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This is kind of a silly thread. If you perceive a value, then it is not a waste of money. If you don't perceive said value, then it is a waste of money. The perception of value is going to depend on a host of factors like what your goals are...
That's an excellent point. Something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it.
For my 2 cents, every PT I have personally known or seen in action is a complete waste of money. Granted, over the years I have worked out at the YMCA (and similar), Bally's, Gold's Gym, Planet Fitness...
(I had a big long rant that I decided to delete)
I'm sure that there are good personal trainers, but apparently they don't exist for the general public in the midwest.
the cost to benefit ratio of hiring a personal trainer just isnt there. i workout 5 days a week for over 12 years now. i pay about $24 a month for my gym membership (reimbursed by health insurance). so if i paid $60 for 1 session, thats more than 2 months of gym membership. you are better off learning how to do things yourself if you are planning on sticking with it long term, but not professionally. pro bodybuilders use personal trainers because thats their moneymaker; they are trying to reach a goal thats very hard to reach. for the regular person that just wants to be in good shape over the long term, they dont need to go crazy and they will be doing too many workouts to pay for a trainer. i feel the same way about protein drinks. i see people buying one after each workout at a cost sometimes of over $5 per drink. its just not worth it. i put together my own mix thats about 30 cents per drink.
I work out with a personal trainer who comes to my house three times a week at a ridiculous hour of the morning. We run or lift using the equipment I already own. It's well worth the money to me.
Last edited by randomparent; 09-14-2012 at 02:52 PM..
No, they have coaches. You and other posters are purposely mixing coaches and professional athletic trainers with the run of the mill, let us help the newbie, PTs that would roam around a planet fitness or something. That is like mixing legal and illegal immigrants on an immigrant debate.
I myself use to compete at an amature level in lifting competitions, and I am a lifting coach in my spare time. I have given plenty of nutrional advice for lifters on this forum, as well as routines, plenty of people if they chime in here can attest to my PMs I have sent to assist them.
If a newbie wants to pay someone to tell them the obvious, then fine, but obviously the OP is looking for an opinion, and seems some posters here take offense to me stating PTs are a waste of money, too bad. Why not present your argument as to why they are not? I did, as well as others.
I have stated that for a newbie, gains are easy to come by, and great routines are easy to find, as well as nutritional info on the internet. As a newbie, you are not in the NFL, and you are not training for the Olympics, once you decide to be competitive, then please, by all means, get a coach. But to pay someone to state basic nutritional advice to you that is found all over the web (besides basic common sense), and to engage is basic cardio, that would be running, to help achieve a weight loss goal is ridiculous, and a waste of money. If your goal is lifting, then the same applies, a lot of information available, and even this forum has had posters give valuable advice.
Your money, your decision.
Excuse my ignorance because I thought they were the same thing. What do "coaches" go to school for? Oh, thats right athletic training, which is what pretty much all PTs have.
You didn't quote the rest of my post in which I said "People who aren't serious about working out specific parts of their body, or don't have motivation issues, don't need a PT."
I think a PT is worth the money if the specific person lacks the motivation to lift or workout on their own. But as another poster said its only worth the money if your willing to pay for it, obviously you know what your doing, you would never see yourself paying that, nor would I. But my sister pays for that stuff because 1) she can afford to and 2) she needs the motivation and the transfer of knowledge.
I've never heard of a workout coach til I read someone's mention of it right here this past couple of weeks. If the trainers at the gym I belong to are coaches, they aren't calling themselves that. And their certifications don't have that term written on them (they have their certs hanging in frames on the wall of their office). One of our trainers isn't merely a trainer, he's also a licensed physical therapist who helps with post-surgery rehab.
Our trainers do one-on-one, small-group (such as mother/daughter, or husband/wife teams), and they also do some regular group sessions (like boot-camp, and Concept X, which is similar to Insanity but with *low* weights in conjunction with the different exercises), zumba, and so on.
I don't make use of the training provided at the gym, but I did shortly after I joined, because I realized I was so out of the loop on exercise and the machines that I was really lost about what to _do_. I needed someone to help me create a routine that would work to my benefit, in a safe manner, and they'd be able to check in with me regularly to make sure I was progressing -and- not hurting myself. So I saw the trainer just once a month for around 6 months total, and he'd switch up the routine for me each time. I'd go to the gym on my own, using the routine that he set up for me, increasing my strength and endurance, and trimming off some of the fat.
The trainers *all* provide "coaching" but they don't charge for that. If you have training with the trainers, then the trainers will cheer you on every time you show up to the gym, whether you have a training session that day or not. Even after I stopped training sessions, the trainers would still stop to tell me if I was off in my form, or urge me to try a heavier weight on this or that machine, or stand there and tell me "yeah you can do it - just two more, that's it!" and spot me if I looked like I was struggling. And sometimes, they'd drag me into a class and make me work my butt off in a group class. No charge, just because they want to see me succeed. It doesn't come with membership, it comes from having good trainers who give a damn about their clients, past and present. It's also a matter of good customer service.
As a result, I now -pay- for unlimited group training sessions because while I don't need the trainer to show me a new routine anymore, I find I'm much more motivated to sweat when I'm in a group of other sweating people all trying to do the same things.
I still do the machines for isolated muscle strengthening, and on days when there's no class, I sit on the bike for cardio for an hour.
This is kind of a silly thread. If you perceive a value, then it is not a waste of money. If you don't perceive said value, then it is a waste of money. The perception of value is going to depend on a host of factors like what your goals are...
It all depends on who you get AND what you put into it. Let me put it like this:
There are good doctors, and ones that are rip-offs.
There are good lawyers, and there are bad ones.
There are good tattoo artists, and there are bad ones.
There are good educators, and there are bad ones.
There are good counselors, and there are bad ones.
Same thing with trainers. Shop around, make sure they know your goals and how to achieve them. Also remember the mantra of "you get what you pay for." Don't wind up getting ripped off, but don't go for the cheapest option either.
Finally, in all the above options, there is another key component: you also have to put in effort. With a doctor, he will tell you how to take care of yourself or what to do; you have to do that. With a lawyer, it is your responsibility to prepare for court litigation and to also do homework and studying towards your case. With tattoo artists, you have to make sure what you want isn't something you'll regret later on down the road and you have to take care of it for the first few weeks. With educators, you can have the best teacher in the world, but if you don't do your homework or study, there is nothing they can do. And with a counselor, you have to take the advice you are given. A trainer will only be as good as the effort that you put in at the gym and in the kitchen.
Trainers are needed? Its really based on you. I don't need one, i have been exercising since I was a teenager so i have the motivation and knowledge. If you are motivated already its a alot cheaper to order a magazine subscription vs a trainer.
I work out with a personal trainer who comes to my house three times a week at a ridiculous hour of the morning. We run or lift using the equipment I already own. It's well worth the money to me.
I used a personal trainer after breaking my shoulder and arm. I really don't think that I would have the range of mobility that I have now if I had not used one. A personal trainer may be a waste of money for some or maybe even most people, but I am extremely thankful that I used one.
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Perfectly said.
wow!
