Should I Get a Personal Trainer?

“Should I get a personal trainer?” If you’re asking yourself this question, then you probably have a lot of other questions like, “how do I choose the right trainer?”, “how much does a personal trainer cost?”, “what types of trainers are there?”, “should I try a group class?”, the list goes on. We hear you and we’ve got some answers for you coming up, but let’s start with your first question. There are a couple of things to consider when you’re thinking of hiring a personal trainer or attending a group class.

What are your fitness goals?

Are you interested in gaining muscle, losing weight, or hitting a performance goal in the gym? Then it may be time to hire a personal trainer. A large majority of active people follow online programs that are designed for the masses, or use Youtube videos, personal research, and online resources to program their workouts at the gym. We are fortunate to have so many resources available to us, but when you are working toward a specific goal, it’s helpful to have a trained professional who is writing workouts designed specifically for your ability level and goals. If you are attempting to hit a specific goal, like compete in a show, hit PR’s on specific lifts, or lose a certain amount of weight, we would recommend working with a professional.

Are you switching training styles?

You may have been super into HIIT workouts and are looking to get more into bodybuilding. Or maybe you’ve done a lot of running and cardio in the past, but you’re ready to give CrossFit a try or visa versa. If you’re switching up your training style, it might be smart to hire a coach or personal trainer. Even if you’ve been consistently exercising on your own for a long time, changing up your training methodology can be really confusing and can even lead to injury if you aren’t fueling appropriately or moving with proper technique. If you’re ready to take your fitness game to a new arena, definitely look into hiring a coach.

Have you lost interest in working out?

It happens to the best of us! If you’ve been doing the same workouts in the same gym by yourself, day in and day out, it’s easy to lose interest in working out. Sometimes a loss of interest in exercising is due to overtraining, but often we just need a change of pace and stimulus. Working with a personal trainer, even for a short time, can help make working out fun again because 1) they LOVE fitness and they love sharing that with their clients 2) they’re trained to program diverse workouts with exercises you may not be familiar with and 3) they give you a new accountability in the gym. You’re paying for their time, and they are holding you to your goals, which means you have double the accountability that you had before. But don’t just take our word for it!

Meet Chris, Red Leaf’s newest Brand Ambassador. Chris is a trainer at F45 Training in Fishers, IN and has been training people for decades. Here’s what he has to say about fitness and being a trainer:

“Fitness means different things to everyone. What it means to me is being the absolute best version of myself physically and mentally. I want to be as strong as I can be, I want the endurance to push through when others quit, and the mental toughness to persevere when things get tough!

I started training people when I was in college and then took a break from it while I went to law school. After law school, I started working in law enforcement for the federal government, but I missed training so I started doing some individual training and taught boxing/kickboxing on the side. I had always wanted to be in law enforcement but I started to realize my real passion was health and fitness. So I got out of government service and started working with F45. Now I get to help people on their fitness journey every day and I’ve never been happier. Helping people get healthier and seeing what they can achieve is so unbelievably gratifying. I don’t really consider it work at all! I look forward to going to work every day!”

Imagine having this guy pushing you through your workout every day…I know, it makes us want to go to the gym and get after it, too! Having that extra accountability, motivation, and commitment from a trainer can make the difference between hitting your fitness goals or hitting a plateau.

Last thing to consider when asking yourself, “Should I get a personal trainer?” Are you willing to make the investment? 

Let’s face it. Personal training is expensive, and it should be! You’re getting one-on-one attention from a trained professional every time you’re at the gym, but they spend TONS of time outside of your training session preparing, programming, analyzing your results, and thinking of creative new workouts to keep you engaged and help you hit your goals. The average price of personal training in the US ranges from $80 to $125 per hour. This depends on a lot of factors, but at the end of the day, if you’re training 3-5 times per week, that’s a hefty investment.

If one-on-one personal training isn’t in the budget for you right now, it may be worth looking into a small boutique gym, like F45 where Chris is a trainer, because you get the benefits of a lower monthly rate, high energy from the group environment, and personalized training from the trainers in class. While you will certainly get more personalized programming from a one-on-one trainer, you can still be pushed and motivated uniquely in a group class. Everyone is doing the same workout, but trainers like Chris work really hard to still give you a unique experience, pushing you according to your personal ability and goals. If you’re in the Indy area and are looking to step up your fitness game, check out F45 North Fishers on Instagram @f45_training_northfishers and drop Chris a line!