Hiring a personal trainer used to be for the rich and famous, the Hollywood movie stars, and Olympians!

But nowadays its pretty common to have a personal trainer, In fact I bet you know at least one person (friend, family member or work colleague) who regularly has personal training sessions?

I’ve always been a big believer in investing in an experts help to achieve your goals, whether that’s personal training, private study, life or business coaching. But with that said with so much free information readily available on the internet it’s now more possible than ever to find out information and get excellent results doing it alone.

In this fitness blog i’m going to look at the pro’s and cons of both hiring a personal trainer and doing your fitness journey alone…

#1 Personal Training…

The benefits of hiring a personal trainer are pretty obvious, you are paying somebody to coach you, support you from start to finish and mostly importantly help you get the results you want.

A good personal trainer will be highly qualified and skilled in all areas of health and fitness and be able to share their wisdom and create a plan which helps you get results much faster than by yourself.

That said like all teaching trades there are both good and bad personal trainers and just because you invest money does not always mean you will get what you pay for.

4 Things to look for when hiring a personal trainer…

If you’ve never had a personal trainer before how do you know what a good and bad trainer looks like? It can be difficult but here’s what I would look for as a customer:

• Qualified (level 3 and above)
• A Good, friendly and supportive personality (you’ve got to get on with your coach)
• Look for good recomendations/testimonials online (have they got a good reputation?)
• Commit to a free consultation and do a taster session to see if you enjoy before investing

The cost of a Personal trainer…

Another thing to consider is the cost, hiring a PT is not cheap. Depending on what part of the country you live in you could be paying anything from £15-£200 per session. Typically personal trainers in major cities (London, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh) will charge higher rates.

You will also pay a higher fee for trainers with lots of experience and an excellent reputation. It’s got to be financially viable so make-sure to check out the prices before committing to a consultation.

Even though the cost of hiring a coach may be expensive, you could argue that it will be cheaper and quicker to get results in the long run, rather than the time it takes to get certified as a personal trainer and learn all of the correct information you need to get the results you want.

Managing Expectations…

Regardless of how good your coach is, if you don’t put in the work you wont get the results you are looking for. A good personal trainer can be one of the best investments you make, providing you listen, learn and most importantly apply what they are telling you to do. But if you fail to eat well and expect results just by showing – then you may as well flush your money down the toilet!

#2 Doing It Alone…

Now lets look at doing your fitness journey alone.

There are many benefits to this, one being that it will save you a lot of money. You can use the internet to find thousands of free workouts, and read about any health and fitness subject you desire. The only problem is that not all of the information is reliable, and there’s plenty of contradicting information…

“This article says I need to lift weight to lose more fat, but this one says I should do more cardio!”

“Are carbs good or bad?”

“This celeb personal trainer says I should eat breakfast but then this trainer says I should do a fast and skip the first meal of the day!?!?!”

And on and on it goes! It can leave people totally confused!

That said if you can navigate your way through all the drama and are committed it can be thoroughly  rewarding doing it alone. It’s great for boosting confidence and can rub off on all areas of your life, from how you run your business, to building a better family life, a prosperous career, etc, etc

Conclusion…

If you have some disposal income I would 100% recommending investing in a good personal trainer, as long as you do your due diligence before investing.

When I was a student and had zero money I spent my spare time reading books, watching youtube videos and utilising all of the free resources out there. It worked wonders and I learned a bunch of useful things that have stayed with me to this day.

As soon as my bank balance became healthy, I decided to invest in private coaching, hiring my own personal trainer and also investing in life and business coaching. It’s been the best money i’ve spent and has allowed me to flourish in all of the areas I value the most.

If you can I would always hire an expert but if not tap into the vast amount of resources on the internet. Feel free to check out my blog, there are over 500 FREE articles covering everything from: fat loss, muscle building, recipes, workouts, mindset tips, motivation and plenty more.

Thanks for reading, if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Nick 🙂

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