Personal trainer or no personal trainer???

mjoyr

Hey everyone! I just started a new job at hospital nearby and they have a great wellness center that offers low rates for employees who want to join! I'm joining tomorrow after work but I was wondering...should I try getting a personal trainer? The prices there really aren't that bad and I know that they have qualified individuals providing the training. Our engagement photos are in October and our wedding is in April. My thought is I could try it for a few months (until the photos maybe) and see how I like it? Just wondering if some of you have tried it and if you liked it. I'm a little stingy with money so I have to make sure its worth it haha! Thanks!

jonchrissy

The only advice I have is make sure they're certified personal trainers. I would ask the typical individuals they work with and what their goals are. You want to make sure you're working with someone that's familiar with people you age/gender/goals.
If you work with someone untrained/not certified it can increase your chance of injury.

tldh

I would add, try to get a female trainer.  I worked with two male trainers and didn't lose a single pound - in fact I was bulking up in areas where I didn't need the padding.  I got a woman trainer and began shedding the pounds and inches.

HKD817

I workout with a personal trainer 2-3 times a week. He is great! I can honestly say that I would never push myself that hard if I was alone. I commit myself so much more when I know that he is also taking time out of his day for me. He switches up my workouts so I dont get bored and knows how to push me. I have been working out with him since January and the improvement is amazing!!!

thealefairy

If you can afford to get a personal trainer, do it! My workouts are always much more productive when I have a professional there to keep me focused. Well worth the money.

raynes

Here's a good article on how to choose a personal trainer.

After working out at my gym for 6 months, I think there's only 1 of the trainers there that I would ever consider hiring.

It's all about finding someone who listens to and helps you work towards your goals.  I think it's complete bull-poop to automacially say "don't get a male trainer" because you'll "bulk up", because that's not a "guy" thing, that's a "bad trainer" thing.

emyinpink

For me, having a trainer means I stay on track with both my workouts and my eating (because I check in with him on my progress). I lost 30 pounds with his help, unfortunately gained 40 in 5 months due to some serious health problems, and am now going down again (lost 6 so far!). My trainer is male, and I definitely haven't "bulked up." I'm getting stronger and smaller.

However, there are some great trainers, and some really bad trainers. Things I would be cautious of: trainers who have you do very little weight and tons of reps so you don't "bulk," trainers who try to push nutrition plans or supplements, trainers who don't coach you on your form. You can also see if your trainer will provide you with additional workout plans if you can't afford to workout with them more than 1x/week. (I do 2 30 minute sessions/week with my trainer, he then gives me another 30 minutes of weights to do on my own, as well as has me do an abs class on Fridays, not including cardio).

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

I've been working with a trainer since March and I definitely recommend it if you can afford it. He knows a lot more about fitness than I do, obviously, and he's customized my workouts so they've gotten harder, depending on my progress. I now do more intense excercises with heavier weights than I did in the beginning. He's taught me lots of new excercises (I had never done a lunge or squat before I started!) and helps me maintain proper form. He also pushes me harder to do workouts I would never do on my own, as PPs said. He makes me do 10 reps when I would have stopped on my own after 6! Even when I jokingly say, "So how about I use the 8 pound weights for this one?" Because he knows what my body is capable of doing. He also checks out my meals and makes suggestions for my diet.

And my trainer isn't a bulky guy himself (he does modeling on the side - seriously!), and he mentioned to me several times when I first started training that I wouldn't bulk up because it's very hard for women to do so, especially without supplements. He does strength training with me pretty much exclusively so I can build more lean muscle and eventually burn more calories over all. Honestly, most of the male trainers at my gym aren'ts huge guys - they're just in shape and know about training.

And like PPs said, make sure they're certified. All trainers at my gym have personal training certification and CPR certification. Most have more kinds of certification and my trainer is working on one more type of certificate to become a "master trainer."

NickDanielleB

I love my trainer. He knows what I want to accomplish and makes up my routines on the fly depending on how I did the week before. He keeps me in check and on track. I think with regard to the male/female dillema its more about personality types. I was lucky enough to get someone who has my same personality so he can chew me out when I do bad and I don't get upset. I just train harder. He has made great suggestions for my diet and I'm seeing results from everything. He took me from basically a couch potato to being able to do weighted military pushups. I would have never been able to do this without him. Long story short - you never know until you try.

knudsonjb

Personal trainers are totally worth it...before working out with mine I would go to the gym a couple of times and then get bored and stop going.  Having a personal trainer to be accountable to definitely helps you stay on track and (hopefully) they can help you achieve the results you want.  I agree with others and make sure you do your research first, but otherwise definitely sign up for it!

mjoyr

Well, I decided to go for it...kinda ha! I went to workout at the gym and one of the trainers is a guy I went to high school with so I got a workout plan, instructions on how to do each exercise, and some tips on how many to do and things like that for free. PLUS when I've gone to workout it has been his work time so he comes over and motivates me to keep working, makes sure that I'm set up properly on the equipment, etc. I told him that I might use him for a full hour sometime soon...that way he will get paid for what he's doing for me haha! But I'm glad he's there so I can make sure to get a good workout with the plan he gave me and some motivation to help me get through it...and its FREE!!!