What is a personal trainer?

A personal trainer is a coach that works one-on-one with their clients to help them achieve a certain fitness goal by teaching proper exercise technique, intensity, and creating training program tailored to their needs. For example, some are interested in losing body fat, increasing strength, firming up certain body parts, building muscle, improving general health or training for sport to name a few goals.

How can a personal trainer help me?

A personal trainer can help you set attainable goals and design an exercise routine to make sure you reach those goals by working out with weights, doing cardiovascular exercise, stretching or a combination of all three. A trainer ensures you are working at the proper intensity and that your exercise technique is safe and effective to maximize your time spent on your workouts. The routine is designed around your schedule and goals and takes into consideration experience as well as any injuries or limitations you may have.

By meeting on a regular basis, the trainer can then make sure you are progressing properly with your weights and cardiovascular exercise and ultimately towards your goal. A consistent schedule of sessions can also help in improving motivation level, monitor exercise intensity, correct any problems with exercise technique before it becomes a problem and help prevent the risk of injury from inappropriate exercise intensity or technique. If you are advanced, getting a new direction for your exercise schedule or learning new exercises will help you to progress to the next level that much faster.

When should I meet with a trainer?

How often you meet with a trainer is an individual decision incorporating experience level, financial budget, fitness level, time schedule and fitness goals. Generally, those who are new to exercise or are unsure the proper way to exercise should meet with a trainer first to make sure they start properly. This usually incorporates at least 2 – 4 sessions working on strength training, 1 – 2 on cardiovascular exercise, and occasionally 1 session to discuss proper nutrition habits and strategies to complement the exercise routine.

Those who have been exercising consistently for 6 months (or inconsistently for a year) can benefit by adding to their current knowledge and to improve on existing or learn new exercise techniques. Similar to intermediate level individuals, advanced exercisers may wish to strive to a new level where the expertise and experience of a personal trainer will make that journey all the faster through new training techniques, keeping motivation level high and by providing a different, more efficient approach. Overall, it is best to discuss your goals with the trainer and to formulate a schedule that fits all the variables. In the end, the more you can meet with someone to help you, the better and quicker your results will come.