Personal trainer?

mitsimr

Money is tight right now therefore I am unable to afford a personal trainer. I did have an idea though and was wondering if anyone has done it and it work for them. I have considered purchasing second hand copies of the training material for those studying for the ace personal trainer certification and study it to train myself. I love research and when I study something I tend to be thorough. That being said I do know I wouldn't get the quality training I would through a personal trainer but since that isn't an option for me I figured it would be worth a try. Thoughts?

jemhh

You can find great resources, including full training plans, online for free.

Cherimoose

mitsimr wrote: »

I have considered purchasing second hand copies of the training material for those studying for the ace personal trainer certification and study it to train myself.

ACE is fine, but NASM is usually considered better. Either way, yes, it's an excellent way to self-study, and generally more thorough & objective than online resources. Some may find muscular anatomy tedious to learn, but it's very useful to know which muscles control each joint, and their attachment points. That's basic knowledge that kids should learn in school.

OlyCapitalChick

Good idea. My brain does not work that way but for folks who like to study, learn get the data and try things out. Seems smart!

mumfy23

For me at least - I think knowing and doing are different when it comes to weightlifting. It is hard to "know" when your form is off without someone correcting you because you might think you are doing it correctly. As others said, you can of course take videos and watch stuff online.

peaceout_aly

There's tons of stuff online, via Instagram, Bodybuilding.com, etc. but the whole point of a trainer is to get a routine that caters to your exact wants/needs. They often times teach you the nutrition background to how to gain muscle and get ideal body composition as well as rest time, form, etc. I think it's definitely a worth-while investment when you have the extra money.

niniundlapin

I'm kind of in a similar situation and this sounds like a really good idea to make ourselves more knowledgeable, so I asked my brother (he's a PT overseas) how practical or beneficial it would be for me. He said "it could be helpful, but remember not everyone fits the classic textbook examples."

I believe he has no intention to sell PT classes to me since we're living in different time zones. So yeah, I'd want to learn more by self-studying to minimize the chance of injury (& it's always good to know what part of body you might be changing), but this should not be an alternative to a real-life PT. I'd think it's still beneficial but just not as efficient...

Packerjohn

peaceout_aly wrote: »

There's tons of stuff online, via Instagram, Bodybuilding.com, etc. but the whole point of a trainer is to get a routine that caters to your exact wants/needs. They often times teach you the nutrition background to how to gain muscle and get ideal body composition as well as rest time, form, etc. I think it's definitely a worth-while investment when you have the extra money.

Actually trainers are pretty limited in the nutritional advice they are suppose to be giving.


https://www.acefitness.org/blog/2959/nutrition-and-supplementation-a-fitness

meritage4

You can sometimes join with a friend and do training sessions together with a trainer. This reduces the cost.