You need a Trainer

“I don’t think I need a trainer”, you say to yourself, “I can do it on my own.  I’m just going to pick up the latest issue of Men’s Health and follow the featured program for the month.”   The new program calls for:

Barbell Squat 4×10

Chin 4x 10

Lunges 4x 10

Bentover Row 4×10

Rest 180 seconds between sets and repeat 4 times

“No problem”, you think, “I used to do squats and chins years ago!”

So you dive into the program and you notice while you are squatting that your back is getting really tight. But you are so motivated to get into great shape you avoid the warning signs and you keep going.  BOOM! You hear something pop – there goes your back! You just popped a disc and you are lying on the gym floor and looking at months of rehab. What a bummer. Now you are thinking to yourself, “Maybe I should have hired a Trainer!”

These are what I call the fine points of personal training. A qualified Trainer will access the level at which you should start your workouts, and analyze your technique to make sure you don’t incur any injuries.  Take the person squatting in the preceding example – was there too much weight on the bar? Were his knees buckling inward while squatting?  What about his foot position? Was the bar placed properly on his back? Was he looking down while squatting? Was he rounding his back while squatting? The list of important technical elements goes on and on, and this is just a single exercise. You are NOT going to master all of this after simply reading a magazine article (even if you are both athletic and intelligent).

Furthermore, the person probably wasn’t even physically prepared to squat in a safe and proper manner yet for a number of reasons. At my gym we never let a new client squat in their first phase of training because they first need to improve their structural balance to ensure they are physically READY to squat safely!

What is your goal? Identify a measurable goal to be achieved in a specific period of time, and then determine how much time you have to commit to your objective. Then really ask yourself if this is a realistic goal within that period of time given the amount of time you are willing and able to commit to the task.

For example, a guy came into my office and said he wanted to lose thirty pounds in eight weeks. I said it could be done, but I wanted to know his level of commitment. He said that he was extremely busy with work so he could only train twice per week with me. I told him I could work with that, but asked him how much time he was prepared to train on his own? He said that’s it – twice each week with me and no training at all on his own. I told him that unfortunately I was not able to help him.

He looked surprised that I was refusing to take his business and he asked me why. I told him there was no way he could realistically lose thirty pounds of fat if he was only prepared to train twice per week. I don’t care how great your diet is, you have to step it up to a minimum of four training sessions per week in addition to maintaining very good eating habits.

To make a long story short, I showed him the fine points of what is realistic in terms of his commitment and goals. He came back six weeks later and we draft a training plan and after three months and the loss of thirty-five pounds of fat he is a happy man.

I just wanted to shed some light on the benefits of hiring a professional to help you through the fine points of training. Pro athletes need a coach, so why don’t you too? I will personally not hesitate to hire a coach to help me on the fine points in the areas I believe I am lacking. Time is money and injuries suck!

One last thing – for any of you out there who read magazines while on the treadmill – THIS IS NO WAY TO TRAIN IF YOU ARE SERIOUS ABOUT ACHIEVING YOUR GOAL!  It’s not going to happen!!!  Put down the magazine and get serious!  Just one of my pet peeves that drives me crazy…