To have a personal trainer or not??

anemoneprose

Reasons not to get a trainer's services long-haul:

- you are highly internally driven & have a strong work ethic/are motivated
- you have good body awareness and can learn form quickly (one or two sessions still wouldn't hurt, I learned my squat was awful)
- you don't mind nerding out a bit on fitness stuff; reading & watching vids doesn't put you off
- if you DO like to nerd out, you can stick with a given program and not want to switch it up 50x a year
- you are smart about injury prevention - you know when to stop
- you are healthy enough to use an off-the-shelf beginner's weight training program

Reasons to get a trainer's services long-haul:

- you are at a stage where you need external support and motivation
- you are not comfortable with reading/watching lots of vids (or don't want to)
- you have previous injuries & need help figuring something out around them
- you have medium-bad body awareness & form
- you are kind of a suck and bail a lot (ie you don't push yourself so much), so need reinforcement
- you like to work so hard you hurt yourself all the time - you don't know where your limits are
- you are working towards a specific sports goal, and need a sport-specific coach
- you have reached the limits of your nerdiness and want a change

MyChocolateDiet

I'm meeting with a trainer from my gym this afternoon, I know his intentions will be to sign me up for individual training but I wanted to here some opinions on personal trainers! So I have a couple questions...do you feel they're beneficial to weightloss? How often should I work out with a trainer and any other advice is appreciated!

OP I hope your meeting with the trainer went better than expected. When I was recently trainer "shopping" a few months ago, none of the ones I met with made a big deal about "intentions" of theirs but most were very interested to hear my goals and how they might help me achieve them. They all seemed very nice and very knowledgeable and very respectful of my time and particular ideas. They didn't seem undereducated to me at all or greedy and I hope you had that kind of experience because I found the one I chose to be truly worth the money I spent on him and then some. He was very motivating while being mindful of issues I have in particular and to be honest I could have chosen two others and been completely comfortable. So just be aware of where you are looking and use your head and your gut and find someone with a good head on their shoulders. They are serious about their work and there are some great ones out there, don't be frightnened into doing anything new that you should be spotted for on your own by any of the advice here that they are less than professional,knowledgeable or gouging. There are certain times where I just think it is so beneficial to have someone watching you while you learn or rehabilitate an injury or just starting something very foreign to you but beneficial.

ninerbuff

Being that I am a Trainer I thought I would add my 2 cents.

1. I have issues with Trainers at corporate gyms like 24hr for example because many of the times the trainers have little experience or their primary goal is convincing you to buy sessions. I hate feeling like I am on the sales floor.

2. Having an experienced PT can help you learn good form, an array of exercises, and if they are really good they will work on your individual needs and not to do the same exact routine that they use on everyone else.

3. Look for trainers with good reviews and dont be afraid to ask for references. I can always give references and testimony from current and past clients.

I think the most important quality to look for is a training who adjust exercises to meets your needs, cares about your safety, and understands your limits. I've had clients have to go to the hospital from using a bad trainer who made a 120lb women with little experience lift the same amount of weight a guy twice her size would be using.

We agree on this.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

pamelak5

This is completely an opinion and I am in no way an expert:

I hear terrible things about personal trainers. They all use the same advice that is unaffectionately called "broscience." Broscience being fake, college-bro proclaimed workout advice that has no factual basis and is just bad assumptions. They all want you to use machines over free weights and grab an overpriced smoothie on your way out of the gym. I wouldn't, but again, just what I hear.

Well, if the question is - should I hire a crappy trainer, then no, you should not.

I have had two trainers. Both have degrees in kinesiology. When I started with the first one, I coudln't walk two blocks; I was in so much pain from a chronic condition. She knew how to work around it and strengthen my body; by the time I was done with her I was running and doing box jumps, pain free.

Current trainer (I moved and got a new one) is also great. He knows a lot of the science (not broscience) behind exercises. Machines aren't all bad - they have their place, particularly for rehab; I used them a lot early on for specific exercises but no longer use them much at all. If we ever do anything with machines, rather than free weights, the trainer explains to me why we're using a machine.

I've learned a lot about injury prevention and proper form, so even when I go to a boot camp style class, I don't injure myself (touch wood). And when I do have some kind of setback (minor surgery, injury) I can still get an awesome workout because the trainer knows a lot of modifications. So, where before I would have said 'my knee hurts, I'll just not exercise for a week', my trainer helps me figure out why it hurts, how to fix it, and how to work around it til it's better. I have seen crappy trainers too, and it's not pretty.