Personal Trainer - Is it worth it?

When I had originally began my weight training back in 2008, I hadn't lifted weights in over 20 years (since high school). My apartment complex's gym had a lot of machines that I wasn't familiar with nor was I familiar with which exercises to do. I knew that if I hired a personal trainer, I would show up for the appointment. He helped me get over my lack of knowledge of doing the exercises and using the gym equipment. Also, he was there to correct my form.

Currently, I dont use a trainer. After working with a trainer for about a year, I had sufficient knowledge to work out on my own. I'm not saying that you are looking at a 1 yr commitment when hiring a trainer, but very likely you'll be with the trainer for at least 3-6 months. However, that personal trainer and I have become friends and I can always ask his opinion on exercising, nutrition, etc.

For me, it was well worth it to hire a personal trainer. It guaranteed that I would be in the gym to lift 3x/week. My trainer helped me overcome my lack of knowlege regarding which exercises to do, correct form, etc. Although one can find numerous demonstrations of exercises online that will show the correct form. For me, I am too lazy to do all that work myself.

As for price, I paid $50/hr. In Houston, $40-$70/hr seems to be the going rate for a trainer to train you out of your gym. I am not familiar as to what the trainers who work out of their gym (Bally's, etc) charge.

Honest I think without my PT I would've given up on going to the gym within a couple of weeks. Back in the day I was super unfit and awfully insecure about my body. I was the girl at school who had twenty excuses to get out of doing sport! My PT was worth every cent. I paid about $30 Australian dollars for a half hour session, once a week, for almost 3 years. In the UK my PT was about £30 for an hour. My first PT taught me so much about how my body works and basically helped me get confident being in a gym and working out. Plus she recommended many great TV shows to me! I made much more progress in strength training and much faster than I ever would have done going it alone. I happily sacrificed other things to make room for it in my budget (granted, i did have enough disposable income to do that in the first place, I wasn't using rent/grocery money or anything like that!)

Just be sure the trainer is working for YOU and not trying to put their own biases and preferences in your workouts. I spoke to one just today at my gym for some advice. What I THOUGHT was a simple question-should I increase # of days in the gym or increase time in the gym the days I'm there. He started talking to me about how I should do body weight exercises to get stronger, to stop doing my squats and stuff with added weight. He said the old "If you lift a lot of weight, you'll get big and bulky." I said "I'm a girl. I don't have enough testosterone to get big and bulky." "Well, your muscles will get bigger." "I know. I WANT them bigger!"
So, obviously, I wouldn't hire him as my trainer. I'd hire someone who knew MY goals and MY likes (He kept saying weightlifting was "boring" and things like chair dips and push ups were more "fun". Ummm-maybe for HIM!). Find someone who works out like you want to, has reached goals you'd like to reach.

I used to work out with a trainer once every other week and I would write down the work out and do it 3-4 times per week until I met with him again. After a while, he would write it out for me beforehand to save time during the workout. I felt it helped me get the most bang for my buck. I think it is great, especially if you need a little bit of guidance on coming up with a plan that is customized to your body and lifestyle.

Nowadays, I usually just go to classes offered at my gym. It's similar to a personal trainer in that you get a guided workout, doing something you might not necessarily think of yourself. But it's free! And it's a great way to get to know people at your gym, which can be motivating and fun!

He said the old "If you lift a lot of weight, you'll get big and bulky." I said "I'm a girl. I don't have enough testosterone to get big and bulky." "Well, your muscles will get bigger." "I know. I WANT them bigger!"

Unbelievable that a so-called professional would say such things! He obviously never read any "weights for girls 101".

I'd love a personal trainer but it is just not in my budget right now.

I think they're great if you're new to working out and they can give you some great advice. But as a previous poster said, you can research or talk to your doctor about what is safe for you to do and do it on your own without spending the money.

It seems that a lot of people have a personal trainer to make them do what they would give up doing on their own.

He said the old "If you lift a lot of weight, you'll get big and bulky." I said "I'm a girl. I don't have enough testosterone to get big and bulky." "Well, your muscles will get bigger." "I know. I WANT them bigger!"

Unbelievable that a so-called professional would say such things! He obviously never read any "weights for girls 101".

there are quite a few trainers in my gym who are like this as well. now they shut up about it to me since it's pretty obvious i'm slimming down and not bulking up

SO UPSETTING.