You may think I am a little biased on the subject, after all I am a personal trainer, but everyone can benefit from the knowledge, experience and coaching that comes with hiring a personal trainer. Even trainers can benefit from hiring a trainer because most of the time it is not simply about knowing what to do.
5 REASONS TO HIRE A PERSONAL TRAINER
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN KNOWLEDGE/APPLICATION
Most people already generally know what to do to get results, but they still don't have the results they desire. Why is that? Because there is a big difference between knowledge and application. A personal trainer has experience in taking that knowledge and applying it in a way that produces results. If you know what to do, but don't follow through, you'll never reach your goals. A trainer can help you bridge the gap between knowledge and application.
WORKOUTS VS. PROGRAMMING
You can do a simple internet search and find millions of free workouts every day. There are sites dedicated to every kind of fitness imaginable. You can even find free workouts here in my archives. But there is a big difference between workouts and programming. You can do random workouts and see some results, but a trainer can help you do the most effective, efficient workouts to meet your individual goals.
Is your goal to run faster? To get stronger? Bigger muscles? Lose weight? Your goal will determine your workout program. A trainer can get you on the most efficient path to meet your individual goal so you don't waste your time with workouts that aren't designed with your goal in mind. A good trainer knows how to tweak the variables of your workout to maximize your results.
There are many ways to fitness, individualized programming will get you there by progressing in the proper timeframe (not too fast, not too slow). A trainer can help you take the guess work out of your workouts by looking at the big picture and building a progressive plan to safely meet your goals over an established time period.
MOTIVATION & COACHING
Even if you can build your own progressive program, you still have to follow through with it to see results. A trainer/coach can provide the motivation and accountability needed to stick with a program. Having a trainer to check in with you in-between sessions, answer questions and provide feedback can be the difference between success and failure.
REAL-TIME FEEDBACK
Speaking of feedback, this is one of the most important roles of a trainer. Anyone can find a program on the internet and start following it exactly as written and hope to see results. The problem is that everyone is different and what works for one person may not work for the next. A coach can give you feedback on your performance and make changes/updates to your program as needed. You may need to progress faster or more slowly than written. Real life obstacles like family emergencies, work travel and injuries can result in getting off track unless you have a trainer to help you adjust on the fly and work through these challenges.
PERSONAL BIASES
It is human nature to want to work on our strengths and ignore our weaknesses, sometimes we do it on a subconscious level. A trainer can help make sure you are balancing your fitness. Not just by working on correcting muscle imbalances and making sure you build strength in all planes of motion, but also ensuring you are working on your weaknesses and refining your strengths. Our personal biases can make it hard to make objective decisions and can inadvertently lead to unbalanced fitness and possibly injuries.
Convinced? Contact me.
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I am a NASM personal trainer and RRCA adult distance running coach that specializes in strength training for runners. I offer in-person training in the Shredshed, online training and Fit to Run bootcamps. If you are interested in a more in-depth running or strength training plan, please contact me. Have questions? I'd love to help.
While I am a certified personal trainer, I am not your personal trainer. Since I don't know your exercise abilities, injury background or medical history, please see your doctor before beginning any new exercise program. This is an opinion blog. No information in this blog is intended to be taken as medical advice or prescription. Please see your doctor and/or registered dietitian for any health concerns.
Are you someone who feels the tension between what you should do and what you want to do and hopes to make better choices and decisions to enhance your long-term health? I will cover some tangible ways to revise your thinking, environment, situation, and habits for the best chances of success. People with greater self-control are more likely to achieve their goals