How to choose the right personal trainer?

Finding the right personal trainer is not easy. How to find a personal trainer to help you make your workouts effective? How to choose the right personal trainer?

How to find a personal trainer to help you make your workouts effective?

Sometimes just going to the gym isn't enough. Find a personal trainer to help you develop a workout program that's right for you, guide you and criticize you from time to time to keep you from relaxing.

Finding the right personal trainer isn't easy, though. Some people rely too much on first impressions, so they are more likely to choose the trainer with the most pumped muscles. Often people have vague ideas about what they want from the classes and expect the coach to lead them in everything. And often they come across trainers who cannot properly motivate them. In all these cases, it is difficult to achieve a good result.

Finding a qualified personal trainer, like finding a gym, requires effort and the ability to make the right decisions.

It is important to know what you need from a coach

One of the biggest mistakes beginners make is not having a clear idea of what they want to achieve with their training. Experienced trainers say that before you begin training with a personal trainer, you need to assess whether the methodology is suitable for achieving your own goals.

Don't expect your coach to tell you what to do. Get a clear picture of what you want to do and have a coach help you find the right paths to achieving your goals.

You need to ask the coach if he has had the same clients before, and determine his view of the training process.

If a trainer immediately offers you a set of exercises, be careful, he is probably using you, first of all, as a source of income. The beginning of classes should be preceded by a detailed consultation. The coach should seriously consider your goals and assess your physical status.

Woman or man?

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The question that is relevant for many men is whether they will be able to feel comfortable in the process of training if their coach is a woman? Few men specifically look for a male coach. But there are quite good reasons, primarily psychological, why a male coach is more suitable for a man.

This problem comes from the nature of male consciousness and his perception of reality. The representative of the stronger sex likes to overcome difficulties, compete, and accept a challenge. A male coach is able to penetrate into the psychology of his ward and choose the right motivational approach to him.

For some men, it is easier to work with a male trainer because it makes it easier for them to concentrate on the training process. Others don't want to make their wives worry about their husbands having a female coach. But in most cases, gender is not critical in choosing the right exercise instructor.

It is necessary to get rid of stereotypes, experts advise. A woman coach can do her job just as well as a man. The trend of recent years suggests that more and more women are appearing among the best specialists in this field.

It is not necessary to look for a male coach because you have purely “male” health problems. A woman is also able to understand them and choose the right approach to training. The main thing is that you can find a common language with a coach, regardless of gender.

Where and how to find a personal trainer?

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If you have found a good gym, this is the best place to find the right instructor. Coaches working in commercial sports clubs have lower rates than in private establishments of this kind. Study the list of coaches of the sports club, pay attention to the specialization of each of them. For example, one might do strength training with lifting weights, the other might do specific exercises for people with disabilities.

If you prefer to work with a private trainer, then for your searches it is better to use the World Wide Web than advertisements in newspapers, because private trainers prefer not to spend extra money on placing such advertisements.

Having a certificate is an important point, because everyone with a pair of dumbbells can present themselves as a trainer. Make sure your personal trainer is certified by at least one of the government-level sports organizations.

But remember that an accreditation certificate is not a 100% guarantee of good coaching skills. Don't pay too much attention to a coach's education. It so happens that an instructor with an average level of knowledge, but who knows how to find common language with people, will be able to help you achieve the best results. Even the best coach in the world cannot help a person until he makes contact with him.

Do not neglect the recommendations of "seasoned" clients. This is often the surest way to find out which trainer is best for you. A prospective personal trainer should be prepared to provide a list of clients they have worked with. If a coach does not have such a list, it means that he either has little experience, or, worse, his classes with clients did not bring them good results.

You should also make sure that you are psychologically compatible with the coach. Nothing destroys the cooperation between the coach and the client more than personal hostility or discomfort in communication.

Classes with a personal trainer: the financial side of the issue

Having a personal trainer is expensive, especially if you use their services more than once a week. Prices depend on the experience of the instructor and the client's requests.

Even if you have a friendly relationship with the coach, do not forget that you are paying for his services. Irresponsible attitude to the training schedule, shortening the training time, the coach's ignorance of your needs - all this is unacceptable. The coach must do his job professionally and efficiently.

It is also necessary to conclude an agreement on the provision of services and an insurance policy. This must be carefully considered by both parties: both the client and the coach. According to the trainers, if the instructor is responsible for the preparation of the necessary documents, he looks like a professional in the eyes of clients, and they take the training program more seriously.

Coaching sessions will not continue all the time

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Many successful personal trainers say their role is not to be with the client all the time. They believe that a coach is needed only at a certain point in the training process in order to learn the exercises correctly.

The main task of the trainer is to help clients master the exercises so that they can do them on their own. Most people do not hire an instructor with the expectation that they will work with him three times a week for a long time. Most regular clients see their trainer once or twice a month to tweak their exercise program.

Everything should be expedient

The trainer should have a plan for each week in which he lists the exercises to do and the goals the client needs to achieve. You cannot turn training into demonstration performances. Remember that you are working exclusively for yourself. And if you need an incentive, offer joint training to a friend or good acquaintance. Thus, unnecessary financial costs can be avoided.