The big talk these days in fitness circles is how group training is hot and one-on-one is not. When it comes to training—as opposed to an exercises class—we don’t believe it. Personal training is not just workout administration. You go to a professional trainer with a set of specific goals to help improve performance, reduce fat, eliminate pain, etc. That works best in a one-on-one situation for a number of reasons:
- No two bodies are alike, what works for one does not work for all.
- People always have different ability levels that come with different strengths and weaknesses.
- The instructor’s focus is split among the people in the class. Four people in a one-hour class means you get 25 percent of the attention – or if someone is falling behind, she will get more attention and the strongest people will get less.
- In a class, you are almost always in competition with the people around you. If you are the weakest, you might try to rise above that, or you might get discouraged and accept where you are, losing motivation. Stronger people tend to feel like they are already at the top and tend to become complacent.
The real reason people train in groups is budget. We hear that training isn’t just for celebrities any more, but who has a celebrity bank account? When you are worried about cash, group training seems like the best, most affordable option. Again, we disagree. Here are some tips for making training affordable:
- Identify what you need and how often you really need it. You may only need to train twice a week for a half an hour. There is no point in paying for a full hour three times a week if you don’t really need that much.
- Look for trainers who have flexible programs with full or half sessions and variety in the number of days. Then ask them to give you something to do on your own to reinforce what you are doing with them. This could be in the form of adding exercises, paying attention to posture, reducing or eliminating activities that are bad for your body.
- Do everything that the fitness pro recommends so you accelerate your rate of change. That way, even if you start at three days a week, you can make enough progress to get it down one or two days.
- Give your full effort each and every time in your session Ask questions so you understand the benefits of what you are doing. Know what you want to talk about ahead of the session.
- Shop around to see what rates are, but don’t forget you get what you pay for. Make sure the credentials are good there is a difference between someone holding a certificate,
- Go to the trainer, it is more expensive when they come to you
- how convenient it is for the trainer to gtrain you will bring the lowest price. coming you your house for an hour at 3 a.m.will cost more than going to them at 3 in the afternoon when things are slow.
- a few trainers these days are using technology and working via Skipe –this sometimes will come with a discount.
You don’t have to let cost drive your decision.
Originally published in Grosse Pointe Today.
