Prosper with your PT

Many people seek Personal Trainers for different reasons. Someone may have hit a wall and need a little bit of external motivation to break through it, or somebody else could be completely new to the gym and want some guidance on how to set off on the right foot.

While no two goals are the same, there are key elements that everyone should search for when finding a PT. Positive results don’t just come from the work that gets done during a session, they come from the quality of the relationship that’s built.

With the help of our fitness team, we’ve put together some guidance that can help you prosper with your PT!

 

Quality communication

Communicating well with your PT enables them to better understand your needs, provide more targeted guidance, and keep you motivated.

Being specific and honest about your goals and lifestyle from when you start working together can help you both hit the ground running. As your training progresses, getting your PT to be clear and simplify anything complex will prevent confusion and maintain your focus during sessions, getting you one step closer to where you want to be!

If something is going great or not working well with your PT, they should also support you in voicing this. While each session will require hard work, training with your PT shouldn’t feel unenjoyable.

 

Consistency in training

If you’re only seeing your PT once or twice a week, there will naturally be more accountability coming from you when it comes to keeping up with your fitness routine and doing what you can to reach your goals.

This is where it can be useful to ask your PT to build a workout plan that you can do solo. It’s a great way to make use of your trainer’s knowledge and keep you on track. It’s good for your PT too, as they still know what you’re getting up to even when they’re not there.

Without a plan, your body can have a harder time adapting to exercise and forming a habit can be more challenging. Being consistent and keeping up a regular workout routine is beneficial for your mental health too as it can provide a sense of achievement and purpose!

 

Keeping track of your progress

Similarly to tracking your workouts, it’s important for you and your PT to document your progress. Tracking your progress allows both of you to see how much you’ve improved and to review what may need changing.

One way you might like to do this is by taking progress photos. You could do this by having a ‘before’ photo from when you first start working with your PT, and then ‘afters’ that are taken monthly so that you can document regular progress. You may not realise how far you’ve come until you take the time to look back on the ‘before’!

Technology can also help here. If you’re looking to focus on nutrition to help support your fitness goals, there are apps that can track your nutrient intake and recommend healthy recipes for you to follow. Perhaps your goal is to run longer distances? There are plenty of apps that can follow the distance, pace, speed, and moving time of your run. With guidance from your PT, you can even use apps to build your own workout plans. Our Places Leisure app allows you to track your progress with our GPS functionality, pair your wearables and external apps, and access digital coaching. Visit the Digital fitness tab via the app for more information.

 

Guidance outside of exercise

Sometimes exercising alone isn’t enough to meet your goals, so you may need to get some advice from your PT on other factors that need to be adjusted in order to create a plan that works for you. The “personal” in personal training is key here!

These factors could be diet, recovery, injuries, spare time, and your general lifestyle choices. Finding the right balance between enjoying life both inside and outside of the gym is key to making personal training successful. It’s a great chance to turn any weaknesses that may be preventing you from reaching your goal into strengths.

This is particularly important with the volume of false and misleading fitness advice out there. A PT can confidently dismiss myths around fitness and nutrition as their educated, personalised knowledge is learned from qualifications and experience.

 

Prioritising rest and recovery

A great PT will make you work hard and encourage rest just as much. Recovery should always play a role in your fitness routine to help you recuperate mentally and physically!

It’s important to make sure that you’re giving your body the time to repair between workouts, especially when you’ve been training specific muscle groups. Sleep makes up a large part of this as that’s when most muscle repair and growth happens, so it’s crucial that you do what you can to improve your sleep hygiene. If you’re sleep deprived, fatigue, low energy and poor focus can increase your risk of injury during exercise. To keep on moving, you can opt for active recovery with low intensity exercises such as yoga, stretching, walking, or swimming too.

There are some telltale signs that someone needs a rest day, such as irritability, low motivation, lack of concentration, and struggling to fall asleep. If you’re unsure of how many rest days you need, this is something your PT can help you with and incorporate into your workout plan.

 

Want to get started? Many of our centres have personal trainers who cater to a range of abilities and goals, feel free to speak to a member of our team when you visit us. Find your centre today.

If you found this blog helpful, you can view our full list of blogs here.