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How To Select A Personal Trainer: A Hard (But Lifechanging) Decision

15th June 2021

Fitness Health

15th June 2021

By Beth Shelper

You may have come across this article looking for some assistance and advice. How do you choose a personal trainer, you ask?

You’ve probably spent a lot of time Googling things like “personal trainer UK” or “best personal trainers” in a bid to find the golden ticket, but alas – to no avail. Why? Because the clue is in the name. A personal trainer is just that. Personal.

What is a personal trainer?

By definition, a personal trainer is an individual that is responsible for conducting individual fitness assessments, providing educated advice and designing plans that are tailored to your individual needs and goals. Their main aim is to help you reach these goals, live a healthy lifestyle, and improve your performance.

The benefits of a personal trainer

We'd definitely recommend considering hiring a personal trainer. They’re great for motivation (let’s be honest, you’re less likely to skip out on them), and they enable you to maximise your time and workouts whilst achieving better, faster results.

Another great benefit is that you don’t have to meet your personal trainer in the gym. Many may have their own home gyms or equipment, and you can even train in the comfort of your own home or garden! This is absolutely great for those with a busy schedule or those that suffer with gym anxiety.

How to select a personal trainer

The best personal trainers are often hard to find. Whether their waiting list is off the charts, they’re way out of your price range or you just don’t vibe with them, selecting your perfect personal trainer is no easy task.

Important fitness aspects aside, it’s really important that you get on with your personal trainer on a personal level. You’re going to be spending a lot of time with them and you’re trusting them with your workout plan. It’s kind of a big deal.

So, the question: how do you choose a personal trainer? Well, there’s lots of things to consider.

Check their professional qualifications

One of the most important elements you need to consider is the personal trainer’s qualifications and experience. There’s no point trusting your workout plan and progress with someone that doesn’t have the necessary knowledge to help you get there. The level two qualifications that you’re looking for at the very least are the below:

  • A Certificate in Fitness Instructing – Gym
  • A Diploma in Health, Fitness, and Exercise Instruction
  • A Diploma in Instructing Exercise and Fitness

Think about the cost 

Secondly, it’s time to think about cost. It’s no secret that personal trainers are a bit on the pricey side, and this is because you get what you pay for; quality personal trainers aren’t going to be cheap. You’re paying for their time, dedication and expertise.

Because of the overall cost, a lot of people are a little bit put off getting a personal trainer, but don’t let that stereotype get in your way! Not all personal trainers are going to charge you through the roof. You just need to find one that works for you. It’s an investment.

Most personal trainers charge by the hour, so the overall costings will depend on how many hours you schedule in a month. In the UK, personal trainers average around £30-£50 an hour, so you’re looking for that kind of ballpark.

Consider your fitness goals

Lastly, but absolutely not least, it’s hugely important that you consider your personal fitness goals and find someone that prioritises this for you. Your personal trainer is responsible for designing a plan to get you where you want to be, so making sure they are aware of your fitness goals is a main priority.

Whether your fitness goal is to gain muscle, lose weight or improve your stamina, your personal trainer should know how to get you there. To ensure you’re comfortable with this and in the knowledge that they are capable and experienced in your area, it’s perfectly okay to have a trial session and decide from there. Remember, it’s all about you!

It’s all about where you look

So, now that you know what to look for, let’s discuss where to begin. If you’re a member at your local gym, that’s definitely the first place to start. Ask the staff at the gym and see who is available for a discussion. Your gym will definitely have a team of personal trainers available.

Aside from this, the absolute best way to find the best personal trainers is through word of mouth. Ask your friends, family, colleagues and whoever else; they’ll definitely know of someone (or know someone that does).

If this isn’t for you, Instagram is also a great place to look. Many personal trainers have dedicated business pages demonstrating their client progress and experience, and this can be a great way to get a feel of how the trainer works and what they’re particularly good at.

Summary

Are personal trainers worth it? Absolutely. If you find the best personal trainer for you: someone that prioritises your goals and progress, gets on with you well and positively influences your workout, the difference is immense.

It’s important to note that if you’ve never had a personal trainer before, they’re probably going to put you through your paces. And this is good: no pain, no gain, right? The best personal trainers really have the ability to maximise your progress and change your workout routine for the better, so if you’re debating it, go ahead and take the leap! You’ll wish you did it sooner.

In order to maintain your energy levels, maximise your performance and hit those all-important fitness goals, why not incorporate The Energy Booster into your routine?

