You know exercise is good for you. But that doesn't mean you know what to do or where to start. It also doesn't mean you have the motivation. It doesn't mean you know what exercises you should do to meet your goals or you know how to do them. It's not something you're born knowing, and the knowledge isn't magically endowed upon you when you decide to start going to the gym.
Never fear, there is an option for you.
You don't have to go to the gym and worry about not knowing what to do, or do the exercises inefficiently. You don't have to let your lack of knowledge, experience or motivations stop you exercising and meeting all your goals. You can hire a personal trainer.
Most people think hiring a trainer is out of reach. You might think it's only for people who have a lot of money. But, trainers are very reasonably priced these days. Your gym will probably have access to two or three they recommend. They might even be on staff. You can pay for their time and get the help you need and skip all that trial and error and hit the ground running or lifting!
OK, now you have your personal trainer on board and they're standing over you telling you what to do, you're probably thinking you're back in grade school, and asking yourself why exactly you got yourself into this. There are four good answers to that question. You get the answers when you see the benefits to having a trainer.
Here are my favorite four benefits being a personal trainer myself:
1. Number one is you're going to get an accurate assessment of your abilities. You can't judge usually judge at the beginning how well you can do something. Underestimating your abilities will mean you won't be getting a challenge from your workout program. But overestimating means you run a good risk of hurting yourself because you're doing too much. A qualified trainer is going to be able to accurately judge what you can do, and can help you set up an appropriate workout program.
2. The second benefit to using a trainer is you're going to learn how to do everything the right way. You will learn the proper form for each exercise, and the right way to use the various machines or free weights. At best, using the wrong form on an exercise will cause you to lose a lot of the benefit from it. At worst, you run the risk of seriously injury to yourself. A personal trainer will show you the right way to do each exercise and use the equipment to ensure you get the most benefit.
3. Motivation is important. At some point you'll lose your motivation and things will get harder and life will begin to get in the way. You'll lose your focus and will start slacking off. It happens to everyone. The third benefit from having personal training is motivation. Human nature is such that when you're accountable only to yourself it's easy to justify slacking off. You can convince yourself you've a good reason to take today off. But, when you have someone you have to talk to about your workout, and who is encouraging you to keep going, it is hard to disappoint that person. A trainer can also help keep you motivated by changing up your workout plan. Boredom makes it easy to lose your focus.
4. The final benefit is that you will get a workout that is completely customized to you. Before you even do one exercise or evaluation you and your new personal trainer will sit down and talk about your goals. You will tell your trainer what it is you want, and he or she will make a plan for you to ensure you meet your goals - providing you do the work be consistent with your workouts.
If you want to start working out, the best way to make sure that you get the most out of it is to hire a personal trainer and follow the plan they put in place for you. And always have fun.
Liane Blyn is the co-owner of Athletic Based Training in the Metro-West Boston area and helps athletes of all levels and ages optimize their athletic performance. Liane runs programs for Strength and Conditioning in Milford and Holliston Massachusetts locations and you can get more details about her programs at her website here: http://www.athleticbasedtraining.com/
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