Jul
21
Are Personal Trainers Worthwhile?
Filed Under Exercise, Motivation, Work Out
One of the most common questions I get on 60 in 3 is a variation on “Are personal trainers worth while?” Now, I think I’ve discussed this topic in the past, but only in passing, so it’s worthwhile to spend a bit more time on it.
What Is A Personal Trainer?
A personal trainer helps you with your work outs by telling you what to do and providing encouragement and support as you work out. A good trainer will work with you by asking about your goals and then designing a workout meant to achieve those goals.
A personal trainer will not help you with your eating. They might provide some nutriutional advice, but that’s not really their job. If you need help with eating then you should be talking to a nutritionist or dietician. By virtue of their long association with the health and fitness industry, a trainer may have some of their own ideas about what constitutes healthy eating, but they’re not really professionals in this area.
A personal trainer is also not a medical professional. They should not diagnose medical conditions nor can they tell you what to do about medical conditions. There are some personal trainers that work at hospitals helping patients recover, but even they are not usually medical professionals. If you need someone to help you with a medical problem, you should go see a doctor.
Do Personal Trainers Really Help?
That depends on what you’re looking for. A personal trainer provides you with the following:
- Work out plan
- Support and motivation
Do these things help? Well of course they do, but are they worth the money you’re going to spend on the trainer?
Workout Plan
This is worth it but only if you’re new to working out and only if the trainer is a good one. A good trainer will spend some time with you discussing your goals, your past workout experience and your likes and dislikes. Based on this, they will come up with a detailed workout plan that’s very tailored to you. A bad trainer will ignore your specific needs and see you as just another hour long appointment to get through. They will have you do some general exercises and then completely forget about you.
If you’re new and if you can find a good personal trainer then this workout plan can be incredibly worthwhile. The exercises will be ones that are specifically meant for you and for your goals. The trainer will take the time to show you how to properly do them and should explain what the goal of each exercise can do. They can also educate you about exercise in general, enabling you to modify and develop your workout on your own in the future.
For people with more experience, this workout plan isn’t really worth it. I know what I like and dislike, I try out new things all the time and I understand how exercise relates to my goals. Therefore, I don’t really need a personal trainer to design a workout plan for me. It’s nice to talk to trainers occasionally and get their opinions on various things, but it’s not worth my money to actually train with them if all I get is a workout plan.
Support and Motivation
Luckily for trainers, a detailed workout plan isn’t the only thing they offer. A less obvious but more important benefit of training with a trainer is the support and motivation you get from them. Again, this varies from trainer to trainer, but the good ones will support you through the rough times and motivate you to keep going. They’ll provide an incentive for you to go to the gym, they’ll keep you interested, entertained and focused as you workout and they’ll keep you motivated through all those times when you just want to quit and go home. That right there is a priceless benefit.
Most people aren’t unhealthy because of a lack of education. We all know that we need to eat healthier and be more active and, with a little bit of research, it’s not hard to educate yourself about what that means. So if we all know how to be healthy, why are so many of us unhealthy? Well, it’s mostly about motivation. Yes, we all know what we need to do, but it’s really hard to actually go ahead and do it. It’s hard to avoid that last piece of cake and it’s hard to motivate ourselves to go to the gym when our favorite show is on and it’s cold outside and why the heck to I need to do cardio anyway!???!
That’s the real benefit of trainers. The workout plan is a nice bonus, but a good trainer, one who can keep you motivated, is worth his or her weight in gold.
So How Do I Find A Good One?
Talk to people. Ask your family, friends and coworkers if they know a good trainer. Ask them if the trainer they worked with really paid attention to them or if trainer saw them as just another job. Ask them if the trainer kept them interested in working out and motivated them to keep exercising. Check to see if the people you’re talking to are still keeping healthy and fit since healthy long term customers are the hallmark of a good trainer. Once you find a trainer, see how they treat you during the first few sessions. Do they seem interested in what your goals are? Are they listening to you? Are they explaining what various exercises are and why they’re having you do them? Or are they just standing there with a bored expression telling you to do another set of lunges?
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If you need motivation and have a bit of money to spare, a good trainer can be a priceless asset. Just make sure you get a good one since a bad trainer can sap your will to exercise.
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3 Responses to “Are Personal Trainers Worthwhile?”
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A GOOD trainer will help you to combine the physical (diet, exercise, injury prevention, balance, neuro-muscular performance, energy system, etc…) and the mental (emotional support, coping techniques, inter and intra-personal techniques, etc…) aspects of physical fitness.
DR
http://healthhabits.wordpress.com
Although I spend up to thirteen hours a day in the gym where I earn my keep, as much as my schedule will allow I like to workout in other gyms in and around San Diego just to get away — to workout without interruption and to exist alone in my fitness world. These workouts away from my own gym are the most beautiful time I get each month.
As I workout in these foreign gyms I rest very little, speak to no one, stare mostly at the floor, and as always, I am all about the workout. Even so, it’s hard to tune out those on the periphery. Fitness trainer and fitness enthusiast alike fascinate me. I can’t help but observe trainers in other gyms working to help clients achieve their goals. Most of those I see are younger than me and not as savvy in technique and intercommunication. Some I actually learn from. Most work hard and seem to make a difference in helping others. Others, though, not so much.
