Getting the Most from a Gym Personal Trainer - Part 3

Be sure your trainer takes a series a baseline measurements that can be used to track your progress besides YOUR WEIGHT. Resting heart rate, percent body fat, a complete set of body part measurements, before photos, and even degrees of flexibility can all be used to demonstate and encourage your progress. It is not uncommon to see a temporary increase in weight when your body adds muscle prior to your metabolism speeding up and burning off the fat. This can be discouraging in the early phase of training and progress in other measures can give you the necessary confidence to keep going.

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Getting the Most from a Gym Personal Training Session: Part 2

If you are signing up for the first time or renewing a membership, try to negotiate one or more free sessions to be included in your package. Try talking to the membership folks to find out which trainer might be a good fit with you. Ask around and see if you can observe all or part of another member's session. This will give you an idea about the personality fit with the trainer. Again, as much exposure to the trainer you can get prior to committing to a package, the better. And I DO recommend committing to a package. You are more likely to get into routine and gain momentum if you enroll in a group of sessions (many trainers have minimum sessions anyway.

Getting the Most from a Gym Personal Training Session: Part 1 - VARIETY

Whether you are a new member or just needing motivation to get over a slump, keep the following in mind when you hire a personal trainer at your gym. In my opinion, eventual independence from the trainer should be a primary goal. It is not reasonable to have your workouts completely reliant on their presence as you are likely only going to be signed up for a limited number of sessions. With that in mind, the exercises should concentrate on those devices and machines that are available and do not need a spot/support person to accomplish. Strange and awkward balancing tricks with bands and balls are not practical as part of your long-term training regimen. You should not look like an audition-gone-wrong for Cirque du Soleil. Ideally, you will have them teach you about your body’s major muscle groups and demonstrate a variety of the options for working them (cable and pin machines, dumbbells, barbells, etc.). When the gym is overcrowded on a Monday night, you will be far more nimble to move about and find a free device (this will avoid discouragement during such busy times). Your diverse knowledge of the available options will keep your workouts interesting and avoid boredom and plateaus.