Whether it's fashion or furniture, bespoke is always considered better. So when it comes to the all-important area of our health, why do we stick to one-size-fits-all group classes or muddle our way through gym sessions that may be doing more harm than good?
If you are thinking about getting back on the road to fitness, it's a good idea to invest in at least a few sessions with a personal trainer to develop a workout designed especially for you and your body's needs. "A personal trainer brings a wealth of information and experience that will help you make the most of your workout," says celebrity fitness trainer Matt Roberts, who helps many a star including Naomi Campbell, Amanda Holden and Mel C stay in shape. "Your personal trainer will keep you on track, know when to push you and when to let you relax."
Even if you can't afford to maintain an entourage like some of Matt's clients, it's worth your while to invest in a personal trainer to get you started. But, don't part with your dirhams just yet; let Matt explain why you could benefit from a personal trainer:
1. Tailor-made programme
A personal trainer can construct a specific programme geared towards your wants and needs, based on a thorough assessment that includes discussing your goals and targets, a detailed overview of your training or injury history, as well as obstacles that may have slowed progress in the past. With all this information, he or she then devises a programme just for you.
2. Perfect technique
It's very common for people to either learn the wrong technique or lose form during a set due to fatigue. Both of these issues actually slow progress and can also lead to acute or chronic injury. Working with a trainer allows you to not only learn the correct way to do exercises, but the trainer will personally adjust your form and technique until you've mastered the motions correctly. Your training, therefore, will be constructed so that your form improves in as little time as possible. Better movement while performing an exercise equals better results.
3. Maximum efficiency
A personal trainer will train movements rather than individual muscles, making your programme far more efficient. Most people today don't move enough, due to busy, sedentary lifestyles, and are always racing against time. A personal trainer will include exercises that involve multiple joints and multiple muscle groups to give you the best outcome within the available time.
4. Long-term focus
Every individual has different fitness goals - whether it's losing weight, staying in shape or targeting a problem area - and their own strengths and weakness. All of this needs to be taken into account when it comes to how long and how hard you train. It's not just the individual sessions you will benefit from, but how each session fits together into a long-term programme, and a personal trainer can devise the right training volume, frequency, and intensity, with your long-term goals in mind.
5. Move forward
A training plateau is when progress slows or stops. Everyone hits that point sooner or later when they do the same exercises for too long, over-train or don't allow their body to recuperate. A personal trainer, however, will ensure your workouts progress by using various techniques, from changing repetition range and tempo, to mixing up exercises.
6. Stay safe
A lot of people who train alone tend to go straight into their workout with little or no warm up or preparation and then leave straight after the session without a proper cool down. There's nothing more dangerous than not giving your body prep and recovery time. A personal trainer will always ensure you do a specific warm up that involves activation exercises, which essentially take your joints and muscles through a range of motions without the weights. Over time, this helps improve the range of motion in your joints and your stability. In addition to this, a trainer will ensure you do appropriate stretches and cool down after your workout.
7. Pushing limits
It's common to think that a workout is most effective when you're working as hard as you can, until you're too exhausted to continue. Wrong! Training hard isn't as important as training smart, and a personal trainer ensures that everything you do is directed towards achieving your exercise goals or improving your weaknesses. Not everything you do has to be hard, but it has to have a purpose. At the end of the session with a personal trainer you should always feel more energised and looking forward to returning the following day.
8. Extra support
Being an industry insider, a trainer can usually help you get connected to a network of professionals that you can trust to address any health concerns you may have that are outside their realm of their expertise. They could connect you with a physiotherapist, a nutritionist or a GP.
9. Main motivator
Staying motivated is probably the biggest challenge everyone faces with their fitness regimes, and a personal trainer plays a key role in this. People are motivated by different things and a good trainer has the skills to pick up on what motivates each client and to use that to help them stay on the wagon. By using techniques like setting small, achievable goals that set you up to do more, or just plain encouragement, a personal trainer can help you stay motivated to achieve your goals.
10. Lessons for life
One of the most important things when training is to understand what you are doing and why you're doing it. This helps to keep you accountable and makes you more likely to live a healthy lifestyle away from the gym. A personal trainer can make a big difference by teaching you and sharing knowledge that you can take away and apply in your day-to-day life. Time spent with a trainer will leave you not only knowing and understanding your own body better, but also armed with advice on being healthier, overall.
