IF YOU REALLY WANT TO NAIL YOUR FITNESS GOALS THIS YEAR, THEN IT’S TIME TO GET PERSONAL. FOLLOW THESE TIPS TO BE SURE TO LAND THE RIGHT PERSONAL TRAINER FOR YOU…

Operation mayhem is underway, as the month of January has seen gyms flooded with new members wearing the best training gear money can buy.  You may be one of them, and the buzz and excitement in gyms is hard to ignore as members embark on achieving newly-formed goals.

If you are one of them and you really want to succeed this year, it’s worth considering getting yourself a personal trainer.  It makes sense. In any other situation you encounter in your life, you use similar logic. When your car breaks down, you don’t try to fix it yourself — you take it to a qualified, reputable mechanic. Now apply the same principle to your body.

But do you know what to look for and how to find one?  Before meeting with a fitness professional, ensure you have a clear idea of your goals.  You need to have a yardstick that will tell you when you have accomplished your goal. If its fat loss, how much fat do you want to lose and by what date do you wish to have achieved this? When you know what your goal is, the search for your coach will become easier.

Modern health clubs use marketing boards to provide details of different coaches available in your gym — personal trainers, life coaches, yoga teachers, pilates, etc. You can match your goal with that of the services the coach provides.  With that in mind, you should be able to find someone suitable. Here’s what to do next:

• Organise to meet your prospective trainer to create a rapport and to see if you make a good fit. Your coach should be passionate about what they do, and this will help motivate you and boost your enthusiasm — you will need this when the seas get rough. Don’t organise a training session without a prior meeting to discuss goals, fees etc

• Your coach should be in shape and walk their walk. Look in the gym and see if your prospective coach trains hard.  It takes discipline to stay in shape and change your body. If your coach hasn’t got that discipline, then how can you respect them when they ask you to do it.

• Ask to see your coach’s qualifications and, more importantly, when they took their most recent course.  But remember that it’s also practical experience that counts — that way they’ll really understand what works and what doesn’t.

• A coach has to be giving, and they have to care about your success. A coach should be able to help motivate you to push yourself harder than you would yourself.

• Seeking a personal trainer is like seeking a partner in marriage. You need to marry someone who is an addition to your life — someone who will make it better.  You don’t want to marry someone who dumps all his or her problems on you.

• On the other side of the coin, the trainer is not there to listen to your problems. His brief is to help you achieve your goals in health. Seek help from a relevant professional for any emotional problems you have.

• Ask to see your trainer’s clients’ results. A picture says 1,000 words, so ask your coach for ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos of their clients.

• Ask your coach for the name of a client who has achieved similar results to what you are looking to achieve. A client should be willing to promote a coach if he has helped them to achieve their goals.

• Ask the trainer if he offers a money-back guarantee. It takes guts to stand behind a promise that you can deliver the results, but it takes two to tango. You must heed the advice of your coach to achieve your goals.

• It will be emotional. Like any relationship, it will have its ups and downs.  When you want your body to change, it must continually learn lessons and reasons to change. This will challenge you mentally and physically.

• Learn to enjoy the ride, as whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.