Should you pay for a personal trainer? | Exercise.com Learn: Your Fitness Business Resource

Should you pay for a personal trainer?

Tyler Spraul is the director of UX and the head trainer for Exercise.com. He has his Bachelor of Science degree in pre-medicine and is an NSCA-certified strength and conditioning specialist. He is a former All-American soccer player and still coaches soccer today. In his free time, he enjoys reading, learning, and living the dad life. He has been featured in Shape, Healthline, HuffPost, Women's...

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UPDATED: Aug 25, 2020

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  • Paying for the services of a personal trainer delivers expert advice and assistance in the gym.
  • Working out with a personal trainer allows you to access many benefits you wouldn’t achieve working out solo.
  • Even working out with a trainer once a month delivers improved workout performance and results.

You’ve been very consistent and dedicated in the gym. Unfortunately, the results fell a little below your expectations. Maybe you also feel a little bored with your workout sessions.

The stumbling block to results can be moved out of the way by simply hiring a personal trainer. Unless the cost of hiring a personal trainer is its own stumbling block.

Paying for the services of a personal trainer may be something you are wondering about doing. The availability of free workout sessions at a big-box gym might lead you to wonder if paying for a personal trainer is even necessary.

Overall, paying for the services of a personal trainer would be a very good idea. Once you agree to a trainer-client relationship, you connect yourself to a solid level of professional attention and care.

If you use a personal trainer or work out alone, tracking your daily victories with our advanced stats will keep you motivated and focused on your big goals! Sign up for our PRO plan today to get started!

The Value of Paid Personal Training Services

The cliché, “you get what you pay for,” absolutely fits into the search for a personal trainer.

Legitimate, experienced personal trainers usually hold professional certifications. They possess solid knowledge of different aspects of exercise and fitness.

Skilled trainers know how to help clients achieve their goals. If you are wondering whether it is worth it to pay for personal training services, here are some benefits to consider:

Best Chance for Results

Anyone who chooses to train him/herself deserves kudos for effort. Not everyone maintains the strong motivation necessary to hit the gym regularly and exercise. Training yourself, however, does not guarantee maximum results.

With the guiding hand of a professional trainer, the best results become more achievable. A good trainer understands how to craft the best program for a person’s goals.

Trainers also pace workouts effectively and know when to increase or decrease intensity.

Professionalism With Scheduling

Personal trainers know they must be reliable in order to please clients. When you set up a schedule with a personal trainer, the trainer does his/her absolute best to avoid cancellations.

Canceled sessions, honestly, become infrequent when working out with a legitimate trainer.

Booking a session makes you less likely to make an excuse not to hit the gym when scheduled to work out with a trainer. The benefit here is you gain consistency with workouts.

That’s also a key benefit to working with a trainer using Exercise.com. They have absolute control with scheduling your workouts, and you’ll never have a cancellation because your workouts will be in the palm of your hand.

Advice to Keep You on the Right Path

Personal trainers provide a lot of knowledge thanks to spending many years in the fitness world.

Simply providing advice such as switching from sweetened to unsweetened almond milk may be enough to help you shed an extra pound or two. Clients overlook simple things personal trainers don’t miss.

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Trainers Keep You From Wasting Money

The fitness market is loaded with products targeted towards newbies. Not all of these products are valuable. Dubious exercise devices and costly nutritional supplements may not be necessary at all.

A good trainer can tell you what to spend money on and what to avoid. Ironically, personal training sessions become less expensive since the trainer helps you save money by cutting down on wasted funds.

Trainers Help You Train Yourself

Not everyone can afford to meet with a personal trainer several times a week. After working out several sessions with a trainer, your knowledge base about exercise should increase.

You’ll understand what constitutes a good workout and you’ll put the proper amount of effort into solo workout sessions.

Working out with a personal trainer should be more than just an exercise session.

The hour or half-hour becomes an educational experience. Take what you learn into your private sessions and continue gaining benefits from your time with a personal trainer.

These benefits reflect only a few of the positives associated with working out with a personal trainer. Finding a reliable substitute for one-on-one sessions is pretty tough. Some substitutes do exist, but they come with caveats.

The Volunteer Personal Trainer

A person new to personal training might find getting clients to be difficult. Gyms might not be willing to put someone on staff unless he/she has a year or more of experience.

To gain experience, a newbie trains others on a volunteer basis. Are these volunteers as good as a paid personal trainer?

Enthusiastic volunteers are helpful, but their numbers are slim. Clients won’t likely gain access to consistent scheduling.

Many volunteers won’t even train people one-on-one but opt to work with community centers and churches to offer weekly group sessions.

These sessions do have value, but the value may be limited. Working out with a volunteer trainer might be okay if your expectations and funds are low. Still, putting some time in with a paid personal trainer would be worth it.

Working With a Trainer on a Scheduled Basis

Working out with a trainer once or twice a week definitely helps. Not everyone can afford this level of frequency. That’s fine.

Even booking one session per month could do a lot of good. The single session could involve setting up a workout program to follow during the rest of the month.

For example, the personal trainer could devise a chest and arm workout to be performed once a week. At the next monthly session, the trainer may come up with a leg workout to be added into weekly workout sessions.

Every a small amount of time with a personal trainer can be worth the investment. More frequent training may be more beneficial, but some training definitely has value.

The Client’s Effort

Is it worth it to pay for a personal trainer? Ultimately, “worth it” refers to getting results and enjoying yourself during the sessions. You need to put in your own effort in order to experience these things.

If you are willing to handle your end, then working with a trainer becomes valuable. You will see results and be pleased you spent the money on quality service.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How do I find a personal trainer?

You can either search directly online, ask your local gym, or use our PRO membership to access online personal trainers.

Can personal trainers come to your house?

Yes! Some personal trainers do train clients in their own homes.

What if I don’t like my personal trainer?

That’s completely okay! Finding a personal trainer that you connect with is important. If you do not like your personal trainer, make sure that you cancel any upcoming appointments to avoid being charged and either ask your gym for a new trainer or ask friends or family if they have any recommendations.

Tracking your daily victories with our advanced stats will keep you motivated and focused on your big goals! Sign up for our PRO annual plan today to get started!

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