How To Choose The Right Personal Trainer

Updated: 
Apr 20 2020
Guide To Finding The Right Personal Trainer For Your Fitness Regime
Guide Rating: 
5

Guide To Finding The Best Personal Trainer

So, perhaps you have been researching the best home gym equipment to buy and have decided to get fit. Now that you are ready to make the commitment to change your health and wellness, you have to consider what you need to do to reach your goals. One of the most efficient ways to lose weight or lose belly fat and get healthy is by hiring a personal trainer. With the assistance of a professional fitness expert, your chances of reaching your objectives are going to be much greater.A Personal Trainer Like This Woman Can Help Motivate You

When it comes to workout, it can be a challenge to find a routine that allows you to get the maximum benefit and encourage you to continue. That is why it is important to find a personal trainer that can help you with the task at hand. Developing a relationship with that trainer that allows you to be comfortable with their recommendations, praise and feedback make it more likely you can stay with that particular trainer for years. It means you can continue to improve and receive better benefit from your workout efforts. It also means they can be a reliable source for helpful tips or reminders as you get into the most specialized training for the events in which you hope to participate.

There are numerous personal trainers, so choosing one takes more than flipping through the yellow pages or asking around at your gym. Those are both good starting points, however. If you belong to a gym, it would be logical to work with a personal trainer affiliated there and have them help you with your personal workouts.

Looking through on search engines would allow you the chance to find a trainer that is located close to you within the city, cutting down on transit time for any meetings you would set up.

Building a long-term relationship with your Personal Trainer is important particularly if you have long-term goals you hope to achieve, like running some marathons or continually running marathons until you finish in a certain time. These take a lot of planning and work, lasting over the years. A personal trainer needs to be aware of your goals and be willing to commit to that time frame to help you make the progress you need to on a regular basis.

If you train at home using your home treadmill or other gym equipment then a personal trainer can help you make your home workout a habit that works for you.

With that in mind, some trainers advertise their specialties or experience with particular events they have trained for themselves. These can be useful pieces of information for you if you have a set goal in mind. If you are simply hoping to start working out and seeing a difference in your body, a personal trainer who focuses on helping novices might be beneficial.

However, that will be setting you up to have to Find A Personal Trainer for more advanced goals at a future date.

Therefore, it does pay to have realistic ideas of your training goals before you start reaching out to prospective trainers.

A Personal Trainer Helping A Woman Workout By The River In Melbourne

Positive Benefits of Hiring a Personal Trainer

How many times have you tried to get into shape but failed? You might manage a few weeks of the gym before you lose motivation because of lack of results. If you want to get the fit, you will need a little help and support to make changes in your life. Here are the advantages of having a personal trainer.

With the many medical reports published and health initiatives implemented in the past few years individuals are steadily beginning to understand that their quality of life depends upon improving their diet, activity and their level of fitness.

Personal training has become a major industry and the number of individuals hiring a personal trainer, and in other cities around the country, is steadily on the rise.

In fact, the ease of access to high calorie, low-quality fast food in combination with a sedentary lifestyle is contributing to an epidemic of diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and even cancer. Hence, there is a growing need for expert personal trainers.

Personal Trainer Helping A Man Do A Plank

Some of us shy away from hiring a personal trainer due to the misconception that it is an unnecessary expense. It is true that hiring a skilled personal trainer, or anywhere, will cost money, but it is important to remember it is an investment in your health and quality of life, not simply a financial expenditure. However, the fact that hiring a personal trainer will cost money necessitates that you become actively engaged in finding the right trainer for you. Working with a trainer that is in sync with your personality and inspires you can be a driving force in reaching your fitness goals.

What To Look Out For When Choosing A Personal Trainer

There are number of basic pre-requisites that a personal trainer should have. Here are the most important things to check:

Qualifications

Personal Training qualifications vary greatly, whilst one is not necessarily better than any other the larger companies who offer more extensive added certifications with practical insight consistently produce better trainers. In the US the top education centers are NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine) and ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine), whilst in the UK qualifications that are recognized by REPS such as the ones run by PTAcademy are noted as the best.

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Check that your Personal Trainer is keeping up to date with qualifications, the fitness industry is a fast moving industry with new techniques and equipment coming out every month. If your Personal Trainer hasn’t achieved a new qualification since his original basic certificate, that's a good sign that they are not fully dedicated to helping people reach their goal.

Testimonials

These reference are a great chance for a Personal Trainer to show you what they can do, ones who have a proven track record will give you confidence and inspiration to stick with training even through plateaus. With so many before and after photos available on the internet it’s a good idea to speak to the reference to check its authenticity.

Budget

Experienced and highly qualified Personal Trainers come at a cost, but they are likely to get you to your goal much faster than a newly qualified Personal Trainer. So a twelve week course with a good Personal Trainer that is expensive may end up saving you more money than spending two years with an inexperienced coach with worse results.

Most trainers do discounts for block bookings, as they want to work with you long term. This is better for both you and the trainer. Location will also dictate price, cities have notoriously expensive PT’s, whilst the suburbs you may be able to find coaching for half the price. If you do want training in a city, check out group training or semi-private Personal training, this will help you save on per hour costs.

A Female Personal Trainer Helping A Woman On A Machine In The Gym

Appearance

Make sure your chosen Personal Trainer looks the part, they must practise what they preach. This doesn’t mean they should have huge muscles or be cover model ripped but they should be portraying a life dedicated to health and fitness. As after all these will be your role models.

'Red Flags' To Watch Out For When Choosing A Personal Trainer

Personal Trainers are qualified to give healthy eating advice, if the first thing they talk about is supplements or they mention they are affiliated or a ‘rep’ of some kind, think alarm bells. Supplements are fine but in the first few weeks they should be focusing on your main diet and only once that is going well should they introduce supplements. There are no supplements for fat loss or muscle gain, this happens only once your diet is good.

Watch them train other clients, they should not be using their phone or distracted by others in the gym. Whilst a client is working they should be fully dedicated to helping their technique and keeping them safe from injury. After all you’re paying a premium per hour rate.

Additional Benefits Of Working With A Personal Trainer

Not only will finding the right personal trainer inspire you to work hard to reach your personal fitness goals, but personal trainers also offer the following additional benefits:

Accountability

You've made the investment and the commitment, and now someone is holding you to it. Without the proper motivation, it is too easy to lose the incentive to get to the gym. A monotonous workout is one of the most common reasons that individuals with initially good intentions fall off of the fitness wagon. Personal trainers will help keep you focused on your fitness goals by varying workouts by making them new and engaging.

Proper Fitness Schedule

A knowledgeable personal trainer will tailor a customized fitness schedule/plan just for you and give you the tools you need will need to see measurable results. This may include monitoring physical changes by taking progress pictures, body fat testing, and circumference measurements. Seeing the improvement will help you stay committed and motivated to achieve your fitness goals.

A Female Personal Trianer Helping A Man Workout In A Gym

Diet / Calorie Intake Charting

When starting to work with a personal trainer proper diet and nutrition will be an important part of the overall success of your personal fitness plan. Your personal trainer can chart a diet that will be balanced and have the necessary nutritional value to compliment your exercise plan and maximize your physical results.

Choosing a personal trainer is not a decision you should make immediately, but you should quickly make the decision to research and find a personal trainer that will work for you and work with you to make a commitment to a life of better health, happiness and wellbeing. This will ensure you live a healthy life, so go ahead and browse our reviews of the best gym equipment for home use and start today!

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