Personal Trainers - Worth the $$$?

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Replies

  • LJOMalley
    LJOMalley Posts: 8 Member
    edited April 2017
    ninerbuff, that is a fair comment but the trainers we have show technique first. Honestly I am getting the results I want for my lifestyle. I am fitter and stronger now in my 50's than I was in my 20's. The trainers work in the gym and you can book them for PT sessions as part of the membership. I think they give 3 free sessions with our membership and then you can pay for more if you want to. My daughters gave me 3 sessions with a PT at a different gym a few years ago. Worst gift ever. Explained my limitations by she still insisted I do exercises that demolished my knees and left me unable to sit down for weeks. In fact I never went back for the 3rd session for fear of being crippled
  • amyteacake
    amyteacake Posts: 768 Member
    I think it all depends on the trainer and yourself. All trainers are different and have different ideas on how to achieve a persons goals. I had a personal trainer last year and I would say it's totally worth it but I didn't have to pay $5k for it, it was only £250-£300 for me here. If I had the money I would do it all again.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,451 Member
    LJOMalley wrote: »
    ninerbuff, that is a fair comment but the trainers we have show technique first. Honestly I am getting the results I want for my lifestyle. I am fitter and stronger now in my 50's than I was in my 20's. The trainers work in the gym and you can book them for PT sessions as part of the membership. I think they give 3 free sessions with our membership and then you can pay for more if you want to. My daughters gave me 3 sessions with a PT at a different gym a few years ago. Worst gift ever. Explained my limitations by she still insisted I do exercises that demolished my knees and left me unable to sit down for weeks. In fact I never went back for the 3rd session for fear of being crippled
    Sorry you got a bad trainer. I do really well because as a 50+ year old, I understand the issues of injury and aches and pains. So I really take into consideration the issues that people convey to me. My direction with people 50 and older is QUALITY of life from there on up. So I work more on things like balance, how to get up off the floor correctly, strength training with careful attention to movements, etc.

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

    9285851.png
  • dubble818
    dubble818 Posts: 132 Member
    Thank you so much for all of the responses!

    I'm relatively new to lifting weights. My goals are to achieve a balanced physique, put on 15 pounds of lean mass and lower my bodyfat percentage to 15% from 22% over the course of a year . I suffered a sports injury years ago and have a pretty significant muscle imbalance in my shoulders as a result. My left arm is also considerably weaker than the right.

    A year is a very long commitment, and after reading all of the responses I'm thinking I'll go with 6 months. I won't suffer any financial hardship by paying for a personal trainer and my finances are in order. He has tailored the plan to help me meet my goals and I trust that I'll get the results I'm looking for with him.

    Thanks again!
  • Timbur_Wolf
    Timbur_Wolf Posts: 116 Member
    Youtube and Google are my personal trainers. They haven't failed me yet!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,879 Member
    edited April 2017
    When I started with my trainer, I worked with him once per week. I started working with him for a couple of reasons...for one I had some experience with Oly lifting in my youth, but it had literally been decades and I wanted to get back into it, and Olympic lifting was one of his areas of specialty...and secondly, I wanted to improve my cycling and do some things in the gym specific to that...I worked with him once per week for about 3 or 4 months and then cut back to every couple of weeks, then once per month.

    I rarely do one on one sessions with him anymore...every once in awhile if I need a kick in the *kitten* or something. He is still available to me though and we're really good friends so he evaluates my programming regularly and makes suggestions and adjustments for me.

    For something different I'm considering doing a power lifting meet next spring...if I do, I will most likely contract with him for a few months specifically to train for that. I personally don't think I'd drop $5K for a year of training for general fitness...but that's just me.
  • jbirdgreen
    jbirdgreen Posts: 569 Member
    I love personal training because I am not fond of lifting alone, and I don't really have the discipline to do so. I am not ashamed to admit I need the accountability -- so yes, I think training is worth it. However, I do think that the amount you are paying is a little steep. You might want to see if you can find a trainer who will give you a discount if you are a continuous customer...or has a loyalty program. Shop around. You want to make sure that the person you have is qualified, of course, but you also want to get the best bang for your buck

    I have a trainer who was charging me $15 a session if I bought more than 5 sessions at a time. He was able to charge so low because this was supplemental income for him, and he knew I would be a consistent customer. I went 2x a week, so that's $30 a week or $1560 per year. He recently started his own business, so he is upping his rate to about $17-20 a session depending on the package -- and it is JUST an introductory rate for everybody else. Because he has been training me for so long, he will keep me at the introductory rate for as long as I want it. So even with an increase I will be paying only $2080 a year at the most.

