What is your *Personal* Experience with a Trainer?

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mkrafick
mkrafick Posts: 68
in Fitness and Exercise
Just to give you an idea - I work out 3x a week for an hour. (1) with the trainer, (2) on my own. If I can squeeze a day of cardio on top (even as simple as walkng the block), I will. on my personal workout days, I average about 30m strength training and 30m cardio.

Some things I learned with a trainer:
1. Personality makes a difference - give me a drill sergeant and I will rebel or quit.
2. Good ones communicate and work with your goals AND realistically tell you how it is. "Yes, 3x a week and decent change in diet will give you a .5-1lb loss a week. Which is safe, but do you find that progress acceptable? I'll work either way".
3. I like trainers that work traditional exercises that I can do on my own with machines and weights I have access too. If I need him to help me, or it requires funky equipment I don't have access to - it's not useful.
4. Trainers can help you troubleshoot plateaus.
5. A Trainer keeps me accountable. If I know I see him Thursday - I am less likely to skip a workout or risk being sore on his visit.
6. A trainer opposite sex was a distraction. I don't need a 25yr old endowed female in a tight outfit bending over me to help correct my form.
7. Form! They help me hold good form and good habits. An exercises is much more effective and exponentially harder when you use good form.
8. I actually get more nutrition and diet advice that worked on MFP - my trainer helped here, but I use his advice to supplement MFP, not the other way around.
9. A trainer knows when to bump weight or lower weight better than I do.
10. A Trainer will call B.S. if I am not giving 100%.
11. A trainer helps me break up boring routines - "Here try this, it will kick your butt - and don't come to me whining when your sore. Cause it works".
12. Its good to have a cheering section.

I have had two trainers for a period fo time - total polar opposites. One was very helpful, one was not. Overall though, I do recommend having a trainer.

Yes, I know, they are expensive and you can find this stuff on your own. But in my case, for the items listed above, I find them worth it.

The only drawback is I will need to sell a kid or kidney to afford one. They are expensive. I got lucky and use my next door neighbor who charges me much less than the $60-80 an hour at a franchise gym. However, I hear trainers in more local gyms (non-franchise) are much cheaper because the cut to the franchise doesn't exist.

Anyone else have an experience they would like to share?

Replies

  • velix
    velix Posts: 437 Member
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    and if you are in good with your trainer - they may offer outside sessions that helps lower the rates ... at least that has been my experience.... =)

    I wouldn't trade my trainer for the world - even if I need him less often than in the beginning, the 2x a month is great to check in and revamp and keep me on my toes
  • EZGruv
    EZGruv Posts: 215 Member
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    I am blessed with a free trainer at my company gym (all the trainers are free to everyone, along with the free gym itself). I agree with your points above.
    I know I wouldn't be anywhere near where I am without a trainer's direction and advice, not to mention support, both figurative and literal.

    If you can swing having a trainer, even just once a month, do it.
  • erin_weh
    erin_weh Posts: 9
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    I worked with a trainer for a year awhile ago. We worked out 2x a week and then I was supposed to work out 4x on my own. It was great for awhile but not at all sustainable. I really did like working with her though and I learned a lot that I am able to use now.
  • mkrafick
    mkrafick Posts: 68
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    and if you are in good with your trainer - they may offer outside sessions that helps lower the rates ... at least that has been my experience.... =)

    Bingo. That is what my trainer does - most of his clients started at a franchise gym and when there X weeks are up, instead of renewing they ask "Do you do this on the side". The deal works out that they pay 25-50% less than franchise cost, the workout increases from 30m to 60m, and the trainer actually pockets much more. (If you knew what they make off a session at a franchise session you would be pissed, its sad how they get screwed).
  • YogaRunner
    YogaRunner Posts: 652 Member
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    I worked with a trainer at my gym and at the first visit his wife brought his dinner to him...McDonalds. I never went back. I've received more benefits and results with Beachbody products than anything else. I'm sure there are excellent trainers out there, but buyer beware.
  • hugh_jass
    hugh_jass Posts: 12
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    I used a trainer at one point, I was very successful with this routine. She was able to kick my *kitten* during workouts so that any workout I had with my trainer was harder than any workout I had on my own. It was very expensive but I think that any expenditures towards my health is always money well spent. I'm not sure if I would do it again though. I lost 40 pounds and got in great shape in the 5 months I had my trainer but looking back it wasn't a lifestyle I could keep up. The diet I was on was decent since I had one day a week that I could eat freely but the rest of the week I was hungry most of the time.

    The workouts were hard and I made a lot of progress but I found them inefficient. I joined a crossfit gym and I seem to get the same results in a fraction of the time. I guess trainers charge by the hour so feel compelled to use up that hour. I feel that a great workout should rarely last an hour and if it does then maybe you aren't going hard enough.

