Personal trainers are often people with a certain enigma. Most people tend to have a love/hate relationship with them and they tend to be intimidated by personal trainers. Although they make you work more than they allow you to enjoy your workout, they’re there to push you and get you to your healthiest version.
Here are a few things that your personal trainer wishes you knew – from food to your relationship with them and your actual workouts:
1) We’re really not that scary
Personal trainers acknowledge that both they and the gym tend to make people nervous, but they also want you to know that it’s perfectly understandable. “Just because you haven’t worked out in a while or are self-conscious, doesn’t mean we don’t understand,” says Pat Divilly, who has previously set up his own gym and now runs online classes. Personal trainers have been there. They’ve also had days where they haven’t felt like gym or haven’t worked out in a while. They’re human too, so they understand.
2) Muscles come in pairs
It’s important to remember that you have muscles on both sides of your body and every muscle has a mate that works in the opposite way. To avoid imbalances and injuries, you need to make sure to give equal attention to all muscles on both sides of your body.
3) Eating right has to be a lifestyle change
Personal trainers often see people coming to them for a training program and an eating plan but then slack off in the eating department after a month or so. Eating is something you do on a daily basis for your entire life so you can’t make a change for a short period of time and expect the change to last longer. Eating right is a lifestyle change and a long-term commitment.
4) It’s all up to you
Personal trainers are there to motivate and guide you, and to hold you accountable, but at the end of the day, it’s up to you to do the work. “We can’t hold a gun to your head and force you to show up, or do 5 more reps. You still have to do the work,” explains Divilly. The results will come from your body, so the work has to come from your body too.
5) A workout isn’t an excuse to pig-out
Just because you’ve done a really intense workout with your Personal trainer, doesn’t mean you can binge on chips or sweets when you get home. As previously mentioned, eating right is a lifestyle change so you need to follow through, even after you’ve worked really hard. It does, however, make sense to reward yourself, so choose something healthy that you really enjoy, like a sweet fruit salad or handful of your favourite nuts.
6) Don’t take yourself too seriously
Yes, a Personal training program and eating healthy are serious and if you’re serious about getting fitter and healthier, you’ll take the commitment seriously; BUT don’t be too hard on yourself. Make allowances for the days where you really just don’t feel like working out, or the days where you’ve had a slightly unhealthier indulgence. By acknowledging that you’re human, you’re more likely to pick yourself up and keep going when you do slip.
