Personal training, is it worth it?

CommitSudoku

I'm currently considering a trainer for some guidance and help. Although i'm sure i can figure out what to do along the way, it would be nice to get advice from someone who has been there and understands what i need for results. So the gym membership will be $38 a month and i would pay for 2 days per week for $100 weekly. They would also give me a plan and advice on what to eat. What aren your opinions and experiences with trainers?

2011rocket3touring

If you can afford it then go ahead. If it's a tough squeeze you'll have to ask what are your goals?
My mentor is a super fit coworker. He trained his wife to win 2 fitness contests bikini division, it was closer to the end when she got a posing coach and took a couple of classes.

lorrpb

I would not have accomplished what I did without my trainer. Every person is different and every trainer is different. I would encourage you to try it, but don't get locked into any long term contracts off the bat.

cwolfman13

Like any profession, there are good ones, ok ones, and awful ones. I have a trainer that I don't work with directly so much anymore, but I chose him for some very specific training objectives...before him, I went through a few different trainers that just didn't work out for various reasons.

I'd be somewhat wary of nutritional/diet advice...some are well versed and are also educated in that field, but a lot of trainers simply get an online certification for training but there's not a whole lot of nutrition involved so they just parrot whatever is currently trendy in health and fitness magazines.

My trainer is not only a certified trainer, he has a degree in exercise physiology as well as a masters in nutrition and dietetics. He also has an extensive resume...he's a retired multi time national champion and world champion BMX pro and maintains his sponsorships by participating in certain BMX events...he is also one of the team USA BMX coaches and beyond that, he coaches a number of pro BMX riders as well as a few pro road cyclists and a whole lot of cycling enthusiasts. All of this was important to me when I got more serious about certain fitness aspirations.

My first few trainers were fine for the most part, but mostly regurgitated things I was able to just read in magazines...it was early days though and I mostly just needed someone to push me a little harder in my workouts...I had the diet stuff down on my own and had been losing weight just fine without a trainer.

ChristopherLimoges

Nothing wrong when hiring a trainer. Somewhere over 75% of people injure themselves all the time because they jump into the gym without a know-how with what they're doing, and by trying to rush their way to success.

KirbyFortin1

I believe your profile says you are from La Porte, Texas? You should look into Camp Gladiator if there are camps nearby and convenient to you. It is an outdoor bootcamp like program that (if you commit for 6 months) is $79/month for UNLIMITED camps. They have an offshoot in Orlando where I am and the trainers are AMAZING... it isn't one-on-one training but there are often no more than 10-15 people at any one 1 hour camp session and the trainers do an amazing job of personalizing and giving one-on-one attention.

Message me if you want more information and my honest review as I have been a paying customer for over a year and would NOT think about doing anything else!

Amella21

My trainer gave me confidence and always answered all of my questions. It is important to "click" with who you choose. No matter what you pay you'll never get the best results unless you get along with the person, in my opinion.

RavenLibra

Credentials are important... what qualifies him/her as a personal fitness trainer. ask for references and follow up with those references. A trainer is great if you have well defined goals, or require someone to show you how things (equipment) work in the gym you are in. a better tactic is to start with some fitness classes... get moving... and work the cardio for a while... talk to some of the regulars that seem to have the body and look you are thinking would look good on you... MFP is an important resource read forums that make sense... stay away from the "bro science"

cgvet37

It was for me.

Hello_its_Dan

Yep.

ajoseph5

Make sure the trainer you get has your best interest at heart and your getting the necessary benefits not only to give you confidence but the motivation and training you need to reach your goal.

Ready2Rock206

A good one is totally worth it. A bad one not so much. I had a fabulous one and he had to quit. I am so sad. I tried a few others before I found one decent enough to stick with for now but he doesn't even compare to the one I had.

buffalogal42

My trainer is fabulous and pushes me beyond what I would ever do on my own. Results have come much faster than I thought. I'll stick with him as long as I can afford it!

Fallfrenzy

When I was first starting strength training, I found it more helpful to have the personal trainer to make sure I was doing things right and for variety. My first trainer did push me when she saw that what I was capable of. This was many years ago. Now, I have a trainer for a certain number of sessions if I want the push and different exercises that I could be doing for the same muscles to change things up a bit.

jdhcm2006

I didn't think that trainers were allowed to give nutritional advice unless they were a registered dietician. If that trainer isn't, I would take that advice with a grain of salt.

It depends on your goals and what the trainer is certified and trained in. I've gone through about 3 or 4 trainers before finding the one I'm currently with. I would tell them I wanted to learn how to lift heavy and they would put me on machines. I finally found one who's trained by an Olympic weight lifter who was willing to train me properly. She hasn't put me on 1 machine (outside of the pull-up machine 1 or 2 times).

I feel like my current trainer is worth the money bc her advice is solid and helping me towards my goals. Once I run out of sessions, I'll be able to go on by myself with little to no problem. Those other trainers were a complete waste of my money.

Figure out what your fitness goals are and find someone who will help you achieve them. And remember that the trainer works for you, and not the other way around, so if you feel like you aren't getting the most out of your sessions, you have the right to call them out on it so they can fix the issue. If they can't fix it, then it's time to find another trainer.

pondee629

FWIW when I was training for my half marathon I hired a running coach to provide a training plan. Yes, I could have used a generic plan from the net; Yes, those plans were not significantly different from the plan I got from the coach, the coach's plan was updated weekly based upon my feed back to the prior weeks schedule; Yes, giving the feedback did help me get through that weeks schedule. In short, I found having the coach to be helpful. Perhaps, however, you need only a once a week meeting together with a weekly workout schedule.

akboy58

Having a trainer has been incredibly helpful for me. The guy I train with has a background in physical therapy, and I have a background in overtraining and chronic injury, so it's a good fit :-/. He never offered specific diet advice, but early in our training he kept telling me how much more we could do if I lost some weight; and he turned me on to MFP. Three years later I'm down 75 lbs, am free of sleep apnea, and my doctor has taken me off medications for high BP, cholesterol, and a heart arhythmia. My trainer pushes me relentlessly but carefully; we never do the same workout twice, and I am appropriately sore after every session. Among other things he provides a) consistency, and b) encouragement. I am moving and performing in ways I never thought possible, and at levels significantly above what I was capable of when I was young and injury-free. Sounds like an infomercial, I know, but I'm a convert. Bottom line: for me, it's worth every penny.

dulcitonia

I've hurt myself twice getting too confident with my exercise routine.
I started working with a trainer last week to help me with form and pace. They put me through the wringer. I've got muscles sore that I didn't know I had. Worth the money

MeanderingMammal

Only you can judge whether it's worth it or not, but bluntly 400 USD per month sounds like a lot when you don't identify a specific purpose.

I can see value in it if you have specific training objectives; 1:50 Half Marathon or something like that. For that kind of money you could qualify as a personal trainer yourself in six months.

FatPorkyChop

Absolutely worth it! I did Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in PT (I was a beginner) and it brought me to my fittest in no time. Beside, it was really enjoyable and boost my confidence.

geebusuk

Appreciate that personal trainers are in the business of getting people to pay for personal training.

This has to be their main point of their business in reality.

So you'll often find those offering 'pop' advice which will appeal, even if other simpler advice might do fine even though people may not like it - and exercise suggestions that justify you going back to them.

Alas, in a evolutionary world, those that don't work like this don't tend to survive; of course there are plenty that do offer a 100% excellent service doing the best they reasonably can for you.