You may be asking yourself, Do I need a personal trainer?

I’ve been a personal trainer for about 10 years and have trained people from all walks of life. All my clients have different goals and different reasons for hiring me as their personal trainer. Many of them tell me that they wouldn’t lift weights without having me there. Many of them tell me that they wouldn’t workout at all unless I was there.

Most of my clients hire me because they wouldn’t do anything without a personal trainer by their side. Accountably is the biggest reason people hire personal trainers and it’s for a reason. We are so busy with everything else it’s so easy to make an excuse to skip a workout. Having an appointment with a personal trainer can make all the difference in a workout program. If you’re self-motivated then no you do not need a personal trainer to keep you on track.

Here are some of the main reasons people hire a personal trainer.

Accountably

The hands down number one reason why people hire a personal trainer is accountably. Many of us just won’t work out on our own. It’s not that that we’re lazy it’s just that time gets lost doing other things and we keep putting off the workout until we become out of shape. Many of us won’t exercise unless someone literally walks into our house and gets us moving and that is main reason why personal trainers have jobs. I started a in home personal training company to make getting in shape so easy. We will come to your home to hold you accountable.

When you have a personal trainer coming to your home there is no excuse not to workout. The personal trainer will bring the gym in their bag to your doorstep. Many of my client’s love having someone come to their home because it saves time and money for them. If you don’t have problems with accountably hiring a personal trainer might not be for you unless you’d like an objective look at your workout program.

Program design

One of the other reasons you should hire a personal trainer is for custom program design. Many fitness companies have a one size fits all package for people and that might not fit you. Hiring a personal trainer is a great choice if you want something that is custom and fits your needs. When you’re first starting out with a workout program you might not be able to do a push and you won’t know how to work up to one on your own. Having a personal trainer can help you build up to be able to do some of the things in these mass-produced programs. Personal trainers are great at building a program for specific needs. Cookie cutter programs don’t help as much when it comes to specific needs.

Example of a client I worked with

I worked with a young man named Sam and he was a soccer player and he wanted to improve his game. He hit the gym a lot but didn’t get the results he needed to go to the next level. After we worked together for a few months we saw major improvements in his on-field performance. He went from being able to run at 15 mph to 20 mph after our 3-month program. I worked with Sam while I was employed at lifetime fitness and he asked me to help him with his squat. I gave him some tips and offered him a free personal training session. Sam took me up on the offer and we had our first session. He felt great after the workout and signed up for a one time a week program.

Sam wanted to do more but his budget wouldn’t allow for it. Sam and I worked on heavy weight lifting and speed work to make him a better play. We also worked on drills moving from side to side to make him better at getting past other players on field. I noticed that his main weakness was lack of speed and if we improved this he would be able to beat other players on the field. After we worked together for 3 months he became a better player and got noticed by the New York Red bulls. They asked him to try out for the team. He didn’t make the team but Sam did see massive improvements in his game. Having a custom personal training program helped Sam because he had an objective look at his workout habits.

Having a custom program made for you is a good reason to hire a personal trainer but you can’t find some great premade workouts on the market if you can’t afford a personal trainer. My favorite is built like a badass by Joe Defranco.

Avoid Injuries

A good reason to hire a fitness professional is to avoid injury. I’ve met many clients that have done programs like P90X or CrossFit only to find themselves hurt while doing the program. P90X and CrossFit are great programs but not for everyone. When you’re at home working out or in a big group you can get lost. This leads to bad form and injury. If you’re new to working out it might be a good idea to hire a personal trainer to help get your form right. This will help you to be at your best in other programs. Getting an injury is the fastest way to derail your fitness journey and having private sessions might help you avoid this.

Break Through Plateaus

We’ve all been there while during a fitness program. We hit a plateau. Everything we try doesn’t work and it makes us want to give up. Having someone there that has seen it all before can help with this. When you’re not getting faster 5k times, the scale won’t budge or you can’t hit a higher bench it can be frustrating. Having a personal trainer there can help you figure out why this is happening. We’ve worked with a lot of different people and have solved a lot of fitness problems in the past. Having a personal trainer look at your program is one of the best thing you can do to push past a sticking point.

Motivation

Staying motivated is hard when you’re working out unless you have a friend or you’re doing a fitness class. When you don’t like doing fitness classes and all your friends are lazy then you might want to consider hiring a personal trainer. When it comes to motivation you don’t need a personal trainer but it’s nice to have someone there pushing you a little bit harder. Sometimes when I am lifting weights I leave a few reps on the table but when I am with a friend I tend to work a lot harder. If you feel that you’re not easily motivated, you might want to hire a personal trainer.

Stay Informed

If you spend time on the internet you will find out there is a ton of misinformation out there. Every month there is some new workout program or diet that is treading leaving all of us confused on what to do. Having a fitness professional can help you cut through the noise. We will keep you informed and let you know what works. Personal training certifications use real science in the text books rather than snake oil. Personal trainers use tried and true methods to get you results.

Set goals

When we start our workout programs sometimes we do so without much thought. Personal trainers always will ask you, what are your fitness goals? Many of my clients are unsure of what they want to get out of working out. Setting goals is very important because we can measure to see if we are making progress. We are also more likely to stick to a workout program if we set goals. Having a personal trainer help you set goals is valuable. You can set goals on your own and don’t need a personal trainer to do so.

Conclusion

The main reason I put this together is to answer the question, do I need a personal trainer? The answer is no. You can get results without having a personal trainer helping you. Hiring a personal trainer costs a lot of money and you might not be able to fit it in your budget. Personal trainers do bring a lot of value to the table. If you’re struggling to get in shape on your own it might be time to find a personal trainer. If you can’t afford one try to find a friend or a group to workout with.

I’ve been a personal trainer for about 10 years and many of my clients went stayed in great shape after working with me. Some of my clients never stopped working with me because they won’t work out on their own. It’s important to look within yourself and figure out where you fall in this picture. That will help you decide if you need a personal trainer.

Checkout some of our other blogs about personal training

https://www.onthegofitnesspro.com/what-to-consider-before-choosing-a-customized-training-program/

https://www.onthegofitnesspro.com/how-much-does-a-personal-trainer-cost/