Q and A: Trainer or Magazines?
November 20, 2008 by Kelly Turner
Filed under Fitness
Kelly,
One more question. Im SO annoying. So my favorite instructor at my gym was recently let go. It was personal problems with the other trainers. Anyways. Its hard because she was the person I would take flex (strength training) classes with. and all the instructors do not come up to par with her. the classes are boring. so i was thinking about my options. Do i hire a personal trainer (spend a lot of money) or I have been thinking about doing work outs from magazines but are they efficient? Daisy Melo
Welp, what I’m about to say may shock some of you, but here goes:
I don’t know.
Ha! Kidding. Obviously, I can’t make the decision for you but let’s examine your options.
The perks of a personal trainer are that you get focused attention, expert guidence, and effective routines. Down side? Lotsa money. Depending on what kind of trainer you get, it could be a good investment but you’ll need to do your homework. Ask what certification they have- if they don’t have a national certification, I’d move on to someone else. Obviously, personality is a big factor for you, so make sure its a good fit: you enjoy their company and trust them, but you aren’t spo buddy-buddy you end up gabbing the whole time (which, trust me, happens more that you think.) They should allow you to have a session for free so you guys can get a feel for eachother.
The perks of magazine workouts are they are cheap, spelled out for you, and easy to switch up. Down side? They aren’t tailored for your needs. They are written to be one size fits all, which doesn’t always work. Also, they are made of paper, so they can’t correct your form, or answer your wuestions. But, of course, that’s what I’m here for, right?
You can always do a combo of both- see a trainer once a week, or even everyother week to check in, ask questions, get a new routines, etc and then supplement with magazine workouts.
The only thing I can say is make sure you enjoy it. If you don’t enjoy it, you won’t stick with it and that’s the most important part.
Enter the giveaway! It ends tomorrow!!
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hmm, or try the cheap option for now, maybe ask for a trainer (or a few sessions) for xmas!
Great advice. I’d throw exercise DVDs in the mix, too! Try it all — see what you like best!
Choice #3: Visit free health and fitness websites/blogs to get the latest information on workouts while getting one on one attention from people that want to help you… print is SO dead! Hahahaha
All the Best,
Andrew R
Great advice Kelly!! In honestly, I never pay any attention to those magazine workouts because I’m just not motivated enough. I have had a few trainers and they work out much better for me but the cost… *sigh* I just can’t afford them long enough!
I like to mix it up! Confuse the body. Have a fantastic weekend!
Im with mark.
confuse the bod. confuse the mind. makes it all more fun and resultridden!
have a great weekend!
Or you can kinda cheat and watch what the personal trainers do with their clients in the gym and copy them;) Plus, you know I love magazine workouts!! There are a ton of videos on the web to help with form – not that they replace in person instruction but for total cheapos like me, they def. help!
I have a subscription to two health and fitness magazines and I use them to get ideas for new muscle exercises in my classes. However, sometimes I’ll look at them (or try them) and realize that they’re not good because they either are too complicated (easy to have bad form), just inherently are bad exercises (are bad form to start out with), or they’re not natural movements (side sitting tricep pushups I love, but the class really really does not). So I do get lots of good ideas from magazines, but for someone who’s not a fitness professional, I’d take some of them with a grain of salt.
Oh, and Charlotte, I totally check out the exercises the personal trainers are doing…I’ve stolen tons of exercises that way! :)
Unfortunately, I haven’t liked most magazine workouts that I’ve tried. I’m using a core workout from Runner’s World that I love, and I recently tried one from Self that I liked, but most of the Self ones are a bit awkward for me.