Whether you’re looking to up your workout game or are just starting from scratch, seeking the help of a personal trainer can make all the difference when it comes to your health, safety and success! Developing and approaching a new health and fitness plan is one of the most important endeavors any individual can take on, and we can’t stress enough how important it is to do it right!
Here are 5 reasons why working with a personal trainer makes all the difference in achieving your fitness goals:
1. It’s important to take a holistic approach
Taking the ‘bigger picture’ into consideration when planning a workout routine is something that personal trainers are accustomed to working with. Looking at everything from diet to sleep can help get a client on the right track:
“When we have our initial sit-down to chat about our plan, I always ask about diet—eating healthy is about 70% of what it takes to reach a weight loss goal,” explains Kyle a Personal Trainer at Thrive Anacortes. “I ask clients about their kryptonite, and have them keep a daily food log that we can go over and review together. It’s also important for us to take sleep into consideration—it turns out that most people aren’t getting enough sleep! If you’re not getting what you need, you can work out ‘til you’re blue in the face, but the body is going to hang onto that fat to conserve energy.”
2. Benefit from a personalized plan made just for you
From that first chat, your personal trainer will work to develop a unique routine that is designed to suit your specific capabilities and goals. As Kyle shares, a big part of that is setting attainable goals:
“Some people will say, ‘Okay, I’m going to lose 10 pounds by the end of the month,’ but for most people, that’s not attainable and we would also strongly advise against that. They may end up becoming discouraged and quit altogether if they don’t see results, which were unrealistic in the first place.”
Kyle likes to help set up small challenges and goals for people to meet along the way to their larger goals: “Even if it’s just completing one correct push-up, or one pull-up, we can help you set these realistic small goals and challenges throughout your program.”
3. Keep yourself truly accountable to someone
Accountability is one of the most important things that a personal trainer can provide you with. The accountability factor of having a set appointment you need to show up for alone is sometimes the first step it takes in motivating yourself to get to the gym!
“You should be able to count on your trainer to be there for you whenever you have questions. Sometimes, just the fact of knowing that there’s someone else ‘in it’ with you makes a big difference alone,” shares Kyle.
“I also feel like I’m accountable to my clients—if they don’t meet their goals, I feel like I’ve failed them, but they have also failed themselves. I can’t and won’t let that happen!” Setting goals is a big part of staying motivated, and motivation is one of the key things that a trainer is always going to provide you with.
“I tell my clients to contact me anytime,” Kyle emphasizes. “If they’re on vacation and have a question about their diet plan, I let them know that they can send me an e-mail and I will get back to them ASAP! If you want to do a virtual workout session on vacation, we can do that too!”
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4. Get faster results
If you’re not following a fitness plan that’s right for your body and your goals, then it can start to feel like you’re just spinning your wheels if you’re not seeing any real results. Or, if you attack your goals too aggressively and burn out, you run the risk of setting yourself farther back than when you started!
Faster results can come from sticking to a plan in the first place, or having a trainer there to revise a current plan so it’s more effective. “Sometimes, I’ll have a client show up for their first meeting with me and they’ll have a print-out of all of these different exercises they’re going to do—they already have their ‘battle plan’ in place. I’ll check in with them at the end of the month, and sometimes the case is that it just didn’t work out as they’d hoped. Maybe it’s because they weren’t pushing themselves as much as they could have been, or maybe they just weren’t doing the right exercises,” says Kyle.
Either way, a personal trainer can help revise that plan to create a more effective routine. Wasting time can set you back on your goal timeline.
5. Stay safe and prevent injuries
“Safety is a big factor in working out properly and shouldn’t be taken lightly,” emphasizes Kyle. “A lot of people may know something about weight lifting, for example—they know key things like to lift with their legs, and not their back. But something that a trainer will be able to help with includes knowing how certain movements can affect the body, and what movements will activate what muscle groups.”
Exercising incorrectly can not only cause immediate pain, but can even cause injuries that may not show up for ten or twenty years down the line. At that point, there’s not always much you can do. The important thing is to prevent an injury in the first place. When you’re working with a trainer, they’re not only teaching you how to do things correctly, but helping you form good habits, too. Bad habits can be super challenging to break, and you’ll want to avoid them in the first place.
Thrive is running a 3 Day Personal Training Sale March 17-18-19. Check your local Thrive for all the detials:
Personal Training Specials:
Thrive Anacortes
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