You just walked into your new gym, you feel victorious that you showed up, and you look around with excitement and curiosity. What now? There are many machines and weights to pick from, and you don’t know which one to try first. You’re not alone — this is a smart question to ask a fitness trainer to let you know what all the gym has to offer!
If you’re new to a gym (or just want to refresh your routine), working with a trainer can really help. Fitness trainers can:
- Take you around the gym.
- Teach you how to use different equipment safely.
- And help you design a fitness routine that matches your needs.
Can’t you afford a trainer? In many fitness centers, clients can visit a trainer at no expense, in small group settings, as often as they would like.
It can be intimidating to work out. It’s normal to have goals and be unsure how to reach them, And it’s perfectly normal to lack inspiration at times. A gym trainer will help you overcome your challenges and take you to a new height on your fitness journey.
Here are some roles and responsibilities of a fitness trainer that will help you achieve your goal:
1. You Don’t Know Where to Start
If you’re new to the workout, you do not know how complicated it is. Trainers know all that goes into a full routine, including cardio exercise, weight training, and flexibility training. A trainer can help you with the basics.
Here are a few other areas where a trainer can help you get started:
- Find the right activities: you can not yet know what workout will fit your body, schedule, or equipment. A trainer may suggest exercises that suit all of these areas.
- Maximize your time: A trainer will help you get the best out of an exercise while making sure you don’t overdo it.
- Set together with a reasonable program: A trainer can guide you when you start working out. And also help you find out how much exercise you can do at the beginning.
- Set a schedule: Before you get started, a trainer will help you find out what you can work on. They will help you know what you’re going to do on the days you’re not working with them.
2. You’re Not Seeing Results
If you’ve been exercising regularly for several weeks or months but don’t lose weight or achieve your targets, there are some ways a trainer may be able to help:
- Eval your current program: by looking at what you’re actually doing, a trainer may look at ways to improve or modify your exercises to make them more efficient and effective.
- Analyze your goals: A trainer will help you find out if your goals are practical.
- Help you stay motivated: Knowing that you have a professional appointment will help you feel inspired to workout during the week.
- Push you a bit harder: people sometimes don’t get success because they don’t work as hard as they can. It’s easy to chill when you’re on your own, so making someone challenge you (and cheer you on) will make a difference.
- Hold you accountable: a trainer will help you set your weekly targets and check-in daily and see how you achieve it.
- Teach you:: Whether you want to learn how to lift weights correctly or to learn a different workout to add to your routine, a trainer is a source of knowledge. You may believe you need to focus on cardio in order to lose weight, but you still need strength training and core training.
You may find that you have results — not the way you wanted them to be. A trainer can see the condition more clearly from the outside and offer you a new perspective.
3. You Need to Be Challenged
If you feel like you’re stuck or ready to take your workout to the next level, an experienced exercise trainer can help you find possibilities to enhance yourself by:
- Helping you find and prepare for competitive events: a trainer will help you find and train for activities such as a “Tough Mudder” (where you run around an obstacle course) or a local race.
- Pushing your limits: if you want to jump past a plateau, go heavy on your weights. A trainer will help you choose the right weight as well as spot you as you perform more challenging workouts.
- Becoming a fitness buddy: a trainer can even take part in a workout with you, add a competitive aspect to your workouts, or assist you with partner exercises.
4. You want to learn how to workout yourself
And if your goal is to make your own routines and exercise yourself, a trainer will help you find the right way to do a new exercise. This is especially true if you are new to strength training and need to practice. The trainer can:
- Taking in targeted exercises: This knowledge is gold. Knowing a number of exercises targeted at different muscles allows you to create your own workouts.
- Demonstrate good form: To get the best out of your exercises to prevent injuries, a trainer will give the advice to help you get your body in the right position to ensure that every move is made correctly (and safely).
- Educate you about muscles: learning about your muscles and how they work is important if you plan to work on your own at the gym.
5. You have a particular illness, injury, or condition
If you have a specific injury or illness, the doctor will want you to exercise — but how can you do that if you have pain or need to work around the injury?
This is where an experienced trainer comes in. Trainers are working with different kinds of people. Some trainers also have specialties that allow them to work with clients with special needs.
A trainer may be able to help:
- Build a program that fits in areas you need without causing new or re-injury and dealing with old or chronic injuries.
- Create a fitness schedule if you’re pregnant or wish to become pregnant.
- Exercise with chronic health problems such as asthma, heart disease, or diabetes.
- Improve your balance, core strength, and stability if you have had a fall or need to work on those areas.
- Overcoming pain in the back or neck.
6. You Want Supervision, Company, and Support During Workouts
And if you know how to work out and do so right, you might like to get a support and supervision trainer for you. A trainer will assist you with this:
- Being a fitness buddy: a mentor can do more than tell you what to do; they can lead you through your exercises and even do them with you.
- Holding you in line: if you know you’re starting to slacken on your own, a trainer could inspire you to work harder because you know they’re watching you right there.
- Motivating you: If you find it hard to work out on your own, having someone show up at your door (or having a meeting to visit a gym or a class) can inspire you to show up and do the work.
- Spotting you: If you carry very heavyweights, a trainer will help keep you safe and rack up your weights.
The Bottom Line
Remember, the trainers aren’t there to judge you; they’re there to support! Communicate openly with your trainer and do your hardest to follow their guidance — doing so will help you maximize your workout time effectiveness.
As usual, please contact your doctor before starting any fitness program.
