Even if we’re super competent in the gym, we could all do with a bit of help from time to time. Unfortunately, we keep doing what we believe is correct, but never seem to make the progress we want.
Seeking the experience of a personal trainer might seem like an expensive and intense thing to do, but there are so many things a personal trainer can help with and it’s much more than just counting how many reps you’ve done!
1. They hold you accountable.
We all know that when we book an appointment or event in our diary, we’re much more likely attend. Well this works brilliantly with having a personal trainer. Each session you’re meeting someone to help you workout. Not only have you booked the appointment, you’re paying for it, so there is also the financial commitment.
Booking in an appointment with a personal trainer also creates routine, and building exercise into your routine means you’re much more likely to stick to it. When exercise is slotted in around the rest of your busy life then it is usually the first thing that gets thrown out.
2. They are able to check your form.
A good personal trainer not only assists you in progressing towards your health and fitness goals, but they can keep you safe and avoid unwanted injuries. We all want to make progress in the gym, but if we’re doing things wrong and we get injured, that puts us further back than where we started.
Not only does ensuring you’re performing the exercise correctly keep you safe, it ensures that you’re maximising the workout. A few tweaks to your position highlighted by a personal trainer watching you can be the difference between really working a muscle and just going through the motions. The difference between pushing through your heels on a squat or letting them lift can be the difference between an injury and progress.
3. They can provide an individual progressive plan.
A good quality personal trainer will make sure you have an individual progressive plan. This shouldn’t be something that you can just pick up online without having a prior assessment and consultation. A training plan should be tailored to not only your goals, but to your body and how it currently works and moves. A good trainer will be able to identify any imbalances or weakness and incorporate that into your program, alongside exercises that help work towards your goal.
4. They help you add variety into your sessions.
Personal training is a great way to keep your workouts interesting and varied. Although a workout plan should be followed for several weeks before you change exercises, over time, a personal trainer can write new, interesting and varied exercises into your plan to keep you motivated. While it’s a myth to ‘shock you body’ by changing exercises regularly, it can definitely help with motivation and help avoid boredom in your session. We’ve all had that feeling like we’re just going through the motion with our training and we just are no longer motivated. Well a trainer will keep it varied and interesting, as well as making sure your program is progressive.
5. They make it personal.
A personal trainer will make sure you’re making progress. They should keep a track of all the reps, sets and weight you’ve completed and ensure that each session gets progressively harder. A good trainer will also help to understand when you’re in the mood to push things hard, but also when to hold back. Remember, this is personal training and should be what is right for you. Essentially, they take all the thinking and guess work away from you. So you just turn up on the day and put in 100% effort.
6. They ensure you are performing the correct exercises for you.
Not all exercises are created equally. Although some exercise might look good on instagram, it might not be the best exercise for both you and what you’re trying to achieve. It’s a personal trainers job to understand how your body works and select appropriate exercises which will maximise your time in the workout. A good trainer will include exercises that you enjoy, but also exercises that are going to give you the best bang for buck and help reach your goals. A barbell back squats might look impressive to perform, but if you’re new to training a goblet squat might be much more appropriate. A good trainer can help with this. Your trainer should have a big bank of exercises which they can swap in and out depending on where you’re at in your journey.
Interested in finding a personal trainer? Trainify offer a wide range of trainers, both in-person and online. They also offer 1-2-1 Yoga and Pilates session.
Click here to sign up to Trainify and from the 20th September, you can get 14 days of wake up workouts completely free.
