There’s more to a personal trainer than simply getting an exercise prescription or having a friendly face in the gym. A good, qualified personal trainer provides you with the accountability to keep up your fitness endeavours and transform your approach to training and exercise. Here’s what we mean.
Image by stoermchen.
Thanks to the internet you can learn anything on your own these days, even follow premade workout programs. Realise, however, that all the knowledge in the world only get you so far if you don’t stick to the program on your own or know how intensely you should work out in the gym (probably not ’til you puke).
To that latter point, some training studies (like this one from the Journal of Strength Conditioning & Research and another from Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise) showed better strength improvements with supervised training over those without. These seem to suggest that people can produce better results when there’s someone around to coach them (hat tip to Reddit for these studies).
Now trainers don’t bestow magical powers per se, but a compassionate and knowledgeable one should cater to your needs and teach you exercise safety, form and technique based on your experience level, age and abilities. For example, you wouldn’t jump to heavy deadlifts if you have aggravated hamstrings. He or she should know just how far to push you during training to reap the benefits but also tell you when to back off.
These all instill in you a responsibility to care about how you exercise and tie back into holding that accountability. But remember: your trainer won’t do the work for you; you still get out what you put in.
Image by stoermchen.
Comments