Why Use a Personal Trainer? 5 Reasons to Hire a PT or Online Coach
People are taking an interest and actively trying to improve their health and fitness again. Since “you know what” happened in 2020, the amount of people that have taken up new activities such as walking, running or going to the gym are beginning to move back towards pre-pandemic levels.
There will be two types of people reading this:
Those who’ve already been going to the gym but are looking to take your fitness journey to the next level.
Those who actually haven’t started yet, but are looking to take that first step.
Hiring a personal trainer will be the right choice for you either way.
What is a personal trainer?
A personal trainer (PT) is an individual who is qualified to give you a safe and effective training program for all levels of fitness. It’s a PT’s responsibility to help you choose specific goals and create a personalised program, while also guiding you through other lifestyle changes needed to reach your goal.
5 reasons to use a personal trainer
Sold already? If not, check out these 5 more reasons why hiring a personal trainer is a no-brainer.
1. Fitness accountability
The number one reason why people fail in their fitness journey is that they give up. The majority of people don’t have any external support or accountability to keep them on track.
You’re much more likely to skip a workout if nobody is there to keep you accountable.
Working with a personal trainer will massively increase the chances of you heading to the gym and complete the workout as planned. This doesn’t just mean when you have sessions with them–it can also help outside of these. You know they will be checking in with you during your next session.
Not only will you be more likely to attend the gym, but you ‘re also more likely to work harder in the gym with a trainer as they will push you to your limits (safely).
We’ve all been there: you head to the gym on autopilot and throw out some reps to tick the attendance box. In reality, the workout probably wasn’t all that effective. Working with a personal trainer will mean that every session with them is effective. You’ll get to your goals faster.
A good personal trainer will make you feel like you're part of a team and your goals are aligned. If you fail, they fail. It shouldn't be any other way.
2. Structured individualised program
Have you ever been to the gym and wandered around looking for a free bit of equipment that you liked the look of, and just did that with no structure of particular reason? Don’t worry, you're not alone.
A quick Google search will give you hundreds of workouts you can try out. These will give you some sort of results... But are they really what you want?
Working with a personal trainer means that your program will be specific to you and what you want to achieve. For example, if you want to be able to run further, it's no good asking you to just do upper body workouts to give you bigger biceps. You might be happy with bigger biceps, but they'll be no good during that 10K run you’ve been training for.
Generalised programs also don't take into account weaknesses or imbalances you might have as an individual. A PT could notice that you have particular tightness in your hamstrings, for example, and include extra mobility work in your program to correct this.
3. Health education
A personal trainer isn’t there just to get you in the gym and moving like a robot. They should spend time explaining to you why you are doing a particular movement and what part of your body is affected.
Remember, the PT has studied all parts of the body and knows what movements are required to work each body part effectively. A trainer knows about joint movements and proper form which you can learn from them and will help you in everyday life.
This doesn’t just apply to gym specific topics. A personal trainer has also learned about a wider range of health and fitness information that can help you achieve your goals.
A good example of this is posture. A lot of people either work from home or have office-based jobs which involve sitting over a computer, most likely hunched over. Over time, this will have a severe effect on your posture.
A personal trainer can review your posture and identify corrective exercises to improve this. They can also give you good tips for improving your posture outside of the gym.
4. Nutritional advice on hand
Nutrition is a key factor when it comes to fat loss. A vast majority of people get their training regime bang on, but fall down when it comes to nutrition. Sometimes this is due to “will power”, but oftentimes it falls down to low nutrition knowledge.
Take protein, for example. It’s a key part of your weight loss journey (it supports muscle growth and keeps you full for longer). But if you have no idea on how much to consume or what foods to eat, you can end up a little bit lost.
Let’s be clear: meal plans are not always the best way forward. Personal trainers and not qualified dieticians so shouldn’t be offering you meal plans. What they can do is review your current food diary and assess where you could make improvements, helping you to see results faster.
Lean on the knowledge your personal trainer has in order to educate yourself on good nutritional habits. Most importantly, remember:
Meal plans = short-term fix
Nutritional education = lifetime fix
Need help calculating your calories? Use this free macro calculator to see how much protein, carbs, and fat you should aim for each day.
5. Fitness goal setting
Have you ever been in the gym and decided to set yourself a goal? Whether it’s “tone up” or “get fitter”, these are great ideas–but they aren’t specific for you to actually feel a sense of accomplishment about.
So many people lose motivation when the scale doesn't move quite how they expected or they don’t lose 3 stone in the first week.
A personal trainer will help you to set realistic and specific goals based on this. Based on your current weight, and current activity levels, a personal trainer can help you set this specific goal and keep you on track to achieve them.
Even if your goal is still just to get fitter, setting goals–no matter how small–will help you along the way during your fitness journey. Hiring a PT will help you set short, medium and long-term goals to keep you motivated.
Ready to hire a personal trainer?
A personal trainer will guide you and give you all the knowledge you need to achieve your goals.
They will provide accountability, support, education and an action plan specific to you, so I'll say it again: Hiring a PT is a no brainer, right?
If you’re looking for a personal trainer or online fat loss coach, I’m here to help.
Book a free consultation today and take the first step to reach your fitness goals.