Even if you know what you’re doing in the gym, there is always room for a bit of help. Sadly, many people do what they think is correct and never manage to achieve the results they want.
Seeking the help of a personal trainer is an excellent investment in your health. There are so many different things a personal trainer can help you with, and it’s more than counting reps! Even if you think you know what you’re doing, getting the help of an expert is a great way to maximise your results and avoid injury.
Accountability
Book your sessions in your diary. We stick to them. You have the accountability of the session booked in, so you’re more likely to stick to it. You’ve also likely paid for the session, so there is also the financial commitment.
Booking a personal training session into your diary is all about creating a routine. If you build exercise into your routine, you’re much more likely to stick to it.
Able to check form
A large part of a personal trainers job is to ensure you’re training correctly. We need to ensure we’re exercising correctly, for lots of reasons. If we’re doing exercises wrong, we’re not going to be working the muscles we intend to. Exercises are specifically designed to work different muscles in different ways, so if we’re doing it wrong, we won’t be performing these muscles. Another significant part of a trainer job is helping us check our form during exercises so we don’t get injured. Exercise, mainly done under loads, is extremely important for improving how the body moves, feels and looks. But done incorrectly, this can be dangerous and lead to injuries. This is where a great trainer is watching and helping you revolutionise your training.
Provide an individual progressive plan
Training is individual. However, there are movements that everyone should be doing, which variation of that movement will be different to everyone. Everyone should probably do some squat, but is that a barbell back squat or a goblet squat? A great trainer will be able to pick the correct exercises for you. A good training plan will be tailored specifically to your goals and how your body currently moves. Good trainers can also identify any weaknesses and imbalances you may have, which they’ll be able to address in your program.
Variety in sessions
Although you should follow a structured, progressive workout plan for a few weeks before you change exercises, a personal trainer will be able to keep your overall plan varied and interesting; this will ensure you stay motivated and keep progressing. Whilst you don’t need to vary the exercises to keep progressing and ‘shocking your body is definitely a myth, it can be nice to change things up every few weeks to ensure you don’t get bored and lose interest in your training plan. A personal trainer’s job is to keep things interesting to keep progressing.
Make it personal
Exercising and training are about enjoyment, but it’s also about improving and making progress. A good personal trainer should keep track of everything you do in the gym. All the reps, sets and weight you lifted to make sure it gets progressively tougher. Personal training should be exactly that, personal. A great personal trainer will take away the guesswork and ensure that all you have to do is turn up to your session and give the best you can.
Matt Woods – Trainify Head of Training
Contact us to book a session with Matt
