Getting in shape is everyone's dream, being at your ideal weight, having your bikini/swimsuit fit perfectly in the summer, losing the weight you've gained over the years, sleeping better, truly resting, not feeling headaches from stress, etc. 🤩
Anyone with a modicum of love and care for themselves will seek it out. Or not?
The problem comes when you ask yourself: How do I get fitter?.
In this case, there are two very common paths you can take:
1- Join a gym with an instructor, sometimes with a membership model.
2- Find a personal trainer near you to help you with this.
In this article, we'll tell you the pros and cons of joining a gym or choosing a personal trainer. Or both? 😉
Everything we'll tell you will come from our own experience as people concerned about our fitness and also as fitness coaches who have served multiple clients with different goals.
The main difference between a gym vs a personal trainer
Honestly, the difference lies in how much support and encouragement you need. By human nature, we're lazy, we give up quickly, we lose motivation, and we struggle with discipline.
This is where a fitness coach or personal trainer can help keep you motivated, push you, and challenge you to achieve your goals.
Have you ever joined a gym, gone once, and never gone back? (And of course, you kept paying.) Yes, all of them. we've been through it.
A personal trainer or fitness coach helps you achieve your goals, makes the path faster and easier, and prevents your motivation from faltering.
The profile of a person who only goes to the gym is very different from that of a personal trainer.
A gym with an instructor and monthly membership 🏋🏻♀️
PROS / ADVANTAGES:
They offer a few things, such as access to:
– the different machines
– showers and changing rooms
– in some cases, swimming pools.
– Sometimes, group classes of other types such as yoga or Zumba.
And often, for affordable installments starting at €30 a month.
DISADVANTAGES:
- You're alone, sometimes exercising on your own can be intimidating especially when you're a beginner.
- The instructor's attention is divided among many people at once, so your training is not personalized.
- Since it's a shared space for many people, you have to wait to use the machines. This can be tiring for some.
- You may feel stuck. Some people spend months at the gym without a set goal or a personalized routine, so it takes them a while to achieve results.
Personal trainer: Is it worth investing in a personal trainer?
Working with a personal trainer is the fastest, safest, and most effective way to get in shape.
A personal trainer uses their experience to customize workouts based on each individual's age, health, athletic ability, and desired goals.
They are also aware of proper form, individual strength and endurance, and injury prevention.
💪🏼A personal trainer can help you transform your casual workout. in a fitness lifestyle an active lifestyle
Among the functions of a personal trainer are:
⟶ Make an assessment of your fitness status.
⟶ Understanding your range of motion, how your body works, your mobility, whether you have injuries, etc.
⟶ Take stress tests
⟶ Design a training routine customized to your goals and lifestyle.
⟶ Design training plans for specific goals such as running marathons, increasing endurance for cycling, or, more commonly, losing weight and gaining strength.
⟶ Support and motivate you to improve and maintain your healthy habits.
⟶ Taking care of you and showing you how to perform the exercises and use the machines properly, without putting yourself at risk.
Do you lose more weight and gain more strength with a personal trainer? 🤔
The short answer is: most likely yes.
The long answer is: this depends on thousands of factors, and one of them, perhaps the most important, is your commitment to your fitness; but it will also depend on, for example, your fitness age.
We are all different, and there are individual differences that will affect the speed of your progress:
😬Stress levels – How stressful is your life?
🛌 Recovery and rest rate: How long does it take you to recover from a training session? And what are your rest and sleep habits like?
🩼 Injury history: Have you been injured? Is there anything currently affecting the way you move?
🦵🏼 Physical composition: What is your body like and how much can it allow?
BONUS: To help you decide if a personal trainer is right for you to guide you to get in shape and improve your 360º health, we leave you these cases
Cases in which it is advisable to hire a personal trainer instead of going to the gym:
1. You're new to fitness
If you've gotten rusty from not training for too long or are completely new to fitness, a personal trainer can design a customized workout routine that works for your body and show you how to properly use different equipment.
You can also make exercise a habit more fun. In some cases, your personal trainer may be trained to provide nutritional guidance and guide you on the path to healthy habits.
2. You lack discipline and perseverance
We already know that maintaining healthy habits is a task that requires commitment and discipline, Having a personal trainer on your side can help keep you accountable and on track with your workouts and fitness.
Every time you book a session with your personal trainer, you feel engaged with someone else, and that helps maintain the pace in some cases.
Plus, if you have a close and trusting relationship with your personal trainer, we guarantee you won't want to let her down and you'll stay on top of your commitment and fitness.
3. When you exercise alone, you don't push yourself
Some people have the discipline to train consistently, but find it difficult to increase the intensity during solo workouts. A good personal trainer will recognize when you are in a mood of its own. “lazy” and/or slacking off and will motivate you to move at a different pace or increase your fitness challenges.
If you're striving for a new personal record or preparing to run a marathon, for example, personal trainers can also be a great source of motivation.
Your personal trainer should help you develop more confidence in your abilities.
4. You have had an injury and want to return to training
If you are injured at some point, training again becomes a challenge.
Ideally, you'll have undergone rehabilitation, but your personal trainer can design a training routine for you that will help you strengthen your entire body again after an injury.
5. You are bored with your current routine or you have stagnated
It's easy to fall into the trap of monotony, and when that happens, you run the risk of giving up. So, a personal trainer should help you create workouts and routines tailored to your tastes and goals.
⏱ How long should I stay with a personal trainer?
Although we've had cases where results were already visible after 8 weeks, we always recommend maintaining a commitment to your personal trainer for at least 3 to 6 months.
There are no secret exercises or programs in fitness. If you're doing it right, your results will show over time, and you'll also see how they accumulate.
A good personal trainer will work to help you feel comfortable and confident in what you're doing for your fitness.
The most realistic answer will depend on these factors:
🎯 Your goal: It takes longer to build muscle and strength than it does to lose weight (or gain confidence ).
🏁 Your lifestyle and starting point: Achieving goals with someone who has never done a sit-up in their life isn't the same as achieving them with someone who has been training for a while.
🫱🏽🫲🏼 Your commitment to your fitness. Much of what you achieve will depend on your discipline.
💸 How much should I invest in a personal trainer?
In general, you can expect to pay between €25 and €100 or more for a 60-minute session with a personal trainer.
It's a broad range, but it's difficult to narrow it down further because the exact cost of a personal trainer depends on several factors, including:
⟶ Whether they are part of a large gym
⟶ Be part of a small studio or have your own business.
⟶ How many years of experience and/or education do they have?
⟶ How many certifications do they have?
⟶ Your geographic location.
⟶ What type of package or program you purchase.
⟶ How long do your personal training sessions last?
Personal trainers from smaller or private training centers, they could have a higher hourly rate; that This is because they generally provide more personalized attention and, in some cases, are more qualified than trainers at gym chains.
Besides the price, also look at this 👇🏼
Questions that can help you find the right personal trainer for you:
⟶ Is the personal trainer easy to talk to and do they have a personality that facilitates communication?
⟶ Do you understand what he's saying when he talks to you about more technical topics?
⟶ Does your personal trainer have a fitness lifestyle?
⟶ Are you feeling motivated and excited about the program and the exercises it offers?
⟶ Does your personal trainer have experience helping people with similar goals to yours?
Conclusions: Should I choose a gym or a personal trainer?
Hiring a personal trainer vs. a gym It's your decision. However, we hope we've given you a clearer picture of the pros and cons to make your choice easier.
In any case, if what you are looking for is a Personalized support from a personal trainer in a training center, you can come and learn about our 360º training program.