    Also, if you know that you are a self-starter, you might want to only go 1x a month. During that visit, you can get a new workout and get form correction. Then for the rest of the month, do the workout he teaches you, adding weight and progressing where you can.
  • DrifterBear
    DrifterBear Posts: 265 Member
    They can be great but you don't necessarily need to be 1:1. There's so many great classes out there where you can do anything from HIIT to power lifting in a group environment. As much if not more motivation from competition, much lower price, and you can take a variety of classes to work in a variety of tools. If your goal is to learn about proper form, there's great books and youtube videos where you can do it for nearly free. If you want motivation, that's a lot to pay just to get yourself to show up at the gym.
  • Lizarking
    Lizarking Posts: 507 Member
    edited April 2017
    Most of them - No. This is based on my observations at commercial gyms and being nosy when people are working with PTs.


    A decent coach is worth his or her weight in gold though!
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    I'd say no. They may be worth it for a few sessions to make sure you have proper technique but once they have taught you that, their presence should be unnecessary.... Unless you need someone there to spur you on. Then maybe.

    I would say that lifting should be like most sports. It depends on your level and your goals. I would hate to have a coach with me on a run or everytime I played a game. Same would go for lifting. It would get old fast. JMO.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,451 Member
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    I'd say no. They may be worth it for a few sessions to make sure you have proper technique but once they have taught you that, their presence should be unnecessary.... Unless you need someone there to spur you on. Then maybe.

    I would say that lifting should be like most sports. It depends on your level and your goals. I would hate to have a coach with me on a run or everytime I played a game. Same would go for lifting. It would get old fast. JMO.
    Most organized sports have coaches though. Those that play just for fun only play at the basic level, so people that want to be more advanced or better will usually require some coaching. Even the best pros have coaches.
    So what your opinion is is based on your personal experience. I'll just ask that if you had a coach right now for free, you don't think you'd be better than your are now?

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

    9285851.png

  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
    dubble818 wrote: »
    I'd be looking at about 5 grand to continue working with him for a year. Which means no vacation, but totally doable. Would you do it?

    money numbers are so relative to a specific person's life and expenses that it's pretty hard to correlate one person's answer to any other person's.

    here's my experience, for what it's worth. i 'see' a trainer [actually, a small-size barbell club] once a week for a percentage of my income that's comfortable for me. it's about the same cost as it would be for me to have a standing burger-and-beers date or whatever with friends once a week. so it's not significant, but it's the kind of thing that comes up on the 'cut candidate' list when you're not working and it's time to start paring things down. except last year i was definitely in that situation and t-day never got cut. so it ranks above burger-and-beers with my friends, in my case.

    i wanted to say something else too, from the same experience but on a slightly different note. you might find it useful. when i signed myself on i was not a new lifter but i was new to having a trainer at all, and i had sought him out because i knew for sure that i needed one. the first month or so was fairly 'intense', a lot of coaching and form checking and basically, just a stronger component of his attention. i've got about a year and a half with him now, and the dynamics have changed. he does my math for me, would definitely intervene if i was being stupid about my form and would definitely respond if i asked him for anything specific again. but aside from that, i'm no longer there to be taught how to lift. i go because yes, i do like having a regular sanity check on my form. but mostly because by this point, hanging out with those guys pretty much IS my version of burger-and-beer-with-my-friends. i really notice it when a regular drops out and someone new comes in, because that's when i get reminded of how intensive the first few months were. now it's like he writes out my numbers for me, i know what to do and he's basically 'here if you need me'.

    that's not a disparagement of him at all, in fact i think it's a recommendation. it's what happens when you get a good trainer. you're not supposed to need them for the rest of your life. so i guess my point would just be: think about whether you want to spend that 5 grand on something that is more likely to be, say . . . three or four months of training, at most. and then the rest of it would be more like you're paying for idk, something more like a friendship or company or a social life. it happens to work in my case but everyone's preferences and desires are different.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    I'd say no. They may be worth it for a few sessions to make sure you have proper technique but once they have taught you that, their presence should be unnecessary.... Unless you need someone there to spur you on. Then maybe.

    I would say that lifting should be like most sports. It depends on your level and your goals. I would hate to have a coach with me on a run or everytime I played a game. Same would go for lifting. It would get old fast. JMO.
    Most organized sports have coaches though. Those that play just for fun only play at the basic level, so people that want to be more advanced or better will usually require some coaching. Even the best pros have coaches.
    So what your opinion is is based on your personal experience. I'll just ask that if you had a coach right now for free, you don't think you'd be better than your are now?

