I have never hired a personal trainer thanks to having a father who was a personal trainer, however, I know many people who have, and they seem to have experienced mixed results. Most of the time, the experience is great and they seem to have a positive experience and nothing but good things to say. In limited instances, friends have had less desirable experiences with personal trainers, sometimes due to how the personal trainer acted toward them and other times because (not judging) they just didn’t want to put in the work.
My dad was a personal trainer for quite a while, and he recognized that his style of personal training was not for everyone. He specialized in helping aspiring bodybuilders and powerlifters. I have friends who were/are personal trainers, and they also specialize in certain areas of fitness, from helping young athletes improve their abilities to senior citizens who are trying to get stronger, and everything in between. As with all things fitness, there is no one-size-fits-all type of personal trainer.
In general, if you are contemplating getting a personal trainer, a major bit of advice that I would offer is to seek out a personal trainer who specializes in exactly what fitness goals you want to achieve. Some people get a gym membership that comes with ‘X’ number of sessions with a personal trainer, and if that is all that you can afford, then by all means take them up on their offer but make sure to temper your expectations. Just as the Egyptian pyramids weren’t built in two to three sessions, the same is true for getting to where you want to go on your fitness journey. With that being said, even two to three sessions with a licensed personal trainer can help you get off on the right track.
When people ask me what the benefits are of hiring a personal trainer, I always offer up two general benefits to consider. The first is education. A knowledgeable, experienced personal trainer will be able to help educate you on the best ways to go about achieving your fitness goals. In theory, they will know about the latest and greatest research and exercise strategies and be able to explain them to you in a way that you understand. They will also help give you tips while you are working out for such things as proper form, proper lifting rep speed, rest time between sets, etc.
The second major benefit is motivation. A truly excellent personal trainer will be able to pick up on what keeps you motivated and leverage it as much as possible. What motivates one person may not motivate the next person, and in my opinion, this is often what separates a decent personal trainer from great personal trainers. Simply yelling at people to try harder, push it, etc. is not what everyone needs. In my example above of friends who had negative experiences with personal trainers, this is often what they point to. Don’t get me wrong, some people need that aggressive approach from a personal trainer, but not everyone responds to it or wants it.
Furthermore, a major part of motivation is accountability. A really good personal trainer will keep people accountable for their fitness goals in a way that is not judgmental or mean. Rather, they point out to their client in a constructive way that a major point of having a personal trainer is to help the client stay on track when pursuing the fitness goal(s) the client initially said they wanted to achieve. A great personal trainer will be able to balance keeping a client motivated and accountable without pushing them to the point where they want to give up.
If you are considering hiring a personal trainer, which is typically not cheap, make sure to put a lot of thought into it, perform your due diligence, and only proceed when you are truly ready to make sure that you are not wasting your time and/or money.
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Disclaimer: The contents of this article and this website are not meant to substitute for the professional advice of a doctor, nutritionist, and/or certified personal trainer. This content is provided as an educational tool to help people on their fitness journeys. While we strive to research topics as much as possible and provide useful and accurate information to the best of our abilities, we also strongly recommend talking to your doctor, nutritionist, and/or certified personal trainer before starting any workout, therapeutic, or nutritional regimen, as each individual’s needs and situations vary depending on the person.