Not everyone hires a personal trainer to lose weight.
The fact is most people know they need to move more. It’s not a secret that regular physical activity is one of the keys to a long and productive life. Yet many people have trouble getting themselves motivated to get moving.
So for many hiring a personal trainer to develop a fitness program is more about about getting stronger and improving the ability to do everyday tasks and less about losing large amounts of weight. A personal trainer can provide the guidance to safely take on new exercise skills, like strength training.
Strength training can be a bit of a mystery if you’ve never done it before. Images in the media make the idea of “pumping iron” a scary prospect, especially for women. Working with a personal trainer on this particular element, thanks to reality shows, can seem down right terrifying.
Nancy knew she needed to add strength training to her routine but just wasn’t having any success getting it done, consistently, on her own. She wanted to get stronger to help her keep up on the hills when she biked with her husband and to work in the beautiful gardens she tends to. She wanted to get firmer, to fit comfortably in her clothes. She wasn’t overweight; she just didn’t feel quite right.
But she was a bit worried about hiring a personal trainer. I could tell she was proceeding with caution at our first meeting. In her words,
My fears were that the workouts would be too difficult for me to do. Also, I didn’t want the pain that was supposed to go with the gain.
I hear that a lot. And as the body gets used to new activities some muscle soreness is normal. But as we talked as we talked during our first meeting, I shared my simple methods to try to minimize the painful effects of starting strength training:
- We start were you are.
- We build a foundation.
- We go one step at a time.
Nancy trusted me enough to sign up. The results were more than she bargained for, but in a good way:
My goals were to be stronger and firmer and (I) didn’t even think about weight loss in the beginning. I can now lift heavier items, pick up items on low shelves at the grocery store and be able to stand back up with ease. Going up and down stairs are so much easier now because my legs are stronger too. And to my surprise I lost 10 lbs.
I’m proud of Nancy and her dedication. She now knows how to do many things on her own. Working with weights and body weight resistance training are no longer a mystery. With an active summer ahead I am looking forward to helping her “graduate” to fewer sessions with me. With her new found confidence in her body and abilities, she’ll be able to climb on the hills on her bike with ease.
