“Why do I need a Personal Trainer, when I can just Google everything?”
As a Personal Trainer myself, I have been told this quite often, and have even been guilty of the same mindset, before the start of my fitness journey. However, once I took up the ACE Certification Course, I realized just how misguided that notion was. My lecturer, Eugene Lee, showed me how much more I needed to learn to become a full-fledged Personal Trainer, such as how to properly improve on my uneven shoulders – a concern that had been bugging me for years!
Not only did my passion towards fitness become stronger, but I also grew wiser after that day.
Many people think that anyone can be a Personal Trainer, as long as you know your way around a gym set. But many are unaware that the proper job scope of a certified Personal Trainer is actually classified under a big umbrella of wellness professionals, a la doctors, physiotherapists, and chiropractors.
We don’t just “train you” in workouts, just because we have the word “Trainer” in our title. We are here to help you identify and mitigate postural issues, pains and discomfort with regards to your muscular system, in your daily movements. A proper Personal Trainer would not only just teach you how to build muscle or lose fat, but would also make sure you understand the science behind the processes for your own knowledge and use.
Remember those: “3 Exercises for your Abs to pop” or “10 Exercises for Weight Loss” ads and articles you found? It is pretty easy to become overwhelmed by all the information they throw at you – especially if these sources start to conflict with one another. Which basically wastes your time and effort, as you end up trying various routines and plans, only to end up being unable to figure out if they work at all.
That’s what where we come into the picture!
The notable personal trainer-cum-author Jonathan Goodman once said, “We’re expected to be councillors, nutritionists, post-rehabilitation specialists and motivation speakers for our clients.”. Indeed, being a personal trainer also inevitably morphs us into a do-it-all as well.
Other than planning and delivering training programs, a good Personal Trainer would also go through the basics of proper nutrition. These would involve discussions of various diets that may be suitable for you, healthy habits that you are able to stick to, and multiple strategies for stress management – an increasingly important factor that affects almost all of us in this fast-paced society.
Additionally. throughout the entire coaching process, your Personal Trainer is there to support your morale towards your intended goals. For example, my own motto as a certified Personal Trainer is to be able to educate and empower people, so that one day, they are able to take charge of their own training, nutrition, and most of all, their life! If I can achieve that goal, I would love my job even more as it gives true fulfillment to my life.
Above all, your safety is of utmost importance, and this is why your Personal Trainer must ensure that you are performing each exercise and movement correctly. As easy as some exercises may look – such as the humble squat – it is alarming that most of the people who start out with me, do not perform this exercise correctly at all. If left unchecked, they could potentially injure their back (read: their all-important spine) or knees! I know you want to get that ideal body, but injuring yourself through dangerous assumptions could ruin your life in ways unfathomable too.
So, there you have it: whether you’re a newbie starting out in your fitness journey, or a gym junkie wondering why you hit a plateau, find yourself a professional Personal Trainer that is concerned about your training methods, nutrition, and safety, to make your goal a reality today!
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