By Jenny Gusella
Certified Personal Trainer, @jennykgoose
There are tons of great ways to stay in shape, whether you go it alone creating your own workouts or watching online videos, take a group fitness class, or work one-on-one with a personal trainer. Personal training is among the more foolproof ways to reach your goals because of the individualized attention and accountability it provides, but is it the right choice for you? The following guidelines will help you decide if you’re on the fence.
- Is fitness a priority for you? We are all busy. Even the most dedicated fitness fanatic will have times where staying in shape slips on their priority list. Take a moment to weigh how important your fitness goals are to you, and if you think you’re willing to regularly fit workouts into your schedule (and budget!) then hiring a personal trainer could be something to consider.
- Do you have a semi-regular schedule? The advantage of group classes is that they take place with or without you, so it’s easy to pop in whenever you have a free hour. Personal training will be more structured. If you know your schedule will be somewhat regular, allowing you to meet at least weekly, then personal training may be a good option.
- Are you unsure of your form or have a history of injury? For those with little to no past gym experience it can be intimidating and overwhelming to join a group fitness class. It’s more difficult to get one-on-one attention in a larger group, and you may find that you feel like you can’t take full advantage of the workout because you’re feeling a little lost on how to perform the exercises. Personal training is a surefire way to brush up on your form, learn what weights you are capable of using, and also learn about ways to strengthen up any muscular weaknesses you have. This is perhaps the biggest advantage of personal training.
If you answered yes to one or more of the questions above, maybe personal training is the way to go. No matter what your situation, if you are considering hiring a personal trainer the easiest thing to do would be to set up a meeting to talk about your goals, schedule and history, and see if you align well with that trainer. Just like any relationship, you’ll click better with some trainers than others and it may take a bit of searching to find someone right for you.