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Dear World’s Fittest Man,

I’ve been going back to the gym for the first time in awhile. I feel good about a workout routine that I got from reading a few different fitness books and magazines. But sometimes I feel a little intimidated because everyone seems to have a personal trainer. Do I need to have a personal trainer to get fit?

Dear Intimated by Trainers,

It’s good to hear you’re getting back to they gym. I know it’s always hard to start up after you’ve been away for awhile. I also think it’s great that you’ve done your homework and bought some magazines and books for guidance. You’re way ahead of the game.

As a personal trainer myself, I see many folks go into the gym without any idea of what to do. Guys especially like to head to the bench press, throw some weights on and lift. Then they do a couple dumbbell curls and next thing you know, bam, they’re ready to hit the showers.

I’ve noticed that women tend to do the opposite. They seem intimidated by weights and head straight for the stairmaster because they think it has the best effect on toning up the butt.

Whether you’re male or female, you want to go into the gym with goals and a plan of action. If you don’t, you’ll end up wasting your time, and maybe even doing more harm than good.

First, decide on a few goals. Do you want to focus on taking inches off your waist or increasing the size of your pecs? Do you want to train for a 5k running race or just stay fit? In any event, you need a plan. If you’re training for a race your workout plan is going to be much different than if you’re just toning up.

This is where a personal trainer can help. A trainer has experience helping people figure out what their fitness goals are and the best way to achieve them. If you’re brand new to fitness, a trainer can help you get started on learning how to use some of the equipment, too. Some people like to use a trainer more for motivation and support than anything else. That’s OK too.

Much of the information you can get from a trainer you can also get from a good fitness book (like my upcoming book The World’s Fittest YOU!). A good fitness book should have easy-to-follow instructions and photographs on how to perform all the different fitness activities. It should also give you a lot of different plans, tools and options for developing a varied workout program since doing the same workout over and over again is likely to get you bored and isn’t going to get you the results you want. In some cases, a good fitness book is almost like getting your own personal trainer, and it’s a lot cheaper too.

If you do decide to use a trainer there are a couple of things you should keep in mind. Your trainer should have:

• certification by a legitimate organization like The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), The American Council on Exercise (ACE) or The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
• an academic degree in a fitness related field such as exercise physiology, physical education or some other health related field.
• one or two years working with clients in a gym or health club.
• a good personality…you’re going to be paying for one-on-one time together so make sure you get along.
  

For more information on finding a personal trainer, check out the American Council on exercise website: www.acefitness.org

© Joe Decker 2003

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