Ask The Gym Geek: Are Personal Trainers Worth Hiring? Read Our Answer…
Joe asked us:
Hello!
Do you [think that] personal trainers are worth investing in and hiring?
Or can you read and learn everything you need to know online?
The answer to this is ‘it depends’. And it actually depends on two things.
Firstly the quality of personal trainer, and secondly it depends on what you want (or need) out of a personal trainer.
Personal Trainer Quality –
Sadly a lot of personal trainers manage to get their certifications with very little time spent studying health & fitness. But – there are also the type of personal trainer where fitness is a passion and an obsession. These guys and girls love to research anything related to health and fitness – it is what they love to do. And in our experience these guys are going to teach you the right stuff. We are actually going to be having some guest post contributors from some highly knowledgeable personal trainers on this blog over the next few weeks – there are definitely some who know what they are talking about
Some personal trainers will try and get you on a treadmill and watch you for 30 minutes. This is (in our eyes) pointless, especially if you have gone to them to tell them you want to get stronger and bigger. Sure – do the cardio – but it doesn’t need a personal trainer watching you (especially at $50-100 an hour).
You will know if you have a good personal trainer if they insist you do good form, and if they themselves are definitely ‘in shape’ (actually – this isn’t always true… we know one fantastic personal trainer who doesn’t have much more muscle than your average person on the high street).
What you want – or need – out of a personal trainer
This can be the more important one. Even with basic certification most personal trainers are decent enough. What people hiring personal trainers really need is someone to motivate them. Someone to make them (safely) do ‘one more rep’. Someone to make sure they don’t give up too early. Someone to make sure they turn to the gym several times a week.
But can you learn all of this online?
Yes! With sites like ours, the body building resource, online fitness communities there is no way you would struggle to research and find answers to anything fitness related. But can they motivate you as well as a personal trainer, and give you direct feedback to your form…?
GymGeek
The admin staff at Gym Geek are all gym rats who love to share their fitness advice and knowledge!
I’m a personal trainer – and I 100% agree. They are great even for experts in fitness – its the motivation to do 1 more rep… the one more (if it is safe).
-mike