About Personal Fitness Training
A personal trainer is a fitness professional who develops and implements an individualized approach to physical fitness, generally working one-on-one with a client. A trainer may also help a client assess their level of physical fitness and help them work toward a personal fitness goal through proper exercise instruction and personal motivation.
Trainers are generally needed to demonstrate various exercises and help clients improve their exercise techniques. Due to the more interpersonal contact between a trainer and a client versus a general gym setting, a trainer is more readily able to provide motivation and support to an individual in an exercise program, in addition to proper technical instruction. A trainer can keep records of their clients’ exercise sessions to help monitor progress, and may also advise their clients on how to modify their lifestyle outside of the gym to improve their fitness.
Scope of practice
The personal fitness trainer’s responsibility is to enhance the components of fitness for the general, healthy population. The 5 classic components of fitness are muscular strength, muscular endurance, body composition, cardiovascular endurance, and flexibility, although there are other subsets like power and speed. The general population is defined as an age range of 18 to about 50 (45 and younger for men, 55 and younger for women). The definition of healthy in this context means an absence of a disease that would affect one's ability to exercise. Anyone outside that scope of practice should be placed in a trainer's scope after a visit to the doctor to see what kind, if any, exercise they are capable of.
Benefits
Personal training can benefit everybody - from the individual who is considering fitness for the first time to the elite athlete looking to enhance performance. Everyone can benefit from personal training!
By working with a Personal Fitness Trainer, you can achieve your fitness goals - goals as modest as touching your toes again or as ambitious as preparing for a marathon. Each of us is unique; we all have different goals, ambitions and desires. A Personal Fitness Trainer can help you attain your aspirations by listening to you and understanding your goals and personal time commitments.
Your personal fitness trainer will:
Gather all health related information;
Assess your current level of fitness;
Listen to you and your goals;
Devise a personal training program to achieve these goals in a safe environment;
Continue to encourage and motivate you through creative and fun exercise programming.
The benefits to personal training are many and varied. You can expect:
o Increased muscle mass and decreased fat mass
o Increased cardiovascular fitness (better oxygen distribution)
o Increased good cholesterol (HDL) and decreased bad cholesterol (LDL)
o Decreased blood pressure
o Increased bone density
o Increased energy levels
o Increased strength, endurance and flexibility
o Increased self-esteem!
o And many more!
Contraindications and Precautions
If you have any current medical condition, a medical approval from your physician will be required prior to training. Get a complete physical checkup before you start any training program. You might have to modify or avoid weightlifting if you have muscle or joint problems, seizure disorders, heart disease, high blood pressure, previous injuries or any other physical condition with potential for danger.
References
Canadian Society of Exercise Physiology (CSEP), http://www.csep.ca/main.cfm?cid=574&nid=5098, Copyright © 2008.
Certified Professional Trainers Network (CPTN) Inc., http://www.cptn.com/, Copyright © 2002-2008.
Wikipedia®, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_trainer, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., United States of America.
