It’s the summer holidays!! Meaning that I have less than a
week until my friend’s wedding (bridesmaid duties, yay!) and less than a
fortnight until I’ll be sunning myself on the beach in Fuerteventura. I love my running but also wanted to work a
bit more on toning too so, on a whim, I booked an hour long session with a
personal trainer at my local gym. The
hour cost me £30 and was well worth the money- I’ve got plenty of new exercises
to play around with and don’t feel like I need another session for some time
whilst I master and enjoy this new programme.
So, today’s post is 10 reasons why you should try a personal trainer
yourself:
1.
If you’re
making any of my recipes and eating better, the next logical step on top of
this is exercise! A personal trainer
asks what you’d like to achieve and then puts together a range of exercises for
you. Even if you’re a beginner, they can advise you how to get started whether
it be very light exercise or building on a higher level of fitness.
2.
They are a friendly face (not a crazed army
sergeant-like figure) who will push you.
I run 12 miles a week and am fit, but my session left me out of breath
and totally knackered- I was pushed to my limits with loads of encouragement
too.
3.
They know their stuff. I tend to spend about half an hour running on
the treadmill but my personal trainer (ooohhhhh, how posh) gave me a range of
exercises that kill two birds with one stone, meaning that as well as toning
your muscles, they form your cardio exercise as well. The exercises- such as
squats with weights, planks and press ups- actually get you out of breath as
you do them, meaning you’re still burning fat and getting fitter as you tone.
4.
They will surprise you. Apparently, all the sit ups I was doing were
a waste of time. I’ve now got two new exercises which tone and define my abs
(and arms at the same time!) in much less time than I was spending on sit ups
and crunches. A lot of the exercises we
think are effective are, in actual fact, not so. A personal trainer can clarify
this for you, meaning you can ditch the useless exercises in favour of more
efficient ones.
5.
You will learn a lot from them in just one
session- take a notebook and pen or jot down the exercises as you go on your
mobile phone.
6.
No access to gym equipment? No problem!
My personal trainer gave me exercises where with the majority of them, I
could do them at home without any equipment and just my body weight to act as
resistance. This is definitely a winner
if you don’t want to sign up at a gym and have to pay the monthly membership
fees.
7.
When it comes to gym equipment, a personal
trainer can show you how to use it properly and crucially, how much weight you
should be lifting. They are very aware
of our female phobia that if we so much as touch some weights, we will turn
into Arnold Schwarzenegger. That’s
really not the case and lifting a decent amount of weight (that your trainer
will advise you on) is crucial to help you tone up.
8.
Personal trainers will correct your
technique. Turns out I’d been struggling
more with press ups than I actually needed to because my technique was
wrong. A personal trainer will fine tune
your technique so that you are performing the exercise correctly and also
safely so that you avoid injury. My
trainer pointed out that my lower back sagged a little when I was doing press
ups and warned me about this so that I could avoid a back injury-I wouldn’t
have known otherwise!
9.
They give you a whole new routine to try,
meaning if you’re stuck in a gym rut...
10.
Going to the gym becomes fun again! I’ve quit with the million sit ups in favour
of my usual run followed by my new exercises. They are more varied, effective
and quicker! I’m well and truly hooked and going to the gym doesn’t feel like
such a drag anymore.
Happy exercising!
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