    I was able to keep the weight off for a little over a year but then unemployment hit and I gained most of it back over the course of 3 months. I'm now fighting to lose the weight again. My workouts are great, my diet is mostly good (I fail once and awhile) but my results are not as fast as when I had my trainer. I would still rather win this battle on my own. Who knows, maybe if I can't win quickly enough I'll break down and hire a trainer again. I just can't picture going back to lifting weights with machines and doing it for a whole hour.

    I think the best part was having someone in my corner who actually wanted me to succeed. just not sure if I want to pay for that again.
  • 750legpress
    750legpress Posts: 32 Member
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    I've been with my personal trainer off and on for years now and he has become a very close friend during that time. Not only does he help me with my goals, issues I might have with things that hurt a little more than they should (a 46 year old learning to run for the first time in her life tends to have a knee issue from time to time) he is there to correct my form and change up my "routine" on a regular basis so that I target exactly what I want to at that time.

    Having a trainer that REALLY knows their stuff is KEY! And a good "bedside manner" is imperative...if you don't click with the trainer they've assigned you at the gym, get another one, because if you don't mesh, you are not likely to want to continue working out with him or by yourself.

    I'm so blessed to have the trainer I do...he knows he can push me when I don't want to be pushed (and lets me curse him a bit when he does) and he's got my best interests at heart. Plus I am so comfortable talking about virtually anything with him---so he knows when I'm holding back and not telling him everything about what I want to accomplish.
  • mkrafick
    mkrafick Posts: 68
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    .... and lets me curse him a bit when he does)....

    I think that is key for me :)
    I feel a little vindicated when I am hurting in a rep and can call him names as I push the last rep out. I'm suprised how creative i can be when I do this. It's a game to see if I can make him laugh half the time.
  • miovlb6
    miovlb6 Posts: 339 Member
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    I've always worked out with a trainer in the past. I don't like to exercise, so I really need someone to be accountable to. Over the past 5 years or so, I've had 5 different trainers. Two long term; both of whom I loved even though they were completely different. And three in between that were awful. The points I found most beneficial in having a trainer were, as you've all said, the accountability factor, concentration on form, and, perhaps most importantly, the fact that the good ones call you on your BS. Finding the right trainer is tough though. They need to know what they're doing, and they need to acknowledge when they don't know the answer to a question; it seems like so many of them really don't. And, for me, personality is SO important.

    When I was just starting out, I had a female trainer 3 times a week for about a year and a half. She was just what I needed to motivate me as a beginner: around my age, knowledgeable, and super-fit but not intimidating. She focused on form and nutrition, and she forced me to stick with it no matter how much I wanted to quit.

    When she left to start a family, I went through a string of bad trainers before finding one that worked out. The first one was OK when he showed up, but missed 3 appointments in 2 weeks so I dropped him. Another was a praiser: I get that support is important, but I need some reality to keep me on track, not someone to tell me what a great job I'm doing after every rep--even when I knew I was slacking. And the third was just clueless--clearly someone who had no idea what he wanted to do in life and just woke up one day and thought "I'm in good shape; I could be a trainer". He quit the gym after about 3 weeks and went off to sell real estate!

    After that I found another great one and stuck with him for almost 2 years. He pushed me harder than anyone else, but he was a flirt, so it didn't seem so bad. He kept me on track and changed things up often so it never got boring. He was all personality and tried to keep things fun, but if I started to let things slide a bit, he'd call me on it in a heartbeat. All was good until he lost his job. For me, the problem with always having a trainer is when they’re not around, I stop working out!

    I've been back at the gym now for about a month after not working out for over 6 months off. This time I'm doing it without a trainer--partly because of the expense but mostly because I want to be self-motivated to exercise rather than being obliged to work out because I'm paying someone to walk me through it. I'm trying to get in the habit of going 4 or 5 times a week, but it's tough sticking with it without someone there to push me. It’s a crutch, I know, but sometimes I'm so tempted to give my old trainer a call…
  • HeatherShrinking
    HeatherShrinking Posts: 805 Member
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    I worked with a trainer once. I received one free personal training session with my gym membership and it was a bad experience. He was late so our session didn't last the entire hour. I think he was hungover and he kept checking out the women working out. He went from not caring really what I was doing to trying to sell me on buying sessions with him (if he was good I would have bought sessions with him). :grumble: No thanks. I think before I try a trainer again, I'd do some research instead of just being assigned to one at the gym.
  • Teemo
    Teemo Posts: 338
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    It's been good. One of the personal trainers who helped me when I was first starting out eventually became one of my good friends. Personality is important, but I'd also be very aware of what a trainer is and what a trainer is not. That is, most trainers -aren't- nutritionists... and hell, most nutritionists -aren't- up to date on the latest science and studies either.

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