Working with a personal trainer provides a variety of benefits that can help you maximize your fitness and weight-loss goals. In addition to motivation, a personal trainer provides you with information on the best exercises to achieve specific fitness goals, proper technique to avoid injury, and nutrition information to help fuel workouts, build muscle and lose weight.
Better Goal Planning
A personal trainer can help you map out the best fitness plan to help you achieve your goals. Depending on what shape you are in when you start working with your trainer, he can help create short-term, mid-range and long-term goals, changing the volumes, loads and intensities of your workouts as you improve your fitness. A personal trainer can also help you set realistic weight loss, muscle building or conditioning goals and help you track your progress.
More Effective Workouts
A fitness professional will help you create individual workouts that maximize your benefits. For example, depending on what your goals are, your trainer will show you the proper way to warm up, the correct amount of weight or intensity to use for each exercise, the optimal number of repetitions and sets of an exercise to perform, or the most efficient durations and intensities of cardio routines for you. A personal trainer will also show you how to properly cool down and stretch after each workout to help you improve flexibility and decrease your muscle stiffness and soreness after workouts. A trainer will also know when to switch your workouts to avoid hitting a plateau.
Proper Technique
Your trainer will show you the correct technique for each exercise you do to help you maximize its effectiveness and avoid traumatic or repetitive-stress injuries. For example, many people who lift a weight let it drop back down after the uplift. A trainer will make you lower the weight slowly to get the benefit from these eccentric muscle contractions that provide more muscle-building benefit.
Increased Motivation
You may be more likely to perform those last few reps or jog those last few minutes if you have a workout partner urging you on. A personal trainer can also give you information regarding your progress you might not understand yourself, such as why you seem to be hitting a plateau. You will also be less likely to skip a workout if you have a paid, scheduled appointment, or someone shows up at your door for a weekly workout.
Nutrition & Diet Guidance
Many personal trainers get education in nutrition as part of their certification, or can refer you to a dietitian they work with. A personal trainer might be able help you design a diet program to help you lose weight or meet other fitness goals, or at the very least give you a number of tips for healthy eating.