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Why Natural Protein Supplementation Matters

Why Natural Protein Supplementation Matters

Walk into any health shop, or scroll any supplement site, and you often find that protein powders start to blur into one. Almost all of them make the same promises on the front: ‘high in protein’, ‘no added sugar’, ‘no additional additives’. The wording is so similar that telling a genuinely good product from a synthetically produced product is harder than it should be. Read past the figure on the front however and you'll usually find a protein that contains artificial sweeteners, synthetic flavourings and colours, and even fillers or bulking agents just to name a few. The reason they tend to do this is that costs of production are much cheaper as a result of the lower quality ingredients. A naturally formulated protein supplement works the other way around. The protein comes from a quality source, the flavour and sweetness come from ingredients you'd recognise rather than ones built in a lab, and anything that doesn't need to be there is left out. This piece is about that difference: what natural really means for a protein supplement, why it matters, and how to spot it for yourself. What "natural" actually means in protein supplements "Natural" is one of the most used and least understood words in wellness, printed on plenty of labels with very little behind it. There's no strict, regulated definition for it, so a brand can reach for the word fairly freely. This is why it pays to know what you're actually looking for. Used honestly, natural points to ingredients that come from recognisable sources and are processed as lightly as the format allows. For protein, that usually means a base derived from food such as: Whey Pea Hemp Brown rice Other plant-based proteins Just as telling is what gets left out, and how openly the packaging accounts for what stays in. A natural protein supplement has little to hide, so the label tends to be short and the reasoning easy to follow. The real test is whether the formula makes sense as a whole. Can you understand what's in it? Does each ingredient have a clear purpose? And does the brand explain the benefit plainly, rather than hiding behind vague wellness language? Why ingredient quality matters in protein supplements When people compare protein powders, the first thing they often look at is the amount of protein per serving. It matters, but this number doesn’t tell you everything about a supplement’s quality. A synthetically formulated powder may contain just as much protein per serving as a natural alternative, but it may also include more artificial additives that are bad for your health.  This is especially important as supplementation is usually taken regularly as part of a daily routine. If something becomes part of your breakfast, post-workout routine or afternoon shake, the quality of the overall formula may influence how well it fits into your daily routine. Natural protein powders are often separated by a few key criteria: Ingredient sourcing: Whey is highly bioavailable and naturally rich in essential amino acids that support muscle repair. A good plant-based blend can also be effective when it is built to provide a strong amino acid profile. What surrounds the protein: Sweeteners, thickeners and flavourings affect taste, texture and how a shake feels once you have taken it. Some formulas rely heavily on artificial sweeteners, gums or thickeners, which may contribute to bloating or digestive discomfort. Digestibility: A protein you absorb and tolerate comfortably is more useful than a bigger number on the label that does not sit well with your body. Purpose: A formula built around a specific goal, such as strength, performance, energy or satiety, is more useful than a generic powder with no clear reason behind the ingredients. The benefits of natural protein supplementation The real value of natural supplementation becomes clearer when you look beyond protein content alone. Below are some of the key benefits of choosing natural protein supplements over more artificial or heavily processed alternatives. Supporting strength and lean muscle Building strength and lean muscle is one of the main reasons people turn to natural protein supplements.  A good one supports muscle repair after training and helps maintain muscle over the longer term. That's especially useful if you train regularly and eat well but can't always put together a high-protein meal straight after a session. Helping with recovery after exercise After a workout, your body needs nutrients to repair and adapt, and protein is central to that process, particularly if you train several times a week. A natural protein supplement offers a convenient way to support recovery without making nutrition feel complicated, whether mixed into a shake, smoothie or simple post-workout snack. Supporting satiety and body composition goals Protein keeps you feeling fuller for longer, which makes balanced eating easier to stick to.  For anyone working towards fat loss, lean muscle or general body composition, natural protein supplementation helps steady your daily nutrition alongside whole foods, movement and rest, without relying on the added sugar that some cheaper formulas contain. Making daily nutrition easier Even with good intentions, it is not always easy to get enough protein through meals alone. Busy days, training schedules and travel can all make consistency harder.  A natural protein gives you a simple, repeatable way to keep your intake up on the days that get away from you, using ingredients you can actually recognise. Natural supplementation doesn't have to taste bland There's a common assumption that natural supplements have to taste bland, chalky or unpleasant. Plenty of people have met exactly that: a protein that sounds healthy on paper but turns out too earthy, too sweet or too gritty to enjoy. It gets used for a few days, then pushed to the back of the cupboard. The problem there is usually the formulation, not the missing additives. Chalky, overly sweet shakes come from corners being cut. Getting flavour and texture right without falling back on heavy sweeteners is genuinely hard, which is a good sign a brand has done the work. Taste matters for a practical reason as much as an enjoyable one. A protein you look forward to is one you'll keep using, and consistency is what actually delivers results. The best-formulated supplement on the shelf does nothing while it sits unopened. The innermost approach to natural protein Everything above is the standard we at Innermost hold ourselves to. Our proteins are built on clean and naturally-derived ingredients, formulated with the backing of nutritional science rather than guesswork. We leave out the fillers, bulking agents and needless extras that have no business being in a quality protein, and we're open about what goes in and why. We also happen to think clean and natural should taste good, because a protein you enjoy is a protein you'll actually use.  Explore our protein powders to find the formula that best fits your goals, routine and lifestyle. References Morton, W., Murphy, T., et al (2018). A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of the effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength in healthy adults. Br J Sports Med. 52(6). Click here. Jäger, R., Kerksick, C., et al (2017). International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: protein and exercise. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. Click here. Seijo, M., Naclerio, F. (2019). Whey Protein Supplementation and Muscle Mass: Current Perspectives. Click here.
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The Protein Mistake That's Holding Back Your Results

