More than two-thirds of the adults in the United States are overweight or obese. Excess fat increases your chances of developing dangerous, chronic diseases like type two diabetes, heart disease and osteoarthritis. To lose weight through exercise, healthy adults need about 60 to 90 minutes of cardiovascular activity five days a week. A personal trainer can help you develop a workout plan based on your unique needs and will work alongside you to ensure that your reaching your target heart rate and exercising correctly.
How a Personal Trainer Will Help
If losing weight were simple, there would be few overweight people. A personal trainer will work with you one-on-one in a gym or even in your home. She will assess your level of fitness and design a program that will help you lose weight including combining cardiovascular activity with strength training exercises. A trainer will evaluate your current exercise habits and demonstrate ways to improve so that you can get the most out of your workouts. Your trainer will keep records on your progress so that you are constantly challenged.
Choosing a Trainer
If you show up to your gym and ask to work with a trainer, you will be assigned the next guy on rotation. If you end up with someone you don't click with, it could sabotage your weight loss plan. You should find a trainer that motivates you, has your best interests at heart and cares that you lose weight and get healthier. Since you will be paying, you should treat finding a trainer just like it's a job interview. Ask your prospective trainer what kind of certification she has and how long she's worked with her current clients. A trainer who works with a lot of clients for two to three months at a time, may not be a superior instructor that magically whips people into shape. He may lose clients quickly by pushing them too hard or by not helping them produce noticeable results. Losing weight is hard work and can take months or years. Watch the trainer work with other people to be sure this is someone that you can tolerate spending a lot of time with and someone who can challenge you.
Considerations
Personal trainers may not be a new profession, but it is growing in popularity. Between 2008 and 2018, jobs for fitness workers are expected in increase by 29 percent. Certification programs like ACE and NASM are responding to this trend, in part, by offering specialty certifications. If you have a disease or a specific health concern, there's likely a personal trainer that specializes in that field. Today, trainers are specializing in injury recovery, cardiac rehabilitation, and even specific conditions like diabetes and obesity, conditions that can cause dangerous complications if you're pushed too hard or too quickly. A trainer who works with people living with diabetes should know that nerve damage is a very real concern. People who are obese already have a lot of stress on their heart. You need a trainer who understand your condition and can help you get active without risking your life.
Certified Trainers
There are at least 70 organizations that certify personal trainers. The benefits of using a certified personal fitness instructor are that they are trained to do a fitness assessment and design an exercise plan that progresses over time. A certified trainer can offer lifestyle modification advice, teach you how to use exercise equipment and spot you while exercising. The National Academy of Sports Medicine, or NASM and the American Council on Exercise, known as ACE, are just two organizations that offer certification for personal trainers, lifestyle and weight management trainers and advanced health and fitness specialists.
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