POSTED ON 30 AUGUST 2010 BY BRODRICK KENT

 Many people today are making a conscious decision to make exercise a part of their lifestyle and regular routine to help build health and to maintain a healthy body. It is widely recognised that a balanced exercise program of strength, fitness and flexibility will help lower blood pressure and cholesterol, help manage your weight, strengthen bones, improve sleep, increase energy levels and make you look and feel great!

However, for someone new to exercise, getting started can be a little overwhelming especially if the last time you participated in any structured physical activity was in high school PE class or sport. To ensure your exercising experience is a positive one and to avoid your motivation dwindling after your first exercise session, consider hiring a personal trainer to design you a program specific to your needs.

Today personal training is very popular and affordable. Using a personal trainer will fast track your results by teaching you correct technique and providing structure and monitoring progressions on programs tailored to your needs. The following are some benefits and tips for starting personal fitness training and to ensure you find a personal fitness trainer that suits you and your needs.

A professional personal trainer can conduct a full baseline assessment that may include a health questionnaire, body composition, strength test, core functionality, range of motion and diet and lifestyle analysis. Assessments are a positive way to identify your needs and any thing that may need to be addressed before structured programming begins, such as corrective exercise to rehabilitate an existing injury.

Working with a fitness trainer can help you stay motivated and can also keep you accountable. Results are generally just on the other side of your comfort zone and the extra push, motivation and encouragement is very helpful, especially when you have just finished a long day at work and the couch or bar stool are the first thing that springs to mind.

Changing your program appropriately, will not only keep training interesting, but will ensure maximum results. Humans are designed to adapt very quickly “that, which doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger.” An exercise program that maybe initially hard, becomes easier in a matter of weeks. To avoid a training plateau, working with a fitness trainer who can design programs to continually challenge you will yield the best results.

Choosing the right fitness trainer is important so that you get exactly what you are after. If you have a specific goal such as weight loss it would be advised to interview your potential personal fitness trainer first to make sure he/she has the experience in the area of diet and weight loss. Ask for a client case study and read some testimonials. Skills and experience vary in the personal training and fitness industry, so by asking a lot of questions should make you feel more comfortable about using a particular fitness trainer. Not only does your personal trainer need to be results based, it would be important that you get on well, especially if you are going to be spending some considerable time with this person.

Personal training works differently for everyone depending on your goals and budget. You may be interested in using a fitness trainer several times a week, or it might be more economical for to see your personal trainer once a fortnight. Either way, using a personal trainer with some form of regularity will give you clarity, consistency, support, motivation, education, structure and accountability.

Brodrick Kent