personal trainer questions

[skhill]

Right now, the Y I belong to is having a deal on personal training sessions-- 7 for the price of 5. So I'm thinking it might be a good time to take the plunge. But it's new territory, so there's some questions I hope some of y'all might be able to help with:

-- the main reason for doing it would be to get into the habit of doing strength training. I have good intentions about it, but really bad follow-through. Is that a good enough reason to take the plunge?

-- what should I look for in a trainer? I've gotten to know 3 of them on staff a bit, from group classes they lead. One I like, one I really don't like, and one is just ok. But I get the feeling that the one I don't like is the most competent, and the one I like the best is the least, so...

-- what should I expect to do to get the most out of my investment?

Thanks

[ny biker]

I'm lucky, in that my trainer is both extremely likeable and extremely competent and knowledgeable. I've been working out with him for 13 years.

What don't you like about the trainer that you think is best?

Do you plan to do the 7 sessions and then continue working out on your own? If so, you need to make that clear so the trainer gives you a workout that you can do by yourself and instructs you on proper form. Also they need to give you a workout that meets your goals (which means you need to have goals -- weight loss, muscle toning, specific training for something...?).

[marni]

I have had four personal trainers over the last five years, I would have kept any one of them ad infinitum except that they all moved on to other jobs and or got married and moved to new cities etc. I had each of them for at least a year so I got to really know them, and they me after working together 2 or 3 hours a week.

I started with a trainer because although I knew all the logic and a lot of the exercises I realized that I would not have the self discipline to really push myself continually or as hard as I need to be pushed. Plus each of them had a slightly different approach, 2 were former mariens so we did a lot of military type sets, while one was a part time fireman who rode mountain bike and preferred a lot of quick muscle stuff, alternating with balance and weights combined, but all of them were extremely knowledgeable about nutrition, exercising, cardio and stretching as well as taking care of and preventing injuries.

Everyone of them sat down with at the beginning and had me outline my goals, more muscle? where and what type?, coordination?, balance? weight loss? lean muscle gain vs fat loss etc. Not in specific numbers but more along the lines of where are you now and hwere would you like to be?

All of them were aware of my bicycling goals as well as my weight loss and cardio goals and kept an even balance of increasing difficulty and weight, variety of exercises and dietary goals.

The routine is that the trainer weighs me and takes circumference measurement and skin caliper measurements once a month and then we take time to reasses progress and goals for the whole month.

Without working with trainers I wouldn't know be half the woman I used to be. Bur I would be the first to admit that it works better for some than for others and a lot depends on the trainers'' skill and his ability to foster a good working relationship. with an empahsis on working.

marni

[Dogmama]

Everyone of them sat down with at the beginning and had me outline my goals, more muscle? where and what type?, coordination?, balance? weight loss? lean muscle gain vs fat loss etc. Not in specific numbers but more along the lines of where are you now and hwere would you like to be?

marni

+1 - you want somebody who will work towards your goals, not his/hers.

Find out what certifications they hold.The gold standard is ACSM. ACE is good, as is NCSA. I would also want to know how long they've been doing personal training & an estimate of how many people they've trained.

If you can watch them train somebody else, that is ideal. They should be paying attention to their client - not the activity in the aerobic room. You'll also get an idea about how they train - do they yell & push their clients or are they more circumspect?

As a personal trainer, I see some PT's put their clients in unsafe situations because the client isn't ready for the level of training they are undertaking. For example, I see rounded backs during deadlifts. This tells me that they've either received incorrect or no exercise instruction and/or they're lifting more than they can handle. I also see PT's putting their clients through grueling workouts where their form begins to suffer and the possibility of injury increases.

OTOH, there are some PT's that are fantastic. They do primarily full body exercises with sensible weights and their clients have good form. More importantly, I see their clients losing weight, gaining muscle and returning to the same PT week after week.

[Dogmama]

-- the main reason for doing it would be to get into the habit of doing strength training. I have good intentions about it, but really bad follow-through. Is that a good enough reason to take the plunge?

Thanks

I think any individual training is good. You'll know what good form feels like and you might like pushing weights around. It's a great cross training exercise for cycling.