SJ- Personal Trainer Questions???

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-01-2006
SJ- Personal Trainer Questions???
3
Tue, 05-29-2007 - 9:20am

Hi SJ (and anyone else who uses a personal trainer)...

After a nice vacation full of lots of exercise, I'm struggling to keep it up back in "real" life. How often do you see your trainer, and when do you fit that (and other exercise) into your schedule? Are your sessions primarily weights/machines based? And how would you advise someone to identify a good trainer?

TIA,

Misha
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-08-2006
Tue, 05-29-2007 - 8:54pm

Misha,
I work with my trainer twice a week for an hour. I go to the gym right from work every night, and spend about an hour and fifteen minutes there. I start with cardio(usually bike) on the nights I meet with my trainer. One of the other nights I swim, one night I usually take a Pilates class, and the final night I do a combination of cardio (staimaster/bike) and weights.

When I joined my gym, I got two sessions with a trainer as part of my membership, and the membership director 'chose' for me. I picked the gym because it had an indoor and outdoor pool, and my plan was to swim three times a week. But I thought that it could be interesting to learn the equipment, and after two sessions, I was having such a good experience that I decided to give weight lifting a try. For the first six months, I met one night a week with the trainer, did 30 minutes on the bike on the second night, and swam the third. In the beginning, we used machines-they are easier because they don't depend as much on balance, and the weight can be increased at very gradual intervals. Over time, we moved to free weights (dumbbells/barbells) and the non-computer based machines. When I lifted once a week, we did a 'whole body' workout, but when I went to twice a week, the first night is upper body, second night is lower body. We always finish with an ab circuit.

My trainer talks to me about what I am doing exercise wise and food wise. He checks on whether I am having any pain, and makes adjustments when I am. He has made suggestions about how to improve my way of life, but he has not 'forced' me to do anything that I didn't feel ready to do.

I find the time because I am single and I am able to make this my priority-I just accept that I won't get home from work until 8:00, because I'll be at the gym in between home and work. I realize that that is a big luxury that most people can't do.

There are a lot of other trainers at my gym, and they are all nice, but also differnt. Mine focuses on weights-many of the others use cables/stability balls/poles. Becuase I like to lift 'heavy', I would now want to work with someone who could move heavy weights to set up a machine for me. But many women like to work with people who use the other kind of equipment because it is less intimidating. I kind of like that I work out 'with the big boys'. I can't lift what they can, but I like the male atmosphere in the area of the gym that I work out. But a lot of women don't. It's all about what feels comfortable to you.

If I were choosing now, I would find out what a trainer's specialty was. I'd also make sure that I was comfortable talking with them, and I'd want to know what their own workout routine is. And I woulld let them know that I want to 'try them out' for a few weeks, and if it didn't feel like a good match, I'd switch.

I hope this helps.
Best wishes
SJ
225-167-135

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-01-2006
Wed, 05-30-2007 - 1:01am

Thanks, SJ, that's exactly the sort of advice I was hoping you'd share.

Right now, I'm kind of intimidated at the idea that someone would be scrutinizing and evaluating my workout... even though it's their job to do so, and even though it'd help me move to a more reliable (and effective) workout schedule, which I really do want. So I think I'm moving slowly in that direction. The fact that you can attribute much of your success to having a good trainer is truly motivational. Still, mentally, I need to keep substituting the word "coach" for "trainer"... talk about ridiculously oppositional behavior! And I guess we know what sort of traits I'll be looking for ;-)

Thanks again!

Misha
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-08-2006
Wed, 05-30-2007 - 9:17pm

Misha,
I think its fine to think of a trainer as a coach.

I want to elaborate on what made me decide to keep working with my trainer-the fact that he is absolutely gorgeous was a small incentive...but what I loved was the fact that this great looking, very sweet guy was running all over the gym, getting weights for me, getting me water, checking on how I was doing, and every few minutes saying 'good job' or 'good work' or some other encouraging thing was just so much fun. I come from the kind of family where we were expected to do well, and the boss I had at the time, who I'd worked for for a long time, seldom made any positive comments(I knew he appreciated me, but he seldom said so). The experience of being praised was totally new to me and I have to say, I loved it. Even when he corrects me, he says things like 'That was good, but next time try to...' I actually changed my own management style to try to incorporate more praise, and people actually noticed and commented...

I don't feel 'evaluated' by him at all - motivated, supported, encouraged, taught-yes. But not at all judged (well, he does have what I think of as 'the hot dog' look when I've done something like eat a hot dog which he knows I know is not on my plan-but even then he'll say-well, I do that sometimes...'

I wish you luck in finding the right person because it has definitely been great for me.

SJ
225-167-135