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

    9285851.png


    I might be. But as a middle aged woman, tweaking that difference is not a big deal. I know how to lift heavy, I bulk fairly quickly. A trainer may help that somewhat but not enough to compensate for having the trainer there. I don't want to work out with a stranger. My personality type is that I would rather not have someone there. I like to wo alone.

    As I said, the pros will benefit from coaching, as will the newbies. For people like me, who know enough to get on with it and don't have lofty goals, I would not bother with a trainer.
  • Sp1tfire
    Sp1tfire Posts: 1,120 Member
    I think PT sessions are necessary a lot less frequently than most are used. The PT I'm going to start seeing this summer is only 4x a year. I guess to me the purpose of having one is to make sure I'm being safe with my lifts and equipment and making steady progress over time.
  • Theo166
    Theo166 Posts: 2,564 Member
    edited April 2017
    dubble818 wrote: »
    I recently finished 7 sessions with a personal trainer. I've learned a lot about proper form and gotten some pretty good ideas for lifting routines, etc. I have to admit that the workouts have been fantastic and that missing sessions is way less likely when you're paying in advance to see them.

    I'd be looking at about 5 grand to continue working with him for a year. Which means no vacation, but totally doable. Would you do it?

    From your post and your profile, sounds like you work for a living. I wouldn't spend that much myself, even when I was flush.

    Why do you need to meet the PT so frequently? They frequently like to schedule a couple sessions a week but perhaps just meeting every week or even every other week is enough. You should be able to lift on your own and then meet periodically to review your technique and possible changes to your lifting program. Don't let your PT control the frequency.
  • ugofatcat
    ugofatcat Posts: 385 Member
    I worked out for 2 years then I wanted to learn how to do a snatch. I looked up how to do it on youtube and realized I needed help.

    I did one free session with a trainer at my gym. Even in the one session, I felt like I learned a lot from him. I coughed up the $500 for a once a week session for 3 months. I felt like he gave a me a great foundation for the snatch and clean and jerk. I have had no injuries. When I started I could only do the 18 pound bar. After 3 months I was able to snatch 60 pounds. I know I am not entering any competitions soon, but I felt like he was really helpful and would have never achieved those results on your own.

    If you think the trainer's advice and guidance is worth the $5,000 and you can afford it, go for it. Everyone spends their money differently and as long as you aren't in debt, have a 3+ month emergency fund, and are saving for retirement, go for it.
  • need2belean
    need2belean Posts: 353 Member
    dubble818 wrote: »
    I recently finished 7 sessions with a personal trainer. I've learned a lot about proper form and gotten some pretty good ideas for lifting routines, etc. I have to admit that the workouts have been fantastic and that missing sessions is way less likely when you're paying in advance to see them.

    I'd be looking at about 5 grand to continue working with him for a year. Which means no vacation, but totally doable. Would you do it?

    Since you now know the form, what is the personal trainer there for? Do you have the desire to show up without him/her? If so, I recommend online trainers. Some of them on Instagram are really good and much cheaper. I have one that gives me my macros and different workouts every week. She also requires weekly weigh ins, pictures, and measurements done so it helps me not to slip up. She's only 70$/month which is about 50$ cheaper than my friend pays for a trainer to train her in person 2 times a week for 30min sessions. For 70$/month I get 5 days of workouts that last over an hour and her own personal phone number if I have any questions. It's worth way more to me than a trainer that I have to work my schedule around to meet. I go at 5am when noone is in the gym and I've seen a remarkable improvement in the last 3 months than I ever did with a personal trainer I met in person. Just a though. Good luck.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,472 Member
    no, you can do it all yourself.
  • xmichaelyx
    xmichaelyx Posts: 883 Member
    No. My home gym is great and cost less than $1K. Trainers offer nothing you can't do for yourself.

    Even if you need form checks, you can just post a vid to BB.com or Reddit and get all the feedback you need.
  • YaGigi
    YaGigi Posts: 817 Member
    My PT is a guy I met at a gym and we became friends. He's also happen to live very close to me. He's extremely fit (and cute) and we exercise about twice a week, sometimes I exercise by myself if his schedule is different. I don't pay him but can buy him a cup of protein shake or juice when I come by. Or you know, a gift on his bday, tickets to movies, etc.

    I also have another friend who wants to train me but his gym is way too expensive for me to enroll.