With this in mind, I thought I would offer some insight, some key elements that a would-be fitness enthusiast might seek, and might seek to avoid in selecting a fitness trainer. Be warned, all of the qualities (or lack of) listed below I have actually bared witness to in recent moths — swear to God:
Regularly blood shot eyes. Blood shot eyes may relate to the most innocent of circumstances; pink-eye, allergies, or even a cold. Regularly seen in the eyes of a fitness trainer, they may also relate to chronic hangovers, regular drug use, lack of sleep from rave-like behaviors — who knows what young people do at night anymore? Would you really want a pot head or raver teaching you how to exercise? Red eyes in morn, student be warned.
Smoker’s cough. Yup. Again, coughing can be innocent. Even fitness trainers get colds, flu, etc., and with those hindrances may come a cough or two. Most of us though, are savvy enough to distinguish and recognize the hollow and rattle-like sound that is the adult smoker’s cough. Probably not a devout fitness enthusiast, let alone a fitness trainer if a smoker’s cough is present. I recently heard a female trainer instructing a student and I thought Marge Simpson’s sisters Selma was in the room. Pass on this one.
A chronic limp. Yeah, a trainer with a limp could be dealing with the sinister result of a bad car accident, a bowling ball mishap, or heaven forbid, a skydiving accident gone awry. It could also be a sign that the trainer is pushing things too hard in his or her own workout. With that being said, would you want them to push you in your workout? Take note; if trainer A leans on a water fountain bragging to trainer B about how he “almost didn’t come out of that 500 pound squat yesterday” then limps away from that water fountain, trainer A is actually trainer A-hole. Avoid him.
Spiky sea urchin hair look, with bleached tips. Maybe it’s just me, but I hate that look. I don’t trust men with spiky sea urchin hair and the bleached tips look. That look tells me that the young men who wear it are more trendy than they are innovative or established. As such, it is more likely they will follow and teach fitness trends rather than staying true to proven training methods, or establishing their own.
Women, however, with spiky sea urchin hair and the bleached tips look are fine. Generally it means they are gay. Assuming they are gay, we can further assume they are very athletic, and likely studied PE in college. That being said, they are probably a good trainer, and will be keenly aware of proven training methods.
Wearing a jewel of their high school football number on a silver chain around their neck. This applies only to male trainers. I think if a young trainer, say 20-23 years old wears this type of jewelry, all can be forgiven if the workouts are sound. If however, the trainer in question is forty-something, hmmmmm, no! The trainer in question is still stuck in his hey-day of the seventies, and in his football youth which means he will likely be training in his football image. Tiny Tim paraphrased, “God help us; every one.” Stay away from the trainer in the time machine.
A huge ass. Probably enough said right there, but I’ll elaborate just the same. If you are seeking a fitness trainer and they look like they need a fitness trainer…….. probably isn’t much leadership or inspiration there, even if there is knowledge. It may not be a bad or dangerous situation to train with an out of shape trainer, but I can guarantee not much progress will be made.
If the trainer you find looks like they need a trainer more than you, keep looking. While you’re at it, find a trainer to help fat-ass trainer get back into her 26/30 jeans.
A condescending demeanor. This is true: Several days ago I overheard a trainer telling an individual that she was “never allowed to eat cereal for breakfast again!” My goodness. Trainers that feel their beliefs are that absolute should be shot on live TV and broadcast for the entire nation to see in Ceausescu-like fashion. No trainer is that absolute, no fitness value is that rigid, and no person on Earth should ever be denied the right to Lucky Charms — even if just once in a while. Absolute trainer? Absolutely self-absorbed!
Blood stains on their clothing. I swear, I actually saw this one a month ago or so. A trainer in a San Diego gym was training someone while wearing a white T-shirt with seemingly fresh or recent blood stains on it. I certainly can’t associate those stains with any given reason that this person would not be a qualified trainer. Still, blood stains? Yuck. Bloody stupid, I say.
So now that I have offered my version of what not to look for in a trainer, what qualities should one seek in a fitness trainer?
Experience and knowledge notwithstanding, there are other qualities which define a fitness professional including communication skills, approachability, and flexibility. Even the highest level of knowledge and experience are useless if the information in question cannot be effectively communicated — if there is not a good fit between teacher and student.
Accommodations also need to be considered. Are the surroundings clean? Threatening or intimidating? Well maintained? I encourage all readers and would-be fitness enthusiasts to closely examine the variety of facilities and fitness professionals in their community before selecting one to work with based on a single friend’s advice.
Within my industry it is clear that an approach and environment which may garner significant results for one individual may be wrong and even counterproductive for another. Above all, fitness is an individual endeavor and choosing a facility and trainer with whom you connect will be crucial in establishing a solid foundation on which to improve your health, fitness, vitality and confidence.
Lastly, as a fitness professional it concerns me that fitness trainers too often misapply the term strength. Although strength has its place in fitness, strength itself does not define fitness or health. Other words the would-be fitness enthusiast should consider when entering a fitness program are balance, conditioning, shape, flexibility, stability, and especially HEALTH. These words contribute to fitness longevity much more than strength alone. To have strength is a novelty, to have good health is empowering on every possible level.
If you are already a fitness enthusiast please stay consistent, you prolong your life with your commitment, you expand your quality of life, and you inspire those around you. If you are not currently engaged in regular exercise and sensible eating, today is the day to start — tomorrows are as addictive as cigarettes, sodas and the fast food window
Ha! Great post “Anonymous” and so true. As a personal trainer, I too, always observe other trainers with their clients and I have seen every scenerio you mentioned. Too funny and sad.