Thread: Personal Trainers?

Hi,
Do any of you workout regularly with a personal trainer? I've lost a total of 35 pounds on Atkins, have decided to make this my WOE forever and ever, and have been doing my own exercise routine for the last two months or so. I usually do a half hour of pilates and then an upper body workout. But I wasn't seeing results as fast I would like so I hired a PT.

My first session was yesterday and HE KILLED ME. FYI- I'm an AFAA certified Group Fitness Instructor and HE STILL KILLED ME. I told him I wanted to decrease my body fat composition and tone my abs. And then he pushed my to my absolute limits for an hour. I loved it.

So, if any of you train with a PT, about how long did you work with them before seeing results? Plus, if you have any funny stories to share, I'd love to hear them.

-Regina

Well, since I was doing pilates, upper body and 100 crunches a day on my own- and still not seeing results as quickly as I'd like, I hired a PT. As I am a Group Fitness Instructor myself, I screened over 5 PT's before I found one I liked.

You know, yes, it can be slightly odd or embarassing at first having someone watch you work out. But a good PT will guide you, coach you, and even have some hands on assistance. My PT, named Harley, had me use a 5lb medicine ball to work on a variety of standing and laying down exercises for my abs and legs. It's sort of hard to explain in words all the different kinds of exercises, but mainly he made me do 3 sets of 16 for each of the exercises, with a brief 30 second rest period in between sets.

It's even more embarassing when you are like myself (an aerobics instructor) and your PT works you so hard you can't complete your reps because of muscle failure. And then it gets more embarassing when he tells you he hasn't even started giving me "difficult" workouts!!! But he coached me not only on what to do, but my MIND SET while I'm doing it.

Honestly, you just get to a point where you say,"Who cares how embarassing this is?! When he's done with me, I'm going to look beautiful and then I'll WANT people to watch me work out!!!"

Harley is funny, because he doesn't speak too much English, and he keeps forgetting my name is Regina. So he calls me "Champion". "How you feeling Champion?" "Give me six more Champion!" :-)

-Regina

I have been going to the gym for a month now, I started slow, going about 2x a week, last week I went 4x. I'm really good with regards to joining the classes, because I can stick it out for an hour. However, when it's time to do the personal weights, I am always in a rush to do it. A lot of times, I'll just go home because i'm supposedly tired already. So today, I will meet for the first time my personal trainer. I am hoping that he will really help coach me, guide me so that I do the exercises properly and when I see a difference, I can actually do them on my own properly. I just need to really start this habit and discipline myself on doing it properly. Anyway, will update you guys on any progress.

Lady,
Good luck with your trainer. I've only had 3 sessions and I can totally see and feel the difference in my body. I can only imagine how great I will feel after one month!

Just know that at first it will be very hard work and it will seem like you will never be able to do what they push you to do. But you will, and you will look strong and beautiful doing it!

Let me know how it goes!
Regina