The job of a personal trainer is to design an engaging exercise regime for you, help you with exercise technique, ensure you are working towards your health and fitness goals. Before beginning an exercise program it is important for you to set a meeting with you personal trainer and explain him/her your goals and objectives. These goals should be agreed and evaluated monthly with your personal trainer in order to progress.
WHO IS PERSONAL TRAINING FOR
Personal training is for everybody, but I would strongly recommend personal training for beginners, beginners can benefit more with personal training to learn exercise form and also why certain exercises are done. I personally am not disregarding personal training for advanced and seasoned individuals but I firmly believe the need is less unless their is specific sporting and physical targets they want to achieve.
WHAT SHOULD YOU EXPECT
When you look to work with a personal trainer, it is important that you understand the follow of work from a good personal trainer. Below I have provided is a step by step guide, if the steps are not followed you should ask yourself if you doing the right investment.
INITIAL MEETING: The personal trainer should sit down with you and gather information about your health history, goals, likes and dislikes, lifestyle and behaviour. Also conduct a basic fitness assessment to understand your status. If you require a medical clearance your personal trainer should produce a medical release letter to be signed by your doctor. In this meeting you and your personal trainer should agree on the specific goals of training, also the lifestyle modification you may require to achieve these goals should be discussed and agreed.
TRAINING: The personal trainer should send you a detailed exercise program he/she has prescribed to you by email or handed to you in hard copy, this is to ensure that you are aware of the program and you know how the training program will progress.
After the initial training day, the personal trainer should have informed you with the changes he/she will be bringing to the program prescribed to yourself, this happens based on the observations of the first session.
TIMING: A good personal trainer will have a policies of working for time, the personal trainer should be available on time allocated for yourself and should give undivided attention on a one on one status. A trainer who is late for the session should compensate an additional hour and if you are late you should expect to have the remaining time of your booked hour.
FOLLOW UP: Your personal trainer should be conducting a monthly follow up consultation meeting to see if the training program he/she prescribed is giving results. Also understand if progress is made through training.
As an individual it is also important for you to know that fitness is a lifelong process, it would not be a wise idea to depend on a personal trainer for the rest of your life. As a process of personal training I would suggest you communicate with your trainer learn the basics of going through an exercise program alone, this way you can reduce the contact hours with a personal trainer which will reduce the cost of training.