Connect with us

Fitness

How to choose the best personal trainer for your fitness goals — and budget

Published

on

How to choose the best personal trainer for your fitness goals — and budget

Irv Rubenstein holds a doctorate in exercise science and has run a personal fitness training studio for 35 years in Nashville, Tennessee. Obviously, he speaks positively about the benefits of using a personal trainer, and this goes for grizzled-gym goers as well as beginners.

“Most anybody can teach you how to do a bicep curl,” Rubenstein said in an interview with The Associated Press. “But only a few people can tell you how to do it if your shoulder’s hurting.”

It can be a maze finding the trainer who is best for you, Rubenstein acknowledged.

How much should credentials and education matter, or are personality and motivational skills more important? What about the cost? And how frequently should you use a personal trainer? These are just a few of the questions anyone who is searching for a trainer should ask.

“How do you discern who is best?” Rubenstein asked. “That which works best for you is the best. But finding that is the challenge.”

Advertisement

Education and credentials

In the United States — and in many other countries — there is no national or local government body that licenses trainers. Certification is typically issued by private entities, some more respected than others and many are in the business of generating income more than credibility.

The American College of Sports Medicine is the best known in the United States. In Canada, it’s the Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine.

Personal fitness trainer Richard Lamb, leads a group in an outdoor gym class in London, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. Credit: AP/Alastair Grant

“You probably should ask if the person is certified,” said Rubenstein, who runs STEPS Fitness. “I think that’s valuable, but I don’t think it’s essential. And you should ask about academic training.”

He also issued a caveat.

Advertisement

“If a person is getting all their information off the internet — to the extent you can discern that — I would avoid that person,” he said of a potential trainer.

Personality and motivation

Guy Andrews runs Exercise ETC. out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Like Rubenstein, he says trainers and clients have to jibe. Credentials are important, but a personality match is essential.

Personal fitness trainer Richard Lamb, gestures as he leads an...

Personal fitness trainer Richard Lamb, gestures as he leads an outdoor gym class in London, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. Credit: AP/Alastair Grant

“Primarily, it’s a service relationship,” Andrews said. “So, first you have to bond with the trainer. You’ve got to like them. The personality of me is paramount. I don’t care how well qualified someone is, how well educated they are. If you cannot enjoy working with them, the relationship is doomed to fail.”

Asking friends or gym operators for referrals could be helpful in your search. A good benchmark for a successful relationship is how many years has the referrer spent with their trainer?

“If clients have been with a trainer for eight or 10 years, that’s a good sign,” Andrews said. “Looking good in a tank top is not enough.”

Advertisement

Rubenstein injected another truth and laughed: “Most people who are working with a trainer for any length of time will tell you they are the best.”

Another good sign when rating trainers is whether they offer a “non-contractual relationship.” Meaning, you would not lose money if you discontinue the service.

“Then you have a trainer with integrity and confidence and probably the skills to help you,” Rubenstein said.

There is also a trainer’s style of motivation to consider. Rubenstein repeatedly said the quality of “compassion” was key in choosing the right person. But some may want a basic training drill sergeant to push them.

“The rah-rah military attitude might work for the young, the very fit,” he said. “But for the average person that type of behavior might not be motivating or stimulating.”

Advertisement

What’s the price?

Price is difficult to pin down. Costs vary by country and within countries by geographic region. In the United States you might pay $100-150 per hour in larger cities, maybe $50-75 in other areas. Rubenstein also said the cost compared favorably with manicures and similar personal-care services.

The cost can be prohibitive for some, Rubenstein said. It often eliminates the young and might favor older clients who have more spending power and need the service more.

“It weeds out the people who would like a trainer from those who need one,” he said.

How often with a trainer?

Andrews and Rubenstein said that beginners should meet with a trainer two or three times per week for the first six weeks. After that, once a week might be enough, or even once or twice a month for maintenance and evaluation.

“In terms of motivation, for the average person I don’t believe once a week is enough at the start,” Andrews said.

Advertisement

Rubenstein elaborated: “If a person is not accustomed to being in a gym, not comfortable with it or not feeling safe, twice a week with a trainer is a basic routine that will give them benefits — muscular, cardiovascular, balance, etc. Once they learn it, a person can go once a week or once a month. But that means they have to be motivated.”

Setting goals

So, you’ve found your trainer and are ready to get to work. Now what? Set some goals.

There are four main goals — depending on the client: weight management, overall fitness, special needs and overall health.

For each client, “the routines may intersect but the frequency, intensity and duration will vary,” Rubenstein said.

Setting goals in the initial interview was critical, Andrews said.

Advertisement

“If both parties are not on the same page when it comes to what they want, they’re doomed to failure,” he said.

A good trainer will recognize unrealistic goals, Andrews said.

“It’s often centered on how they want to look after hiring a personal trainer,” he said. “In my experience, a client whose focus is on how they will look after training — instead of how they will feel — is setting themselves up for disappointment.”

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Fitness

The overlooked key to fitness? Strengthening your joints and tendons

Published

on

The overlooked key to fitness? Strengthening your joints and tendons

Isometric exercises, like planks or lunge holds, require holding a position for an extended period. In these positions, your muscles are firing, but you’re also working on the alignment of the joint and working the tendon to hold that position, says Wulke. Ho adds that while ligaments and joints cannot technically be trained directly like tendons, you can support their health by strengthening the surrounding muscles and encouraging proper movement patterns.

