The Benefits of Working with a Personal Trainer

It can be said that most successful people have benefited from working with a good coach and in the arena of health, a qualified personal trainer can be just the ticket.

Although it's now a well-known occupation, most people aren't sure how working with a personal trainer can help them until they begin to reap the rewards.

A personal trainer is hired for a specific purpose: it could be for weight training, nutritional advice, core muscle training, aerobic or anaerobic fitness, running, swimming, football or another specific skill, sport or event. There are specialists for each of these.

The health benefits of strength training have been well publicized. Increased strength, lower body weight, decreased risk of diseases, lower body fat, improved physical appearance, reduced instances of depression, more positive self-esteem, better sleeping patterns and more energy and stamina just to name a few.

Personal trainers are obtainable for all populations. Whether you are an athlete trying to get that competitive edge, a body builder training for competition, suffering from osteoporosis or arthritis, lacking energy and muscle tone or wish to make good on your resolution to lose weight this year for the last time, hiring a qualified personal trainer might be the very best investment you can make.

There are several misconceptions about personal trainers. One is that training has to happen in a gym. Many people now have exercise equipment in their homes and have trainers come to them to either write monthly programs and/or update their current routine to make sure that the body is being properly challenged. There are others who offer online training and/or wellness coaching over the phone. Whatever the specific need, you can find someone qualified to assist you. The other misconception is that a personal trainer simply counts reps and tracks your weights. The truth is, that effective training requires knowledge of both human musculature and training methodology. The following represents what can and should go into a training session.



*Assess your flexibility, balance and strength. Getting a proper initial assessment along with setting and evaluating your goals and needs is the first step in prescribing an appropriate resistance and exercise program. It also provides a point of reference for tracking progress.



*Demonstrate the proper form, technique and intensity. Proper form and weight instruction is imperative to avoid injury and meet the demands of the individual. The timing of the lift, the number of repetitions on each exercise and the sequence of the exercises all impact the way the muscle is worked.



*Systematically make changes in the amount of weight lifted and provide spotting when necessary. Many people stop short of their goals because they just don’t move beyond what they think they are capable of lifting. A personal trainer monitors the lift and provides proper spotting and can offer encouragement and acknowledgment of a job well done! Knowing when to push or when to stop can make all of the difference.



*Provide education, support and variety. Knowledge of the basic science of building muscle and/or losing fat improves your ability to make positive choices by understanding how it effects your body: when and what to eat to make the most of your workout the best times for fat loss the importance of proper hydration and the benefits of sleep just to name a few. Monitoring and sharing progress, to make sure your body is continually adapting can be reason enough to have a personal trainer working with you.



*Provide adherence through scheduling appointments. There is a level of commitment and accountability when you have someone to meet and answer to. The trainer will create your training schedule to meet the requirements of your program/goals and keep you on track. The key to making significant changes is patience and perseverance. Just a little bit of effort makes a huge impact in your overall health.



*Monitor the progress in your body composition. Body fat testing and measurements are key components if your goal is to lose fat or build muscle. By periodically testing the body composition, through skin calipers or Bio-Impedance testing, the body fat percentages and muscle mass can be determined. This is a better indication of what changes are occurring internally. The scale weight gives you only a part of the picture.



*Prescribe the proper cardiovascular workout. Depending upon your goals, knowing what and how to train is imperative to your success. For example, if your goal is fat loss, the trainer should first determine your target heart rate. Working greater or less than your target heart rate can defeat the purpose of fat loss or muscle building therefore it is important to know the extent of training required. Specific sport training may require short busts of sprints, plyometrics (jumping) or long distance endurance running.



Understanding human physiology, listening to the goals and issues of the client, and customizing an effective training program to achieve results is the key function and purpose of a personal trainer. If you are serious about your health, you owe it to yourself to interview an hire a personal trainer.

Cynthia Carse Brown is founder and owner of Cynergy Coaching & Training in Whitman MA. Cynergy offers a whole host of services including private personal training, nutritional programming and life coaching. Appointments are available in person, on line or by phone.

Cynthia has effectively utilized her life experiences of achieving and maintaining a 120-pound weight loss in order to create a unique program to help others.

“My goal is to help ease the needless frustration people experience in their desire to become healthier. It takes a different approach and a fundamental shift in thought to alter deep-rooted beliefs. We are depriving ourselves of so much that the need to fill the void with food, alcohol, drugs, caffeine, work, etc., is the way we have learned to nurture and refill what is empty and missing in our lives."

Cynthia specializes as a Food Energy Coach, Body-for-Life® Success Coach™ and is a Life Coach with the Co-Active Training Institute. She is a Certified Personal Trainer & Fitness Counselor.

You can contact Cynthia at Cynthia@cynergycoaching.com or 617-962-0257 to set up a complimentary consultation. You may seek additional information from her web site: www.CynergyCoaching.com.