If you’re looking to take your fitness journey to the next level, you may be wondering
whether hiring a personal trainer is right for you.
Whether you’re new to exercising or the gym is your second home, working with a
personal trainer can help you reach your health and fitness goals.
A certified personal trainer is someone who is trained in creating and implementing safe
and effective exercise programs for their clients. In other words, they’ll help you work
out and execute other lifestyle changes to reach your fitness goal.
Read on for 3 reasons why you might want to consider hiring a personal trainer:
1. You’ll learn about health, fitness, and your body
A personal trainer isn’t just there to make you sweat — you’ll likely learn something from
your time together, too.
To become a certified personal trainer through an accredited organization like the
National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) or American Council on Exercise (ACE),
a person must be certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and using an
automated external defibrillator (AED).
They must also pass an initial certification exam and earn continuing education hours
each year to stay current.
That means your personal trainer knows a lot about human physiology and body
mechanics, behavior change, exercise science, and more. They can help you learn
proper form, how to use specific equipment, and what exercises will be most effective
for you.
Beyond that, they can teach you about greater health and fitness topics that will help
you maintain a healthy lifestyle.
2. You’ll get an individualized plan
A quick Google search will yield many pages of workouts or programs you can follow,
but that doesn’t mean they’re the best option for you. Having a personal trainer will
ensure that you have an individualized plan that will give you the best results.
For instance, say after an initial consultation with your trainer, they notice that your right
leg is weaker than your left leg — and you had no idea. This imbalance is causing you
to compensate during many daily movements and exercises, which exacerbates the
imbalance.
To address the issue, your trainer then incorporates single-leg movements into your
workouts, allowing you to correct this imbalance and make yourself stronger overall.
In fact, recent research indicates the effectiveness of individualized workout plans just
for this reason.
3. Promotes a healthy lifestyle change
Working with a personal trainer can help you develop good habits for a lifetime.
One study found that people do a whopping 43% of their everyday actions while they’re
thinking about something else.
This means that if you don’t purposefully integrate those healthy habits — taking the
stairs instead of the elevator, drinking water over soda, sleeping 8 hours — you may
have a harder time seeing results.
A trainer can help you make these changes one by one and support you through any
roadblocks that may arise. Starting small and adding to the wins is the most effective
way to master habit change, and a good personal trainer will help you navigate this
territory.
The bottom line:
A personal trainer can give you the tools and support that you need to reach a health
and fitness goal.
They can provide support, accountability, education, and a personalized plan of attack,
so you may find working with one well worth the investment.