Personal Training: Expense or Investment?

Let's face it, money is tight these days. By "these days" I mean "as always." When is money not tight, when is it not a concern? Even when price is no object, it's still of interest and it's a concern.

So why is a good personal trainer an investment, not an expense?

A trainer sells you his or her expertise. In more detail, here is what that is comprised of:

Technique - A good personal trainer is going to correct some if not all of your technique errors. You might not be doing the exercise as correctly as you think. Small errors and big ones you just can't see while under a load will creep up, and your trainer is there to see them. Everyone is guilty of these. I stress keeping the shoulders locked down tight on a bench press over and over, but it took my own coach to point out I'm not doing that on my own bench press. It's hard to see your own errors.

Motivation - A good personal trainer will motivate you. If you need external motivation, a trainer standing there watching you and pushing you on could just be the answer. If you are more internally motivated (like me), you don't need someone to push you. But now you've got someone to perform in front of, someone who's valuable time is paid for with your valuable money, who can and will determine what you get to do next based on how hard and well you work. That's motivating right there. A session or two with a trainer can help you find out what kind of motivation works for you.

Program Design - A good personal trainer is going to give you a program that will help you improve from what you've got to what you want, and get you where you want to go. Programming for yourself is hard - it's tempting to skip things you don't like, overload on things you do like, and miss things you've never learned to do that you need. Oh, and add in way, way too much or just not enough. A good trainer will give you the program you need, even if it's not exactly the one you would have made yourself.

Answers - A good trainer can answer your questions. He or she may have to go look up the answer, but a good trainer can use his or her knowledge to sort through the bad answers and find the good.

So why is this an investment instead of an expense?

Simply put - you can take this all with you. Even after you stop training with a trainer, you have better technique, more motivation, a better program design in hand, and the answers to your questions. You can take these and use them in workout after workout, amortizing the costs of that training across a long span of improvement. Plus, working out poorly can lead to injuries as well as a lack of good results. Learn how to do it by hiring a good trainer.

You won't regret learning to do it the right way.

I'm biased, because I am a trainer. But I also have strength coach, because I know the value of the service offered. I'm stronger with a trainer than without.

Share