Alison Hammond works out with personal trainer
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If you’re a fitness newbie with a big goal, you may be considering a personal trainer. The average personal trainer in the UK charges around £30, but in cities like London personal trainers can charge up to £200 for a private session depending on experience. If you’ve got the cash to spend but you’re worried about wasting your time and money, listen to what triple Olympian Sarah Lindsay, owner of Roar Fitness London, has to say.
Do you REALLY need a personal trainer?
The idea of a personal trainer telling you what to do and what to eat may seem overwhelming.
Changing your diet and workout routine drastically is a lot to take on and not for the faint-hearted, but a PT is supposed to make the process much easier.
Olympian and owner of Roar Fitness London Sarah Lindsay said: “The gym can feel like a very intimidating space, especially if it’s a totally new territory and you don’t know what you’re doing.”
Confidence
Not everyone NEEDS a personal trainer, but the level of knowledge a personal trainer has is essential if you want to get amazing results and change your life.
First things first, being a beginner in the gym is really difficult and nerve-wracking.
Sarah explained: “In the gym, especially in the free weights section, you think everyone is an expert.
“But the honest truth is, most people don’t know what they’re doing unless you become an expert.
“If you haven’t been to the gym before and you walk in, you’re bound to think everyone’s doing it perfectly, they’re not!
“You’ve got to remember, everyone was a beginner once. Nobody is watching, nobody is judging, really nobody cares. They probably all feel the same as you.”
Personal trainers can help to eliminate the embarrassment or ‘feeling silly’ from the moment you step into the gym.
Plan
If you can’t afford a personal trainer right now, Sarah recommends at least going to the gym with someone who knows their stuff to ensure you know what you’re doing.
The Roar Fitness London owner said: “You need to make sure your form is good, the exercises are appropriate for your body, and ensure your mechanics and the way you move and are going to get you the results that you are going for.”
This is where a personal trainer comes in – you need a plan in place to make sure your exercises are going to get you to your goal.
Sarah said: “You should really know that your programme design and methods behind the programme are sound, and you’re not just randomly exercising… you’re better off doing a class than that.
“If you want a progressive programme and want to make progress, you need a plan in place and you need to stick to it.
“Either get a plan from somewhere or get somebody to help you with it.”
You don’t have to do it alone
People tend to think getting a personal trainer is a waste of money because it is possible to make changes by yourself.
The old saying ‘eat less and move more’ isn’t as true as you’d think, working out is more complex than that.
Sarah explained: “People always think “I should be able to do it on my own” or “I know what to eat”, but that’s not the case.
“Everybody knows they shouldn’t eat fish and chips if they want to lose weight, right? But if it was as simple as that, everyone would just be in wicked shape all the time.
“No olympian went to the Olympics without a coach! The most talented, motivated people on the planet who have this dream they’d do anything for still need 15 people looking after them.
“They can’t do it by themselves, so don’t feel bad for accepting help! A lot of trainers have trainers because they need somebody to help them.”
Better decisions
Getting a personal trainer makes decision making so much easier and helps keep you on top of your goals.
Sarah explained: “If I want to improve my nutrition, I’ll use somebody else to write my plan for me because otherwise, I’ll just work it out so that I can just still do what I want and eat chocolate, which isn’t how it works!
“I need to follow somebody else’s plan because it takes away the emotional or hungry decisions because it’s already planned.
“You want to stick to it and prove you can do it because your trainer has spent the time planning it for you.”
Spending money on a trainer and plans will also make you far more likely to stick to it.
Community
Being around like-minded people with the same goals will really help you reach your target.
You should never be intimidated by a personal trainer or other people in the gym who know what they’re doing.
Sarah said: “Even if they are an expert, they’re an expert because it’s their passion, what they love and they want to share that with people.
“When you love fitness, you don’t want a beginner at the gym to leave, you want them to like it as well!
“If you’re not feeling great about yourself, other people in the gym who know more than you can put you off… but who cares what people think?
“You have to do what you know you want to do… if you know you have to lift weights to get toned arms, you go and lift weights!
“Most gyms have a lovely community as well and people will encourage you rather than put you down or judge you, especially your personal trainer!”
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