Do you need a Personal Trainer?

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  • DANCERPURPLE
    DANCERPURPLE Posts: 134 Member
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    BUMP
  • hsmithway
    hsmithway Posts: 191
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    Investing in a personal trainer to get your momentum going and to make sure you are doing proper form is a good idea. After that, you may feel you don't need one.

    That's the case for me. I really wanted some pointers about keeping good form, and my trainer was very helpful for that.

    Personally, I'm one of those people who tends to push myself too much too soon and then injure myself, so I definitely don't need anyone on the outside pushing me more. And I've never found a trainer who's willing to tell me to step it *down* a notch :laugh:
  • tameko2
    tameko2 Posts: 31,634 Member
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    Well, as a precaution, I'd say 5 sessions is too little to learn proper form -- think a year or so.

    That being said, if a personal trainer doesn't talk about:

    What your goals are
    What your nutrition is like

    You should probably next him/her.

    Also, ask him or her if he uses BMI as a method for gauging success. If the answer is yes, then absolutely next him or her. If he/she looks uncomfortable and splutters out that it's not a good measure, then keep them.

    a YEAR -- goodness no, that's not necessary at all to learn proper form for most things. I've had a trainer for 6 months and although I still get value from her I don't NEED her anymore, I know how to do just about every basic movement, she's corrected my form, etc. I feel very confident working out on my own at this point.

    However I *would* use a trianer to help you break a plateau, help you develop a new program, or work on something in particular. But a YEAR is excessive. 5 sessions might be a BIT short -maybe 10 - but 5 would be ok.

    Just be very up front about what you want to do so they can give you a program for that - if you want to learn proper form and how to develop a good program I'd say you'd be in fantastic shape to head out on your own in 10 sessions.
  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
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    For most the answer is No, you don't need one.. BUT are they nice to have? Hell yes!

    I've gone through three trainers in the past year and I've finally found one that is compatible and doing what I need him to do.

    My first trainer did jack for me... I did all the research and learned how to lose weight on my own.. All he did was stand around, look good and collect my money.

    My second trainer was good... but I only had 3 sessions with him before he was promoted to manager. The work that he did with my mom though was phenomenal.. so I know that if we had kept going, I would have gotten good results.

    My third trainer has been in the business for 5 years, is going for his second certification and is all around a good trainer. He knows what works and what doesn't... and monitors everything that you do very closely so that he can tailor his approach as much as possible, which I like a lot.. It puts the "personal" back in personal trainer.

    Bottom line, it's what you decide to do. DVD's are great and all but it's nothing like having a live person to interact with and bounce ideas off of.

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