When it comes to exercise most people will just go it alone. You know, because it’s so easy! But then when they’re not getting the results they want they get frustrated and give up. This is just one reason why you need a personal trainer. We help to educate, motivate, problem solve, and hold you accountable so you can actually reach your health goals.
According to these researchers, “physical inactivity is one of the leading causes of preventable death in the USA”. And did you know that at least 50% of people who start an exercise program quit within the first six months? Don’t let that be you! It’s too important for your health to give up!
I know most people don’t want to have to spend the money to hire someone just to help with exercise. But considering the amount of money spent on healthcare in the US (over $11,000 per person in 2019!), that investment will save you in the long run! If you learn to do things right from the start you’ll get more benefits and reach your goals faster.
A good personal trainer will also help you with so much more than just teaching you how to exercise. Besides educating you, I’ve got 5 more reasons why you need a personal trainer over going it alone. You can waste a lot of time trying to figure it all out on your own!
So here are the six things a personal trainer will help you with.
-
- Education
- Getting you the results you want
- Holding you accountable
- Setting realistic goals and a timeline for reaching them
- Motivation
- Anticipating and helping you to overcome obstacles
1) Education
First of all, you need a personal trainer to help educate you on proper form. This means doing the exercises correctly so you don’t injure yourself. Exercise is a physical activity so an injury is likely at some point. But you can lower that risk a great deal by doing them the right way. And there’s no better way than by having someone watch you and make corrections.
You also want to make sure you’re working the muscles you think you’re working. If you do an exercise with bad form then you end up using muscles other than the ones you’re targeting. For example, I’ve seen women doing bicep curls but not working their biceps at all because they’re doing them wrong.
And lastly, a personal trainer can answer any questions that pop into your head during your workouts that you’re curious about. So you have an on-the-spot Siri!
2) Results you want
Another part of education is making sure you get out of your exercise routine what you hope to. The way to accomplish this is to have a balanced weekly workout program. A personal trainer will show you how to plan your weekly workouts so you do everything you need to be doing.
That includes the right amount of cardio, strength training, and flexibility for your particular needs. It also means adding enough variety so you work your muscles in different ways. This is very important so you’re muscles don’t get used to the same moves and quit adapting.
A balanced workout program isn’t really that complicated but most beginners don’t understand it. A personal trainer has been taught how to set up an effective program. I wrote the following article to help with this concept.
Related article: How to set up a balanced workout program.
3) Accountability
So many people start to exercise then give it up when it gets confusing or hard. When you make an appointment with a personal trainer you’ll at least feel obligated to show up for it since you paid! But they’ll also take the confusion out of exercise for you by giving you a personalized plan.
Another benefit of working with a personal trainer is that they’ll give you “assignments” to work on when you’re not together. How often do you get things done in your life when you don’t have an assignment or deadline?! We’re pretty good at procrastinating unless it’s something we already love to do. And most people don’t love exercising!
4) Setting realistic goals
People often get frustrated and give up on exercise because they don’t realize they have unrealistic goals. Most people think it will be easy to lose weight or tone up their bodies in a short amount of time. Not so.
Although you will start to gain strength pretty quickly with regular workouts, it takes anywhere from 4-16 weeks to be able to see the results. Of course, this all depends on how hard you’re working out! Most people aren’t trying to be bodybuilders so visible results take longer.
The average person just starting to exercise can’t, or won’t, work out hard enough right away to get quick results. But a personal trainer will push you to do a little more than you would on your own. And when you’re doing it the right way, the gains come sooner. We’ll also keep reminding you that it takes time and patience!
Related article: Why you need a SMART health goal.
5) Motivation
I’ve learned through my own experience and by listening to others over the years that lack of motivation is a major reason why people give up on exercise. It’s extremely hard to stay motivated to work out on your own. A personal trainer will give you ideas for how to stay motivated when we’re not around.
I have a whole list of simple ways to stay motivated because I use them every day myself. I always pass these on to my clients when I’m working with them because I want them to succeed too. If you hire the right person to help you exercise they can teach you so much more than just what to do.
In order to get and stay motivated to work out, you need a good reason for wanting to do it. If you need a little help with that I would suggest getting the book “Younger Next Year for Women” by Crosley and Lodge. I’ve mentioned it before because I think it’s such a great read!
Motivation comes from knowing why exercise is so important in the first place and how it will help you over the long term. Reading is how I keep myself focused on my health goals because I’m reminded every day of how it helps my body.
Related article: The importance of knowing your “why”.
6) Overcoming obstacles
Once you start an exercise program there will most definitely be obstacles you face along the way. Like the fact that no one wants to exercise with you, or the time constraints of working out. Whatever those obstacles might be, you need to know how to deal with them.
This is another issue a personal trainer like me can help you with. I’m a problem solver so I love to help people find ways to get over their hurdles and stick with their goals. And that’s because (again) I’ve had to deal with the same issues. The reason I’ve succeeded in sticking with exercise is that I have strategies for overcoming these obstacles.
My final thoughts
Contrary to popular belief, exercise is not easy, especially when you’re new to it! Everything involved with it is difficult: doing it the right way, staying motivated to keep doing it, and dealing with the obstacles that get in your way. This is why you need a personal trainer, to simplify the process for you.
This helps to avoid frustration early on so you stick with it long enough to get results. And hopefully, those results will make you want to stick with it forever so you can stay healthy! I’ve heard too many people say “I’ve been exercising forever and it hasn’t helped me”. Well, most likely they weren’t doing it the right way because exercise does work!
I became a personal trainer and health coach because I’m an educator at heart and want to help people get healthy so they can feel better. When it comes to working with clients I pull from all of my experience in school and life to help them succeed. I chose to work with women over 40 because I know it just gets harder as we age. And that’s why we need that information even more.
If you’re not quite sure what to do for exercise in a gym or your own home, or you’ve already started but aren’t seeing results, then consider hiring a personal trainer to help you with your specific needs. Most gyms employ them but there are plenty, like me, that work on our own.
The money spent up front will save you time, frustration and help you to prevent injury so you can enjoy the fruits of your labors sooner! Check out my website for more on the health services I offer and why I do it.
Setting goals that I can actually achieve is something that I might need to do to progress in my fitness. I’ve always thought that I can do all of the hard and grueling workouts immediately, but this probably isn’t the case and leading to me burning out quite quickly. I’ll take your advice and make sure that I have a personal trainer help me with setting some goals that I can realistically follow.