HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT PERSONAL TRAINER FOR YOU
Choosing the right personal trainer for you is an important step in finding success in your fitness journey. It’s important to feel comfortable with a coach so the two of you can communicate effectively about your goals. On most gyms’ websites, you’ll see a list of all of the coaches, and hopefully a bio containing some information about them. This isn’t just for fun - it should contain very helpful information! Some important things to look for when choosing a personal trainer include: What type of client the coach specializes in, their coaching style, and I think most importantly, their schedule. I’ll explain more in the paragraphs below.
Client Specialization
This might not be something that crosses your mind as a new client, but many coaches have a target audience and thrive in coaching a specific type of client. For example, I have been coaching for four years and have learned that I do really well with clients who don’t have much experience in the gym, maybe even zero. I am a person who loves to teach and am very patient, where not every coach is like this. This in no way makes a coach “good” or “bad,” instead just might make them more or less a match for you. All coaches should be discovering your goals with you, and deciding if you are a good pair together based on that.
Coaching Style
Another important factor to consider is someone’s coaching style. You may not realize this from just a bio, but as you communicate with a coach you should be able to determine this. There are many different ways coaches can go about training a client. Some may go with a traditional drill-sergeant approach, some may never raise their voice (me), some talk a lot during sessions, and some may be very analytical and spend most of their time studying your every move and taking notes. Of course, these don’t cover everything, because everyone has their own personality, they will bring to a session. Most people, however, know if they do or do not want to be yelled at while doing their squats. So, ask a coach before you sign up with them, “what is your coaching style?” Regardless of what it is, it’s always important to find a coach you can work together with in reaching your goals.
Schedule
Though I’m talking about it last, schedule is probably the most important factor when choosing a coach. First, you need to know your schedule. This is something that is really important to talk through with a coach. How frequently are you training with a coach? What days are an absolute no for you? Morning/Afternoon/Evening? When answering these questions, you want to think of the answers with the least amount of obstacles. For example, if you work a job where last minute evening meetings can occur, maybe it's best if you train in the morning where there’s a lower chance of an obstacle such as that running into your session time. Once you figure this out, the coach of course has to have it available. It’s important to nail down a consistent day and time that the two of you can make sessions happen. This is how consistency happens, which is how you achieve goals.
Conclusion
There are many things to consider when finding the right personal trainer for you. I consider client specialization, coaching style, and schedule to be the most important to find success in your fitness journey with a coach. You can find a lot of this information on most gyms’ websites, and by having an initial assessment with a coach before training. I hope these tips can be helpful for you when considering what type of personal trainer you’re looking for!
And just in case you’re curious about our PFP staff and want to schedule an assessment!
Happy Training!