5 Mistakes You Don't Want to Make When Choosing a Personal Trainer

Sometimes it’s better to know what to avoid rather than what to look for. Here are the five biggest mistakes you don’t want to make when selecting a personal trainer.

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The new year brings with it a lot of goals and resolutions. A chance to be a better version of yourself than in years past. With 2020 being one of the most tumultuous and chaotic years on record, you're most likely looking forward to 2021 and the optimism it brings with it. 

Perhaps one of your goals is to be more fit or lose the weight you put on due to constantly being locked down and restricted from using gyms or fitness facilities. While hiring a personal trainer in Calgary is your best bet to reach your goals even quicker, you don't want to make the wrong choice when selecting one. That's why you need to avoid the following five mistakes at all costs, so you don't waste your time and money.
 

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5 Mistakes You Don't Want to Make When Choosing a Personal Trainer

Not all personal trainers are created equal. And not all personal trainers are going to be the right fit for you and your goals. In a city as diverse as Calgary, your personal training options are quite varied. Which can make it tough to choose the right one.

That's why you need to make sure you avoid these five mistakes when selecting one, so you can have the best chance at reaching your fitness or weight loss goals.
 

Mistake #1: Not ensuring your personal trainer is experienced and an expert in what you want to accomplish

If you want to lose weight, you should select a personal trainer who has extensive experience helping their clients do just that. If you want to run a half marathon soon, you should select a personal trainer with experience training people for those competitions. The list goes on.

That's why it's so important for you to set out clearly defined goals for what you want to achieve with a personal trainer, then look for one who excels in that area. You don't want to all of a sudden find out your new trainer is a former Olympic powerlifter when your goal is to slim down. 

You also need to figure out what you need in a personal trainer to be effective with your time in the gym. This can be a little more difficult if you don't have much experience with working out, but you should have a general idea of how you respond to certain guidance and direction.

Do you need someone to hold your hand and motivate you from start to finish? Or are you better off with a bit of instruction and can do the rest on your own? Would you feel more comfortable with a male or female personal trainer? Or do you not care what sex they are? These are the types of things you need to know before choosing a personal trainer in Calgary.
 

Mistake #2: Taking the personal trainer at face value without probing deeper to see if you two are a good fit for one another

Some personal trainers will sell you the world and guarantee you and them will be a good fit for one another shortly after you meet. These are bad personal trainers and they should be avoided at all costs. They're more interested in your money than they are you and who you are as a person. 

You should be able to have an in-depth talk with the personal trainer before they can ever tell you if you and them will be a match. Make sure they listen to you closely and hear your whole story and why you want to hire a personal trainer. They should also ask about any past experience you've had with working out and whether you have suffered any injuries. They should also want to know about your eating habits and nutrition, since roughly 80 per cent of your fitness or weight loss goals will be dependant on it. 

They should then be open to you probing deeper into them and their personal training experience. Do they have any past success stories and credentials which prove they can help you achieve your goals? Are there any clients of theirs that you can talk to? What do the training schedule and progress monitoring look like with them? The more questions you ask now, the better off you'll be in the future.

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Mistake #3: Believing workouts are more effective because they're confusing

It's the old bait and switch. Have you so confused and exhausted that you think you're getting an extremely effective workout without really knowing how and why. These types of trainers are more concerned with appearing knowledgeable than they are with helping you gradually improve and reach your goals. 

If you've gone through a few workouts with your trainer and have been left more confused than anything, that's a sign that they aren't communicating with you properly, don't care about you ultimately reaching your goals, and are more worried about keeping you around and collecting your money. 

Personal training should be all about YOU. Not confusing workouts that don't address what you want to achieve. After all, you're the one who hired them.

That's why your personal trainer should be customizing your program to meet your objectives and have it work around any limitations or injuries you have. They should also be giving you the encouragement and guidance you need to maximize your sessions, not scrolling through their phone or periodically checking in on you. They also need to be invested in you and your results, adjusting things when the numbers don't meet your expectations, instead of just telling you to work harder or schedule more sessions.
 

Mistake #4: Being solely focused on certifications or lack thereof

The certifications your Calgary personal trainer possesses are a good starting point, but they shouldn't be the main factor in whether or not you hire them. Alternatively, you shouldn't just discount a trainer right off the bat because they don't have as many impressive acronyms attached to their name. 

What you really want to look for in a personal trainer is real-life experience helping people in similar situations as yours reach their goals. You also want the trainer to be genuinely enthusiastic about helping you achieve your objectives. These two traits far surpass the importance of high-level certifications, especially when the trainer who has them isn't great at dealing with clients or interested in helping them succeed. 

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Mistake #5: Thinking a more expensive trainer guarantees better results

Just because you pay more money for a specific trainer doesn't mean you're going to get guaranteed results. That's why you don't want cost to be your guiding metric in determining how effective a personal trainer will be. Instead, focus on the value you're receiving. 

If you're paying a trainer $35 per session but they're no good and only provide generic workouts with no progress monitoring or nutrition coaching, then you're overpaying substantially for the service you're receiving. On the other hand, if your personal trainer charges $65 per session but they tick off all the boxes and help motivate you to achieve your goals and push past plateaus and overcome obstacles, then the value you're receiving could be considered a steal of a deal. 

This is why it is again so important to have clearly defined fitness or weight loss goals before even browsing through personal trainers. In doing so, you'll be able to sniff out the real value one can provide you, as opposed to just using how much they charge to determine their effectiveness.

While personal training isn't cheap, the impact it can have on your health and self-confidence can be priceless. So long as you choose the right trainer. Hopefully we've given you the tips and guidance you need to do just that.
 

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Are you ready for a total body and life transformation? To find out more about our virtual and online weight loss and fitness programs, and how our highly qualified personal trainers in Calgary can help you achieve incredible, safe, and sustainable results, contact us by calling 403-200-0199 or by filling out our online contact form.

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