Personal Training - Is It For Me?

Many people believe that a personal trainer is just a cheering coach who gives you a call when you don’t show up, someone to have a chat with while you work out so you don’t get bored, or someone who makes you feel better about yourself by possibly lying to you and always telling you how great you look just because you are paying them to. Think again!

Have you ever thought about working with a personal trainer but didn’t know if it was something you could afford? Do you wonder what all the hype about personal training is and does it really work? An affordable approach to personal training may be to hire someone once a week or at least every other week. A trainer can write up a program that you can do at home or at your gym. A great trainer will educate you to reach and maintain your goals, provide a routine that is a customized plan, give you support, offer new strategies to change habits to attain your goals and keep you motivated.

Personal training might be the cheapest way to reduce, prevent and maintain the risks and implications of an unhealthy or sedentary lifestyle. A majority of the population is overweight, stressed out, tired, overworked, and injuring their backs and shoulders regularly. The costs of these risks weigh heavily on the check book and your emotional well being. Cut out 5 Starbucks latté’s a week and opt for a session with a personal trainer. You can really treat you and reduce your calorie intake! Of course to some, the quick gratification of a latté’ may be easier to justify than the work you will have to set your mind and body to that requires long term changes. The benefits from leading a healthier lifestyle of looking good, fitting into your clothes and feeling 100% better in the long run should win out.

What can a personal trainer do for you that you cannot do for yourself? A trainer should test your levels of health and fitness by giving you a variety of assessments to help establish a clear understanding of several aspects of your present state of fitness. The following should be measured before designing a program: blood pressure, body fat vs. lean mass, measurements, cardio respiratory screening, flexibility screening, posture analyses, strength test of core abdominals and back, and a strength test for upper body.

These assessments should be retested every eight to twelve weeks in the beginning to ensure that what you are doing is helping you attain your goals. By the end of 12 weeks, if you have dedicated yourself to changing the way you live your life, you will have more energy, possibly lose weight, feel like you are standing more upright, and have more tone in your muscles and whether you know it or not you will be reducing your risks of many diseases.

Your initial consultation with you trainer should include a health history form and a medical clearance if necessary. Primary goals need to be defined with a clear and realistic vision of what you want to accomplish with a road map of how to get there to ensure success.

A trainer should give you some type of assessment regarding your body’s muscle imbalances, and areas that have muscle tightness and weaknesses. Sitting at a desk all day, genetics, sports, injuries and aging will all create muscle imbalances and will show up as constant back aches or injuries. Our bodies create muscle imbalances through out life. It is essential for a trainer to determine what type of program will help improve posture and therefore recruit the proper muscle while working out. With out knowledge of what needs to be corrected, you may end up with injuries that are waiting to happen.

Once a determination of what you need to work on has been established, there are several types of training that your trainer may suggest. The following is a list that you may end up implementing into your new fitness routine.

Weight training is essential to maintain a high metabolism, lower risk of osteoporosis as well as create muscle balance. Weight training will be a main factor in toning your muscles.
A regular stretching routine will help lengthen muscle fibers, increase range of motion and reduce injury as well as aches and pains. Stretching helps break down scar tissue and calcification around a joint and increase range of motion. This in turn will let the body to fall back into proper body alignment and improve muscle balance in combination with other modalities of training.
Pilates will help improve mobility, core strength, balance and help tone the muscles.
Cardiovascular exercise will strengthen you heart and lungs as well as burn calories. You will need to train in a proper heart rate zone to receive full benefits of weight loss.
Stability and balance work is very popular and necessary especially in the older population where balance becomes an issue.
Your nutrition plan should evaluate if your diet compromises your health in terms of adequate vitamins, minerals, and calories. These nutrients aid in increasing energy levels, the ability to fight infections and disease, and decreasing body fat.
Behavior modification is going to be necessary. Your trainer should help you become aware of what you may be doing daily to sabotage your health and fitness and come up strategies to create a healthy new way of living.

Wouldn’t it be nice to know that what you are doing is correct and the time you’re spending on your health is going to give you the benefits you deserve?

A personal trainer can only be of help if you are ready and in the right mind. People who are stressed out regularly, overweight and have chronic injuries are this way because of the lifestyle they lead on a daily basis and typically for several years. There is a blissful, hopeful, and typical fantasy period in which everyone is motivated when they start a diet or fitness program. The reality is that motivation is a feeling that always fades. A person will be left with the reality of generally returning to old habits, mind sets and lifestyles. That is why diets don’t work and people stop working out. People generally come in very motivated, that’s what gets a person started. When the honey moon period is over most people will go right back to their old ways.

It may be worth giving up those five latte’s to opt for a personal trainer. A great trainer can help put together a program, help you see patterns and mindsets that are sabotaging attaining goals, teach new lifestyle strategies and encourage you all the way!

Here is your check list for interviewing and hiring a personal trainer that can help you achieve success:

History- Experience, background, and training/past mentoring should be a qualification. Ask for past client references and successes.
Credentials- Be careful about certification only. A person can be certified through on line courses or a 3 day course along with a test to get certified.
A trainer should be able to administer all the modalities of training mentioned above or be able to give you referrals if they are not properly trained in the areas that will ensure your success.
Environment is also a consideration. Do you want to work out in a gym, home, or small private personal training center?
Find out if you will be receiving a fitness evaluation that includes a postural and flexibility screening, body fat, strength assessments, and cardiovascular testing.
A nutrition evaluation or referral to a qualified person to ensure that the exercise plans that you are engaging in will be a success.

Carolyn Phillips- Founder
Fit Behavior
Fitbehavior.com
860-529-9867
Avon and Rocky Hill, CT