Custom Fitness Plans

Unless you've got a recommendation from a friend, finding and deciding on a personal trainer takes a great deal of time and effort. Even when you have an excellent referral from someone you trust, you still might not be as compatible with the trainer as your friend is for a number of reasons.

As a personal trainer in Scottsdale, Arizona, I have spent a great deal of time around personal trainers. I've watched many training sessions, many good and some not so well.

Keep these points in mind when you're deciding on a personal trainer:

Do not strictly judge a fitness trainers ability to help you get you fit by his or her body alone. That should perhaps be qualified by mentioning that simply because a trainer's body is statue-like, it does not necessarily mean they understand how to get you there also. On the contrary, if a so-called trainer is quite out-of-shape, do not think 2 times about walking away.

It's tough to know in advance, although the initial meeting should tune you in: will the trainer really listen to you? To what actually motivates your fitness goals? Are they worried about what your preexisting injuries are? You may need to know that they will respect your intensity threshold while you adjust to getting back into good shape. A trainer who really listens will probably be less likely to get you injured as well.

Take into account that all certifications are not equal. Virtually all personal trainers have opinions about what certification is the top qualifier. And more often than not, it's the one they have; I chose the American College of Sports Medicine certification because it's the test that frightens would-be personal trainers the most. Since my college background is in English, I needed to make sure that I had among the most respected certs out there. The test feels like a mid-level college physiology final. The ACSM typically requires a few months of preparation. On the contrary, you will find other certifications that a trainer can get in weekend. My personal top-2 most respected certifications are the ACSM as well as the NASM.

Ensure that the trainer's gym is close to you. This might seem obvious but it can really make life -and results- difficult. You do not need the additional stress. Your sessions will suffer when you are consistently late.

Personal trainers will be only personal trainers. Unless they have other education, they're not expert nutritionists, qualified chiropractors, MDs or naturopaths.

Do your personalities mesh? Make sure they do. As with folks generally speaking, some trainers are certainly self-absorbed. You might end up listening to your trainer rambling on and also on about their personal life while you're pushing yourself to finish that last exercise. Which really can happen. Will they make personalized workouts for you? It's really a great idea to take the individual up on a cost-free session or consultation first.

Professionalism is essential. This is especially true due to the closeness that may develop between clients and their trainers. You will need to feel like your trainer is respecting the confidentiality of your relationship.

At the end of it all, always remember: there isn't any magic personal fitness workout formula, and also a decent exercise routine is not usually rocket science. It's my feeling that personal training (use Diigo) is a little more of an art than a science. You may be mostly confident that if you have selected a personal trainer that mostly knows what they're doing, you should make much more progress than you imagine possible... which is if you show up regularly.