Do I Need a Personal Trainer? The Good, the Bad, and the Opinion.

A brief background, I retired from the military after serving as a Senior NCO within elite combat arms communities. This is relevant because I had to train and develop Soldiers at all fitness levels to meet and complete some of the hardest tasks we can ask from the human body. Often the Soldiers were different fitness levels and had different “specialties.” This made planning fitness for my teams frustrating to say the least. Luckily, the Army gave me many schools and certifications to help me understand how to properly train the body to withstand harsh environments and extreme physical tasks.

U.S. Army Soldier

               After leaving the military, I earned multiple civilian fitness certifications to include Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Coach, Performance Exercise Specialist, and more. These certifications allowed me to train civilians and when mixed with my experiences from the military I have a strong understanding of how to achieve goals and develop the body for overall fitness. This is my goal. I will try to remain unbiased and explain what exactly personal training can do for you.

                I think we can all agree that fitness is extremely important for our future health. It helps us now by allowing us to feel better, have more energy, and lets us enjoy our life. It is also important to stay active later in life. I am always “preaching” maintaining mobility long into our golden years and that is because I have seen many people have the heart of a young adventure seeking person, but their body just does not let them execute the hobbies they deeply want to conduct. This is why fitness now is important for later.

               A Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) can help you begin your fitness journey or develop certain “gains” wanted for specific goals. If you are new to fitness and currently not very active, the CPT can create a plan for you to follow to safely begin the journey and avoid injury/overtraining. This is learned through experience and schooling and if properly understood, extremely beneficial. The skills I have learned from training the elite U.S. Soldiers and civilians translate to understanding obstacles to overcome when accessing a fitness goal. This is what a CPT can do for you. Apply knowledge and experience to ensure you meet your fitness needs.

               A good CPT will constantly assess your progress, conduct evaluations, and adapt the plan to your body’s reaction. They will also provide constant support and accountability. This may be the most important. The support will make you feel great even when you’re tired, and the accountability will ensure you stay with the plan even when feeling lazy. All this combined is how you meet your goal. I am not talking about a low-end personal trainer who may or may not be certified. If a personal trainer is just trying to get paid, they may not pay close attention to your needs. A good personal trainer is extremely knowledgeable but more importantly, they have a real passion for you and your goals. This takes a lot of effort and time, but it is always worth it when you are happy.

               The biggest negative for a Certified Personal Trainer is the cost. This is where quality comes into play. There are many personal trainers offered online or at a big box gym for a great price. Sometimes even less than $90 a session, which is an amazing deal. This person may work off commission, so the more clients the more money. That idea or concept only hurts the clients because more clients mean greater workloads and less attention to the person paying for the service. This is not a good idea to achieve true results. If you just need someone to help with form while you work out or be there to talk to you then the big programs may benefit you. If you need someone to constantly give you attention and monitor your progress consistently developing good adaptations to keep your efforts moving towards your goal, then it will cost a little more. A good personal trainer gives you all of his/her time and effort. If they give it all to you then you will see results but in today’s world, they still need to make ends meet. This is why the cost is higher. The old saying that you get what you pay for couldn’t be truer than it is for a Certified Personal Trainer.

Delicious Burger.

   A good example is when you crave a delicious hamburger. You could look up a recipe, go to the store and buy some prime choice beef chunks, season the meat and grind it into ground beef before forming hamburger patties. After the patties are formed, you could preheat the grill to cook the patties. While the patties cook you may begin to cut up onions and tomatoes and constantly monitor the beef temperature in fear of over cooking them. You then cut some rolls and add the cheese, assembling the burger for final tasting. Once you bite into it you realize it is good but not the same as your favorite restaurant and you waited so long through the process that you are not as excited for the burger as you were when you started. This is because you could spend a whole day shopping and preparing your burger or you can go to the restaurant and pay for the burger you wanted. If you go to the restaurant, it’s less stressful, faster, and guaranteed to be good but costs you money. This is a Certified Personal Trainer.

               Your CPT will conduct an assessment, develop the plan, build the schedule, teach proper form and science behind the movement, monitor progress, provide support, provide accountability, ensure constant injury prevention, and so much more. You will just show up to the gym or workout area and perform the tasks he/she tells you to. You have no stress and guaranteed results and in return you must give up some money.

We pay people for most of everything today and are still hesitant about personal trainers. We pay others to paint our nails, to make our coffee, to change our oil, and cook our food. These are all things we can do ourselves, but we pay for convenience. When it comes to our future and mobility, why wouldn’t we pay someone to help us be healthier? This is my opinion, and I believe the ability to enjoy a healthy life for as long as possible is priceless.

Long story short, we go to the doctor to keep us healthy when we are sick. Should we go to a Certified Personal Trainer when we feel “out of shape?” I believe the answer is yes. The benefits far outreach the monetary downsides. Think about your future and what life would be like without the ability to walk, jump, climb into a car, or perform your favorite hobby. Luckily, I offer a cheaper option to those who purchase one of my pre-made fitness plans. If you purchase a plan, you have access to a Certified Personal Trainer to answer questions, provide modifications, and help you through your plan. If you have questions about which plan is right for you leave a comment below. Be sure to subscribe to my website and YouTube channel for constant fitness advice. Thank you for reading and as always, stay happy and helpful!

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