There are many benefits to hiring a personal trainer, especially for women. The reason being is because of the many fitness fads and fallacies that are wide spread and directly marketed to women. I’ve heard ludicrous statements such as:
“Women shouldn’t lift any heavier than 3-5lbs when lifting weights”
“Women should only do 20-30minutes of weight training”.
These type of statements and fitness marketing schemes get to be truly confusing and can potentially make you work harder in the gym with the little benefit. Below are few points to discuss the benefits of hiring a personal trainer, not just for women, but for everyone.
Benefits of Hiring a Personal Trainer for Women
Efficiency
A qualified personal trainer will help maximize your workout = burn a heck of a lot more calories during the workout, while building toward the body you want and have been working so hard for! The personal trainer should also have a structured program that’ll maximize the session and allow you still to have your personal time outside of the gym = great balance!
Learn from the Personal Trainer
You not only get a great motivator from the trainer but you’ll also learn many things from the training sessions, such as:
- Choosing the Proper Weight- sometimes you may believe you’re working really hard but the trainer may see that you can actually push heavier loads and truly challenge your body. This can also work inversely, where you’re choosing too heavy of a weight or too high of an intensity and need to lighten the load and intensity of the workouts.
- Timing– you maybe taking too much time between your rest period or maybe you need more time. The right amount of time, depending on what your goals are and the program, will allow you to work at a harder intensity and get the most gains out of that workout/program = efficient workout!
- Proper Technique – some people say that they squat but the squat may look more like a 1/4″ dip, this is where personal training is EXTREMELY beneficial. I see it time after time, where people say they do an exercise but when I see the execution, it’s done improperly. Learning the proper positioning (for your body type) from your personal training session and execution of an exercise will allow you to workout a lot more efficiently and execute the exercises in a safe manner.
Weight-room Intimidation
If you’re new to fitness, sometimes the weight-room can be a bit intimidating to step into. Depending on the gym, there are meatheads throwing around big weights and giving off a negative vibe. While perception may seem that they are territorial, a majority of the time fitness goers are very supportive of each other, especially of women lifting weights because of the many positive benefits associated with it.
Working with a personal trainer can also help you feel more comfortable in the weight room by giving you the tools to know what to do with the equipment and having a set plan, instead of wandering around aimlessly. If it’s a particularly ‘hardcore’ gym, you’ll also gain the respect of the members by lifting appreciable weights, having a structured program, and not just running on the treadmill.
Accountability
One of the most common excuses for not working out is time. But if you have a paid and set appointment with a personal trainer, you’re going to make it to that session! 🙂 From there it’ll start to become a routine and in no time this routine will turn into a lifestyle. Now, I’m not saying it’ll be easy but with the help of a personal trainer you’ll develop an obtainable and realistic goal throughout the training process. Always keep in mind that it’s a process that’ll take time, I love this quote and think it’s completely applicable:
“Habits start like twigs that are easily broken. But throughout time, they become steel rods” Frosty Westering
Your habits will become a “steel rod” with consistency. Fight on!
New Perspective and Insight on Nutrition and Fitness
The fitness field is abundantly filled with various answers that’ll tug you in every direction. Pick up a women’s fitness magazine and you’ll read that paleo is the best diet, than the one day kellog diet is the only way to go, or some other random fitness marketing scheme that’s popular today. There are just so much junk getting pushed out that it’s very hard to focus on what’s actually beneficial. This is where a personal trainer can get you focused on a structured nutrition and fitness path and goal that’s tailored to you and also better inform you of the facts and fallacies of fitness and nutrition. With the new found focus and tools that the personal trainer has educated you with, you should now have set goals and strategies to build yor way to success. However if things are not working out, the trainer and yourself will than need to reassess and come to a solution that’ll better suite your needs and lifestyle.
Results
Working with a personal trainer will help you achieve the goals you may not currently be achieving. The trainer will use some of the method mentioned above and others to develop a path to successfully achieving your goals. There are even times where the client may not realize the results. As a personal trainer in NYC I’ve helped many of my clients recognize their results that has changed over time both in strength and aesthetics. This is also why it’s important to take pictures and/or measurements to have a baseline to compare to. Those small changes over time become BIG changes!
Consider the Following Before you Hire a Personal Trainer:
- The trainer should be communicating with you about your goals. If the trainer just assumes your goals, than you maybe on the wrong path = wasted time.
- Experience- have they worked under an experienced professional personal trainer or coach? Not just worked at a ‘box commercial gym’, where anyone can be hired.
- Is the trainer listening to you? Sometimes personal trainers have their own ideas and methods, while there is a happy medium here, the personal trainer should still be respecting your wishes, if you feel uncomfortable with a specific exercise.
- Do you feel comfortable with the personal trainer? Some people want a trainer that’ll scream at you, others not. Through my experience working in the NFL and Collegiate atmosphere, I’ve found that yelling isn’t really my style nor always effective. Second, you also don’t want a trainer that’ll fly off his handle in a split second and lose it, I find that to be disrespect to the client and rude to the other members.
- Professional- the trainer should show up on time, act appropriately, and be dressed professionally. Just because they are in the gym doesn’t mean that they should be ready to be a “Hulkamaniac” and have a tear away shirt…
Stay strong,