If you’re reading this you are probably considering how to take that next step in your health and wellness. Maybe you are looking to kickstart a routine, have your clothes fit a little better, rehabilitate an injury or train for an event. Maybe you are unsure of where to start but you know that you are looking for a change. Ultimately, clients are looking for RESULTS and however that may look for each individual, having an experienced personal trainer is the best way to achieve your goals. There are a lot of options out there but here are some reasons why choosing a personal trainer could be the best option for you to get the results that you want!
Accountability
This is one of the biggest reasons that people initially seek out our services! Making a change is difficult and if we are going to help you get to meaningful, lasting results we are going to have to establish new habits. When you are training on your own it is easy for the day to get in the way as issues arise at work, or to say “I’ll just make it up tomorrow” when we are tired. Not when you have a coach on your side.
The first 3 months of any program is the hardest: you are doing something new and are likely more tired and sore from your training (DEFINITELY if this is the first time you have engaged in a focussed training program), and the results are not coming in the way that you would like yet. This stage is when lots of people give up because it just “is not working” and they are frustrated with the lack of return for their effort. This is totally natural and something that a good coach will help you work through, letting you know that it is all part of the process. We need to build up enough stress in the body to force it to change, which takes time and consistency.
Having a scheduled appointment makes it harder to miss a session when your day gets hectic: your coach is waiting at the gym for you, they are calling you to make sure that you’re coming in! Even if you are tired or don’t feel like it today (and we ALL have those days), all you have to do is show up. Then your fitness coach will take over and make sure that you have the best session possible. I have had so many clients over the years comment on how they struggled to make it in that day but they were so happy that they completed their session. Missed sessions are steps backward on the path to achieving your goals, so a great coach will make sure that they help you rebook any sessions that you do have to miss as soon as possible so you keep marching forward.
Expertise
There is so much information out there about the “perfect program” or quick fixes for your health. How do you know what is right for you? Surely all of these programs can’t work for EVERYONE like they claim, right? Right.
Where do you even start? Having an expert personal trainer who is up to date on the industry standards can give you the piece of mind that the program that you are choosing is right for you. Our coaches go through an individualized assessment process with all of our clients that is based on their goals, age, injuries, and current fitness level. With this information we can start to build the appropriate program for that individual client.
Moving on to the sessions themselves, a great coach can customize the training to make sure that it fits the client. Maybe a certain exercise is bugging an old injury that day: they can change things to work the right muscles/movements without aggravating things further. Or they can find new exercises that you have not experienced before to keep your sessions fresh and engaging. They will balance the sessions to make sure that you are working opposing muscle groups on either side of your joints, multiple movement planes, and appropriate intensities all to avoid overuse injuries. Once again, all you have to do is show up and work!
Effort
Speaking of work, this is one of my favourite points! Effort simply is not going to be the same when you are training on your own vs. when you are working with a personal trainer. Why is this so important? It isn’t about working people as hard as you can imagine but it is important to hit an appropriate intensity to produce results.
This is not saying that we are lazy on our own, though sometimes we can be. However, having someone on the outside looking in who is not in the difficulty of the moment, can be massively beneficial in identifying where reps are left on the table. When a coach is monitoring us, motivating us and pushing us to go a little further than we normally would, we squeeze out the extra effort that goes a long way to producing change in the body. Just as important as the change in the body that occurs when this happens is the change in the mind! When we push a little farther than we would on our own we get so see what we are REALLY capable of! Clients often get up exclaiming “I can’t believe I did that!” which is a gift to a coach’s ears. That empowerment leads to taking on the next challenge, and the next, until you are far beyond capable of completing that first obstacle with ease.
There are lots of reasons to choose to work with a personal trainer, more than are even outlined here. Ultimately, the question comes down to what do you want to accomplish and how meaningful is it to you? If the answer is that you truly want to take your health and wellness to the next level, then working with an experienced personal trainer is going to be the best and most efficient path to accomplishing it!