10 Actual Benefits of Having a Personal Trainer
Do you need a certified personal trainer (CPT) to accomplish your goals? I don't know. I know it's not nearly as simple as needing the knowledge. You can learn exercises from countless YouTube videos, blogs, fitness apps, and watching others in your gym. An AI chat-bot can create workout programs from good prompt engineering emphasizing your goals, limitations, and available resources. For the proactive go-getter with the time and energy to do all that, personal training may not provide much return on investment (ROI). But that's for you to decide. I've talked with many potential personal training clients who just needed some advice instead of a whole workout program and a "looming presence." Below are some real, honest benefits to having a personal trainer.
Leave Workout Programming to the Fitness Professional, Focus on Your Goals
Regarding workout programming or other realms of life, it's great to be able to delegate boring or repetitive tasks. You gain more time for things that require your attention, expertise, and personal touch. The same applies to delegating workout programming and progressions to a personal trainer. You can somewhat "turn off" thinking for the workout while someone else does the necessary details:
- Track weight, reps, progressions, necessary modifications, etc.
- Audit your form in ways you can't in real time, even with video recording
- Detect and resolve fitness plateaus
- Decide on contingency plans when equipment from the workout plan are unavailable
You just focus on effort.
Workout Program Progression, Modifications, and Auditing
Some people use a hybrid approach to extend personal training packages. Instead of doing every session with the trainer, they do one weekly where they focus on more complicated movements, or one every few weeks where they discuss progression and modifications. The client completes the other workouts on their own. This works well for people who are willing to exercise on their own, but prefer assistance with how to progress toward their goals. These alternatives can stretch an introductory 3-4 session package across an entire season.
Another option is to request a personal training consultation or workout program audit. Either can double as a brainstorming session for you. If everything goes well, even if you don't decide to purchase a personal training package, you have someone you can reach out to if you decide to pursue training at a later date.
Accountability and Support from Someone Leading By Example
Some people know exactly what exercises and stretches they need to do for post-surgery rehabilitation, after graduating physical therapy, or other fitness goals. But they're far less likely to do it without a workout partner or someone holding them accountable in some way. If you can find a gym buddy with similar goals or loved one willing to hold you accountable, great. There may be no need to buy personal training. Learn from and with them instead.
If not, enlisting a fitness trainer gives you more than someone in your corner. You're adding a supporter who can hold you accountable with more than tough love. They can guide you through whatever concerns or excuses keeping you from exercising. The personal trainer has likely dealt with challenges similar to what your own.
Don't have time for a full workout? Do single sets or a circuit-style workout. You'll still progress.
More back pain than usual? Find exercise variations where your back or chest are supported.
Gym too busy to access the equipment you need? Try dumbbell or TRX substitutes.
Didn't sleep well last night? Complete the most important exercises and light cardio, then leave.
Going to a new gym? The trainer can give you an in-depth walkthrough on how people actually use the gym.
Obviously, friends can give you the same tips. But sometimes those nudges don't mean as much coming from someone who isn't serious about their own fitness. Your personal trainer [presumably] leads by example. You may catch yours working on themselves in your gym. I've seen clients become more enthusiastic about an exercise once they saw me doing it on my own time.
Some gyms offer free group exercise sessions — Pilates, Zumba, circuit training, etc. A good group means positive support. Food for thought.
Being Challenged By a Fitness Expert Who Understands Your Personality
There's probably at least one part of your workout where you don't give enough effort. Maybe you hate training legs or core. Or rarely exert yourself on cardio (if you do it). Maybe you don't stretch after your workout. A trainer can catch that, challenge you to do more reps, weight, etc. More than that, the trainer can work with you to find ways to accomplish those necessary goals given your preferences.
Not a fan of static stretching post-workout? Add exercises that fully stretch that muscle.
Want to spend less time in the gym? Focus on compound movements.
Depending on your goals, that lagging part of your workout regimen could be the reason for your plateau. Ideally, your personal trainer is able to inspire and motivate you to step outside of your comfort zone enough to try something new.
Personal Trainers Provide Workout Variety
We all have times when we get in a rut, doing the same thing over and over, making it one less thing you need to think about. Then we fall in a fitness plateau, wondering why results slowed, probably taking longer to realize it than we should. An outsider auditing your workout logs can better spot commonly neglected body parts, equipment, and training methods.
Variety keeps things interesting. Everyone has different ways of achieving goals, and multiple methods can work for yours. Strength training? A trainer may help you alter periodization cycles. Mass building goals? There may be a simple tweak to get a better stretch for more growth. Heart health? There might be interesting toys in your gym to keep your heart rate up without jogging in place on a treadmill or elliptical.
