Reach Fitness Goals with Personal Training

Personal Training- An efficient and effective boost to your fitness success
By Robert Vecchioni

Have you ever wondered whether or not you should use a personal trainer? The answer is most often an unequivocal YES!

Here are a few typical scenarios in which a personal trainer can be a great boost to your fitness success:
1. You are just getting started again with an exercise regimen and need some initial guidance
2. You are in a rut and beginning to lose interest in your current routine
3. You are the type of person who continuously starts and stops an exercise program
4. You are just not getting the results that you want from your current routine
5. You have been doing the same routine for several months without changing it up.

A trainer fills many roles in a client's fitness regime; he or she is a coach, a motivator, and a teacher. As a coach, a trainer sets up a specific "gameplan" or exercise program designed to meet the needs and goals of their client, and then holds their client accountable to meeting those goals.
Also, the "coach" will do a baseline assessment, including a body fat analysis, measurements, and take blood pressure and pulse.

As a teacher, a trainer will demonstrate proper exercise technique and form, teaching the client the need for rest and recovery days, and the importance of using the two of these factors to prevent over training and other injuries.

The trainer/teacher is crucial in demonstrating and supervising multi-joint exercises, known as compound movements. These movements include squats, bench press, dead lifts, etc.. and performed incorrectly can be a sure road to injury. However, performed correctly these movements can really make the difference in providing noticeable results.

As a motivator, a trainer will be with you during the workout, pushing you to do that "one last rep" that is so hard to do on your own. Also, the motivator/trainer will be sure that you are adding constant variety to your routine.

If you perform the exact same exercises workout after workout, your body will become very efficient at performing that routine. That may sound good, but it isn't. Your muscles will adapt to the monotony, and stop responding. Varying your program-both the exercises and weight levels-not only keeps you mentally interested, but also ensures that your body keeps progressing.


Robert Vecchioni, co-owner of Electra, is a Florida licensed acupuncture physician. He also is a certified personal trainer who has worked in the fitness industry for more than 20 years.