Wulke often programs training days with a mix of goals for her athletes: “high” days for muscle and strength development and “low” days focusing on alignment, isometric holds, and mobility. But most people don’t have enough time to dedicate separate days for joint-specific work. Instead, try integrating these movements into your existing strength training sessions. Consider adding a few sets of isometric holds during your warm-up or as a finisher.

(Is cracking your joints bad for you?)

During your workouts, focus on the eccentric phase of your movements. Slow down and maintain control throughout the exercise to help you ensure proper form. You can also use higher reps and lower weight to reduce the risk of overstressing connective tissues.

Last, Hinson recommends incorporating low-impact exercises such as walking, cycling, Pilates, water aquatics, and yoga. “Taking care of and improving the structures that make the joints stronger and more flexible—it really will pay huge dividends in keeping [people] out of my office and away from injury,” he says.

Advertisement

Continue Reading

Fitness

Avoid doing these gym exercises now! Orthopaedic doctor reveals exercises that do more harm; the answers may shock you

Published

on

Avoid doing these gym exercises now! Orthopaedic doctor reveals exercises that do more harm; the answers may shock you

Did you know that some popular exercises that we all do at the gym to stay fit and healthy may be doing more harm than good? Dr Venkatesh Movva, an orthopaedic doctor trained in Sports Medicine, sat down with Ranveer Allahbadia for The Ranveer Podcast, where he talked about the exercise one should avoid at the gym. The answers will surprise you.

Dr Venkatesh Movva, an orthopaedic doctor, in a podcast with Ranveer Allahbadia.

(Also Read | Ranbir Kapoor ‘decides to clap’ in between his pullups. Guess how Alia Bhatt reacted?)

Avoid doing these gym exercises now!

In the clip shared on The Ranveer Show Podcast Instagram page, with the caption, “Dr Venkatesh on Which Exercises you should Avoid in Gym?”, Ranveer asks Dr Movva which exercises he would recommend gymgoers to avoid as an orthopaedic doctor. He suggested three exercises which are quite popular among gymgoers aiming to get fit, lose weight or stay healthy. According to him, one should not do overhead exercises, deadlifts, and crunches.

Dr Movva stated in the clip, “Overhead, heavy [exercise]. I mean, you can go stretch, but no military press, number one. Number two crunches; avoid them. Number three, deadlifts. (sic)” To this, Ranveer replied, “So, I’d replace the military press because it’s for the anterior delts with just front raises.” As an alternative, Dr Movva suggested people to ‘bend down’ during such exercises. “You can go bend down, raise it [weights], rather than overhead (sic),” he said.

Advertisement

While Ranveer, a fitness enthusiast himself, said that he would replace crunches with planks, Dr Movva suggested ‘planks and bridges’.

Lastly, for why one should avoid deadlifts, an exercise you must have seen many celebrities doing at the gym and fitness influencers pushing their followers to include in their routine, the orthopaedic doctor said, “I see more injuries than benefits with the deadlifts. If you are really well-trained and have a good muscle balance, do it. But if you are trying to get better, that’s one thing you may want to avoid. Because the risk of injury is very high. There are so many other exercises that you can compensate without doing these things.”

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Fitness

Woman who shed 54 kg shares 7 back and bicep exercises that helped transform her body

Published

on

Woman who shed 54 kg shares 7 back and bicep exercises that helped transform her body

Carrying excess fat in your back and arms can cause health concerns for many. Sorting out this issue is important, not just for how you look, but also for your general health and ability to move around easily. If you are on a weight loss journey and looking for exercises to help you target these areas, worry not. We have found seven exercises to help you develop and tone your back and bicep muscles. The routine was shared on Instagram by Meredith Hutson, who shed 120 lbs (approximately 54 kg) naturally. Check out the exercise that helped her transform her body.

Woman, who lost 54 kg, shares back and bicep workout that helped her in her transformation.

(Also Read | Avoid doing these gym exercises now! Orthopaedic doctor reveals exercises that do more harm; the answers may shock you)

Back and bicep workouts to try

In the video, Meredith suggested exercises like the Smith machine or barbell mid-grip rows, outer curl into Zottman curl, cable rear delt fly, straight arm pulldowns, reverse seated rows, cable hammer curls, and cable lat pulldowns. She also demonstrated how to do each exercise in the clip and showcased modifications she added to make the routine effective.

The fitness influencer also had an inspiring message for those trying to lose weight or tone their muscles. She said, “Nobody saw my potential the way that I did…” Check out the exercises.

Advertisement

According to Meredith’s video, each exercise targets different areas in your back and biceps. Talking about the Smith machine or barbell mid-grip rows, she said that the exercise targets your ‘middle back for a balanced development’. For the Zottman curl, she modified the exercise by adding an outer curl, which helped her target the long head of her biceps and forearms.

While the cable rear delt fly exercise (a personal favourite of the fitness coach) targets the real delts, upper back muscles, traps and rhomboid, the straight arm pulldown helps work out the rhomboid and ‘big muscles’ on the back, thus helping create the V shape.

As per Meredith, the reverse seated rows also target the rhomboid along with the traps, biceps, rear delts, and the ‘main muscle in our backs that helps us in doing pulling movements’. Lastly, the cable hammer curls work the entire upper arms ‘focusing on the front of the arms and the outside of the forearm’, while the cable lat pulldowns target ‘lats, rhomboid, traps, and biceps’.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending