Exercise is something we know about-we need to exercise safely.
A personal trainer is someone who works with you on a one to one basis either at home or in a gym.
The advantage of having a personal trainer come to your front door is that there are no excuses!!
Finding a good personal trainer who has the knowledge, experience and expertise can be hard -shop carefully as
you will be working with someone who wil be guiding you to better health.
Few pointers. There are many many trainers out there willing to take you money and make wonderful promises. Don't be
fooled. You will be doing the hard work once they walk out the door.
- The best trainers are the ones who have studied at university exercise science or a related subject or have done a proper
course like YMCA . It is very easy to hand over £1000 to a company that in a few weeks says here is your personal trainer
certificate. Proper training for them ensures you receive safe structured training that is evidence based.
- Check what updates they have had.
- Don't hand over money for a block of sessions at your first session. Your first session and those for the first month
are early stages and if they are pushy about "buy a block of 10 sessions" and it keeps coming up- walk away. It is normal
to pay a trainer for a month in advance or per session. If you don't give them 24 hours notice and cancel you may well be
charged for the lost session.
- If you have an eating disorder -tell them.They should not be giving you nutritional advice without specialist support
and back up. ie liaising with your team. However be honest about what you are eating as it will impact on your session. arriving
at a session having eaten just one apple is not the best idea. If you have anorexia you will need to get clearance from GP
that working with a trainer is ok. It is a very good way to exercise safely-working with someone skilled but not if
you are extremely underweight.
- Check they are fully insured. If you hurt yourself in a session because of something they asked you to do and then need
physio or time off work- if they are not insured you will have to pay.
- Generally a good trainer won't ask you to do anything that is too advanced for your fitness level . They should have done
a full assessment which ideally would be a whole session in itself.
- They should have all the equipment they need for a session.
- Be honest with your trainer. They are there to help you and work with you.
- .
- .It is the interpersonal stuff. If you don't get on -find someone else. Exercise is for health and pleasure!! There should
be some laughs on the tough journey too.
- The rewards will come however will reflect on how much both you grafted and also what your trainer put in. You want someone
who motivates you.This is as important as their qualifications.
