Hiring a Personal Trainer - what to ask??

[BellyBelly]

They are fantastic! I have a personal trainer who I go to them, its a specilised PT centre. Because you need to make an appointment you are more likely to go than commit yourself to gym xxx times a week. They push me harder than I would go myself and they have me doing weights more than I would do because I have no idea what I should do and when to increase etc. I have had a break from it the last couple of months to save money for a little bit and I have been soooooooooooo busy - John also goes and loves it. You build up a relationship with them and I could never go back now!

[{sarah}]

*bump*

Does anyone else have any suggestions on what to ask when looking for a personal trainer? I want to get fit & am thinking this could be an option....

[Lucy]

OMG. I never thought in a million years I would be able to post in this thread, my how times change, LOL!

Anyway, I have been using a personal trainer for around 5 months.

I was recommended one by a lady I know locally who has lost a lot of weight, so that was a good start: personal recommendation.

I then chatted to the trainer over the phone.....and we talked at length.

She explained that the reason she didn't work in a gym is that she wanted to be able to freely impart all of her knowledge, whereas most chains of gyms encourage their trainers to be fairly tight lipped on the WHY issues being fitness, so that members sign up and part with their cash time after time!

I am doing a two group training sessions with her a week. It works out at $24 a week. For that I get 3hours of her time and knowlege, a massive amount of supportive envouragement, the use of her gym and equipment (including books) as well as a whole load of other "freebies" such as high ropes course, a pedometer, a t-shirt etc etc.........

Here are some questions I would ask:

~ How is it structured
~ How much does each session cost
~ How many sessions would the trainer recommend
~ Is it cardio or weights or both?
~ How is cardio practised?
~ How much "homework" is expected
~ Do they focus on just diet? Or just fitness? Or both?
~ Do they also work on the emotional/mental aspects of a healthy lifestyle........ie do they acknowlege limiting beliefs and help you move forward from those?
~ Will they guide you to train for an event?
~ Do they do group sessions (which are often a lot cheaper!)
~ Are the available sessions convenient?