Help Navigating Health and Fitness Support Groups
Some personal trainers are active in their respective communities. They might refer you to lesser-known support communities and outdoor recreational venues:
- Military fitness groups
- Health and fitness-related park events
- Hiking trails
- LGBT leagues
Help Navigating Healthcare Needs
Many trainees tell their fitness instructor just as much if not more than they tell their primary physician. That's not inherently good or bad. Such information can help trainers modify workout programs, or know when to pause workouts, to account for those issues. As a client, it's sometimes helpful to have a knowledgeable outsider as a sounding board. A trainer can help you understand health professionals' notes and brainstorm fitness-related questions for appointments. Well-networked personal trainers can refer you to medical specialists for another opinion or alternative solution:
- Physical therapists
- Occupational therapists
- Somatic Therapists, psychotherapists focused on trauma, anxiety, and chronic stress
- Herbalists for alternatives to big pharma medications
- Healthcare providers of a preferred race or gender to avoid discrimination
- Urologists for prostate care
- Midwives for prenatal care
- Local LGBT-friendly personal trainers
To clarify, I'm not claiming personal trainers can replace doctors, nor am I suggesting trainers act out of scope.
Story time: I had a new client who was taking a dozen supplements, decent supplements, but from brands I'd never seen. He had no idea why his chiropractor (not his doctor) prescribed them. Turned out many were from the chiropractor's own brand. So I explained the primary benefits of his supplements. Many had little to do with his conditions. I taught him how I research supplement brands, benefits, and side effects, then recommended he talk with his doctor. He stopped taking many of them.
Health Coaching for Holistic Health
A personal trainer can also be a health coach, or wellness coach. However, a certified personal trainer and certified health coach are not synonymous. A personal trainer focuses on fitness goals — resistance training, aerobic activity, sports and job performance. A health coach's scope of practice is much wider, focused on your overall health:
- Behavioral habits
- Lifestyle change
- Nutrition, excluding meal plans (only registered dietitians can do that)
- Sleep and recovery
- Pharmaceutical and recreational drug use
- Navigating health conditions
- Stress management
Your personal trainer, nurse, primary care provider, dietitian, substance abuse counselor, etc. may already advise you on some of these things, but usually in relation to their expertise. A health coach is dedicated to ensuring all those things work together to benefit you. Sometimes, that includes helping you challenge and weigh their recommendations. After all, regardless of what someone recommends, it's your body. You might be able to sue the trainer, healthcare provider, and so on, but you'll still live with the consequences. Certified wellness coaches, particularly ones who are also fitness trainers, are more qualified than the average personal trainer to help you manage your health-related goals.
Neither a personal trainer nor health coach is a psychiatrist, registered dietitian (RD), or medical professional able to diagnose medical conditions, unless they've completed related training.
Just for Someone to Talk To
This one is more saying the quiet part out loud with a minority of clients. This is similar to accountability. Some older and disabled clients purchase personal training partially to have someone to talk to for a while. Socialization is more important than some realize. Retirees who don't maintain social connections suffer far greater health risks — dementia, heart disease, and more.
"'Use it or lose it' applies to the mental (mind) as well as the physical (muscles)." - Me.
It's normal to hear that and wonder why someone would be so isolated in a world with all these social media platforms and community events that supposedly "bring people together." That doesn't change the fact that there are lonely people without a social outlet. And there are people surrounded by others who still feel alone. One might hire a home health aide (HHA) for similar reasons. Personal trainers are cheaper than HHAs and therapists.
Assistance Setting SMART Fitness Goals
SMART — specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely — goals serve as the foundation for short-term plans. Without SMART goals, especially new exercisers are prone to the forever fallacy, discouraged when consistency breaks or progress plateaus.
"I need to lose weight" isn't specific or time-based.
"My goal is to lose 20 pounds or enough weight to fit into my favorite pair of jeans in 4 months for a photo shoot" is a SMART goal.
"I want to work my core" is achievable, but that's it.
"I need better core strength to reduce back pain while carrying my child" is a SMART goal.
A few final thoughts I'd like to share:
- Some fitness related challenges we experience aren't as unique as we think. A lot of people suffer from chronic joint pain. Sometimes, a few exercises and stretches at home are enough to mitigate or resolve it.
- Someone's injury and health history is impacted by life experience, not simply age. I've had to remind a lot of gen X folks about this one.
- Lack of movement makes many things worse, not better. If a joint is in pain, try to resolve it or find a way to work those muscles without pain. Hoping the [insert injured joint here] pain goes away is not an effective strategy.
Interested in personal training in the greater St Louis area or online? Contact me for online or St Louis-based personal training.
Tags: health, fitness, personal-development
