Should I use a Personal Trainer?

For many of us, getting and staying in shape is something we struggle with everyday. Everyone has their own way of going about ways to get in shape whether successful or not. For those struggling or wanting to take their training to another level whether to improve how they look, feel, sports performance, etc you may consider a personal trainer. So how does having a personal trainer help you obtain your goals and is it right for you?

Knowledge
Most trainers have a degree in the medical field such as Exercise Science and different certifications designed around training the general population and athletes. This means they have studied the science around what exactly works and doesn’t work when trying to reach your goals. Your training is not going to be random and left hoping that it works, rather each person based on many different factors including age, sex, goals, experience, injuries, and days willing to exercise a week is going to receive their own personally designed workout program that combines education and practical experience to give them the best chance to succeed. All of this allows you to optimize your time spent in the gym and give yourself the best chance to succeed.

Safety
A common issue for individuals who have been working out or are just getting started is that they develop some kind of injury. Whether it was from working out or it happened outside of the gym and now it has caused them to stop going. Working with a trainer is going to help make sure you are performing every movement correctly to ensure you are doing it safely. Also if you have a preexisting injury, they will know which exercise will help make it better and which exercises to avoid to make sure you heal without cutting out exercise entirely and losing all of your progress. Knowing when pushing through something is beneficial and when it is harmful can sometimes be difficult so having a professional to help advise allows you to achieve your goals with the least amount of setbacks.

Motivation
No matter who you are, everyone has days where they don’t want to go to the gym, and for some those days are more often than not. Having a workout session scheduled with a trainer gives you some more accountability and makes you less likely to skip the gym that day. We have all been there when we drag ourselves to the gym even though we did not want to and then we leave and feel better and happy that we went. Having a trainer will also push you within your limits to make sure you are getting a good workout out of the session, rather than just going through the motions. It’s not always about how much time you spend in the gym but rather what you did during that time.