way.
Great post buddy..!!!
Thanks so much, Jean! I appreciate you stopping by.
Personal training is getting more popular every year and you nailed the reasons perfectly!
I’ve always wanted to work with a personal trainer to ensure that I would succeed, but I’m always too intimidated to actually do it. Thanks for these top 6 reasons to work with a personal trainer. I love that the trainer would design a personal workout program just for me. I’m easily motivated by other people so I think this would be a good fit for me!
As a personal trainer for over a ten years now i totally aggree with these observations. There are no easy ways of getting good results and it is not always easy to work with someone you don’t know so you can’t know what to expect and these 5 things can help you a lot with this.
I like the tip on a tinge of lemon juice in warm water. I have been adding lemon juice to my wonderful last few years, it’s great! I get really bored just drinking plain water all day long.the antioxidant and weight loss benefits also can’t hurt! 🙂