November 2005 Picking The Right Personal Trainer With the holidays coming up, asking for a few visits with a personal trainer can be a fun and helpful way for you to meet your fitness goals. The following are some guidelines to consider when choosing a personal trainer: Do they have credentials? An Exercise Physiology/Science Bachelors or Masters? ACE (American Council on Exercise) certification? ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) certification? A good trainer should always get more out of you than you would get out of yourself. (They work you harder than you would work yourself....or totally kick your butt depending on your personality) If at first, you don't have complete confidence in your trainer or if your personalities don't click, make a switch. Or, if this is something totally foreign to you, maybe try 2 sessions and see how comfortable you are then. Set realistic goals and communicate them- Expecting your body to be transformed overnight is unrealistic. Be specific about what you want to achieve- whether it's weight loss, building upper or lower body strength, tightening up the mid section etc. Learn as much as possible- Ask questions until you understand how to do each exercise on your own with proper form. Your trainer should be customizing your workouts for your body type, explaining why these exercises are right for you and which muscles your working. He or she shouldn't be wasting time explaining every single machine in the gym. The manager/staff can do that. Use your sessions close together. If you wait a month to come back, it's easy to forget what you've learned. Make sure your trainer records the exercises and machine settings on paper so you know what to do when you come back to the gym on your own, or do some of the exercises at home. Overall, word of mouth recommendations are always excellent. From my own personal experience and Shape Magazine

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Copyright 2005 - Lisa Merrill