Picking a Personal Trainer . . . it's a process!

Riding hot on the heels of my last article on this next step in the process - choosing the right one for you. Again, ezinearticles.com is a trove of knowledge and insight and I grabbed this one because it provides some simple steps to think about when you embark on a PT journey. There are questions you will need to ask and similarly there is information that your prospective PT will need to ask of you - it's a two way street and you are forging a relationship where trust, motivation, friendship, respect and money will need to flow either way - so it's important you make the right choice. Phillip J. Schiefer (http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Phillip_J_Schiefer) provides some words of wisdom below that you'll do well to heed as you kick-start your programme


It's been about fifteen years since I first set foot in a gym and I've seen the good, the bad and the ugly. Had I known the things I do now, I could have avoided injuries, bad advice and progressed more efficiently. Regardless of the gym I go to, it seems as if we all sneak a peek at what the personal trainers are doing at some point. I know I do it and I notice it being done to me when I'm training a client. We're in a field where our profession is typically displayed in our backs. If that's not an attention grabber, then our actions are. If you work with a trainer or are looking to work with a trainer, you want to make sure your trainer is working to help address your specific requirements.

When you meet with a trainer, they should ask questions about your background, medical issues and injury history, before any exercising takes place. The exercises given should be to assess your form and posture to see what issues need to be corrected. The program they use for you should be specific to your goals and limitations. If your goal is weight loss and your trainer has you on machine after machine, then you don't have the right match. If you feel sore to the point where walking, standing up and sitting down are painful, you were probably over trained or exercised with poor form and weren't corrected. Your muscles shouldn't ache and you shouldn't feel deteriorated after a session. If you don't feel sore at all and you are new to exercising, then your routine wasn't intense enough for you. Either that or you left with a big smile on your face because you spent the entire session chatting and laughing it up.

There are stages to progression that are implemented to prevent injury and help you to achieve faster results. With a good trainer, your form should get better, your posture should improve, you should get stronger, more flexible and feel better. Both you and your trainer should notice your progress. Feel free to ask questions and make suggestions about your routine. If you didn't feel like you matched well with they trainer they assigned to you, ask for another one. You may want to continue training, just not with your trainer. It's your body and your money, their feelings are not your concern. Shop around and observe the other trainers, approach the one you think will work best with you. If that trainer is in the middle of a session, approach the front desk and get their info.

Conversely, don't get in the mindset that you have to find someone better.

Progress comes slow. If you've made some progress and have a plan, moving forward, stick with that trainer. Lock them up long-term. Chances are that there is someone else waiting for your time slot to vacate. The purpose of the trainer should be to guide you to exercising independence. For me, the biggest reward is seeing someone I trained come in and use all the things I taught them, on their own. At that point, their training with me is focused on pushing them to the next level.

WhyWeight - don't hesitate, participate, before it's too late!

-Steve, at WhyWeight-