If working out was easy, everyone would be in great shape. There would be no need for New Year’s resolutions, crazy diets, or all of the ridiculous fitness equipment sold on late-night infomercials. Let’s face it, for the average working American, it’s a challenge to gather the motivation and discipline to exercise regularly. Hiring a personal trainer is a fantastic way to keep yourself on track to get in shape.
Part of having a personal trainer is accountability. Once you have picked up the phone and scheduled an appointment, it’s much tougher to make excuses that let you off the hook. I’ve said it to myself a thousand times: “I’ll work out in a half hour… I just want to watch the end of this show.” Unfortunately, there are a lot of interesting shows, and a half hour turns into endless procrastination. Soon enough, I end up deciding on, “I’ll just do it tomorrow.” This is another phrase that echoes in the minds of lazy exercisers with good intentions. A personal trainer to keep you accountable for the workouts you plan is a valuable tool. When someone else is waiting for you to show up and get to work, skipping that workout seems much less appealing.
From an educational standpoint, personal training is very valuable. By continuing to challenge you with different techniques, a good personal trainer creates awareness of new ways to train and keeps exercise interesting. Let’s face it, to get the results that you want, you will probably need to exercise on your own… at least some of the time. Most people can’t afford to exercise exclusively with a fitness professional. It is up to a personal trainer to teach you what you should be doing on your own free time. If you are a trainee that has been educated in exercise science, you are much more likely to get in shape and stay that way. To quote an old axiom, “Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.” Passing along exercise knowledge is like a lesson on how to catch some really healthy fish.
Finally, a good personal trainer can push you harder than you push yourself. When you’re working out by yourself and you’re already a little tired, it’s easy walk away early. Again, accountability comes into play when hiring a trainer. If you pay for an hour, you’re not going to be likely to leave 30 minutes early. Also, a good personal trainer motivates you to work hard. You might end up pushing through a burn that you didn’t know you could handle. You might end up pushing harder than you ever would have pushed without someone to keep you focused and to keep you inspired. The best trainers make you want to train hard.
Work with as many trainers as you can over the course of your time as a workout enthusiast. Don’t feel forced to commit to any one personal trainer in particular, especially when you haven’t build a relationship. Unfortunately, part of being a trainer is being a sales-person… you don’t want to get stuck training with a great sales person and a crappy trainer. By keeping your mind open and your work ethic high, personal training can take you to levels that you never would have achieved alone.