The Protein Mistake That's Holding Back Your Results

I've written at length about creatine. I've written about collagen, electrolytes, the GLP-1 moment, even the science of sleep. But I've never written a personal email about protein. That's a strange omission for someone who built a brand that makes some pretty ground-breaking protein powders. So let me explain why, and then actually say the thing I've been avoiding. Protein is the most foundational supplement in the Innermost range. It's also the hardest subject for me to write about personally, because there's nothing surprising about it. Creatine had a story. Collagen had a story. Protein is well... protein. Everyone knows you should eat more of it. The mechanism is not a secret. Muscle protein synthesis, leucine threshold, net nitrogen balance. If you've been in the fitness space for more than a couple of years, you've read this before. And I think that's the problem. The familiarity makes people stop paying attention. Here's what I actually think about protein, after a decade of working in this space. Most people in their thirties and forties are under-consuming protein and don't know it. Not by a small amount. The gap between what most people eat and what the research supports for muscle maintenance and body composition outcomes is significant. Studies looking at optimal intake for adults prioritising body composition consistently point to between 1.6 and 2.2 grams per kilogram of bodyweight per day. Most people are eating somewhere between 0.8 and 1.2. The difference is not cosmetic. Adequate protein intake directly affects your ability to preserve muscle tissue during a caloric deficit. It supports recovery between sessions. It has a measurable effect on satiety, which means it influences total caloric intake downstream, not just at the point you consume it. There's a subtler point too, and this is the one I've come to think matters most: protein is the nutrient where consistency compounds most directly. The benefits of creatine saturate over time in a relatively predictable way. Collagen has a timeline that research measures in months. But protein's effect on body composition is essentially continuous. Every day you hit your target, you preserve something. Every day you don't, you lose a small amount of ground. Over a summer, that adds up. This is what I've observed personally, and it's backed by the research on muscle protein turnover. The people who maintain their body composition through summer are not, in my experience, the people who train harder during that period. Most of them train less. Their routines are disrupted. They're travelling. Their eating is less structured. The people who come back in September looking broadly the same as they left in June are the ones who kept their protein intake consistent. That's it. That's the variable. Why I take The Lean Protein I’ve been taking The Lean Protein the past few months for a straightforward reason: the protein-to-calorie ratio. Much like our other protein blends, each serving delivers over 30 grams of protein. The calorie count is low relative to that protein yield. When my training is consistent and my eating is structured, I don't think about this very much. But in the periods when those things are less reliable, that ratio becomes the thing that holds the rest together. The formula also includes acetyl-L-carnitine, inulin, pomegranate extract, and yerba mate. These aren't afterthoughts. Acetyl-L-carnitine has a research base in fat metabolism. Inulin supports satiety and gut function. The pomegranate extract is included for its antioxidant contribution to recovery. This means that the formula does more work per serving than a standard whey and just what I need going into summer. The thing the industry gets wrong about protein Most protein marketing leads with taste and price per gram. Both matter. But neither tells you whether the formula will support body composition outcomes over time. The two questions I'd ask before buying any protein powder are: what is the actual protein-to-calorie ratio, and what is the leucine content per serving.  Leucine is the branched-chain amino acid most directly linked to triggering muscle protein synthesis, and there is a threshold dose, roughly 2.5 to 3 grams per serving, below which the anabolic response is blunted. Many protein powders do not disclose this. They just list total protein and move on. The Lean Protein does not have this problem. The formula is transparent. The dose is evidence-based. One thing I'd ask you to consider: if you've never actually checked whether you're hitting your protein targets, try tracking it for three days. Most people find the gap is larger than they expected. If you're not sure which Innermost product fits your specific goal, the quiz on our site is a good place to start. Find the right protein for your goal  
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