Joined a gym=> Is a personal trainer worth it?

[ViviTheMage]

you would be much better off reading it up on your own and finding what is best yourself!

save yourself the money.

and krunchykrome, you would be the only one in this ATOT muscle club, followed by myself

 

[Red Dawn]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: sash1

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: platinumike
No frickin way. If you wanna gain muscle just head on over to bodybuilding.com and search the articles and forums. If you are overweight and have motivational issues and all that, then I guess you could use anything and anyone to help you.

Half of those guys on the bodybuilding.com forums are 16 and weigh 120lbs. So be picky and cureful as to what advice you take from those forums. I frequent those forums a lot for product experiences and reviews. But again, be careful as to what you read over there.

you should start atotbodybuilding.com I'd join

What we need is a ATOT muscle club.

Please this place is full of muscleheads.:laugh:

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage

and krunchykrome, you would be the only one in this ATOT muscle club, followed by myself

A perfect example of what I mean.

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
you would be much better off reading it up on your own and finding what is best yourself!

save yourself the money.

and krunchykrome, you would be the only one in this ATOT muscle club, followed by myself

There are a few of us here.

I think Special K and Raptor can at least bench the bar. :laugh:

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: sash1

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: platinumike
No frickin way. If you wanna gain muscle just head on over to bodybuilding.com and search the articles and forums. If you are overweight and have motivational issues and all that, then I guess you could use anything and anyone to help you.

Half of those guys on the bodybuilding.com forums are 16 and weigh 120lbs. So be picky and cureful as to what advice you take from those forums. I frequent those forums a lot for product experiences and reviews. But again, be careful as to what you read over there.

you should start atotbodybuilding.com I'd join

Amused used to run Geek Fitness; I'm not sure what happened to the website.

 

[sash1]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
you would be much better off reading it up on your own and finding what is best yourself!

save yourself the money.

and krunchykrome, you would be the only one in this ATOT muscle club, followed by myself

There are a few of us here.

I think Special K and Raptor can at least bench the bar. :laugh:

There's definitely at least a dozen of us I'm by far the strongest though

 

[krunchykrome]

ATOT Muscle Head



Kind of an oxy-moron

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: sash1

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
you would be much better off reading it up on your own and finding what is best yourself!

save yourself the money.

and krunchykrome, you would be the only one in this ATOT muscle club, followed by myself

There are a few of us here.

I think Special K and Raptor can at least bench the bar. :laugh:

There's definitely at least a dozen of us I'm by far the strongest though

Heh, we'll see about that. Maybe we should organize an ATOT party at a gym somewhere. Now that would be funny.

An ATOT lat party as opposed to a lan party.

 

[Brassman]

I had to get a personal trainer cause' I was out of options... didn't have self control, etc. So, I've dropped almost 40lb with a *GOOD* personal trainer. Just watch out.. get one that actually likes what they do and they're not out to just take your $$.

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: Brassman
I had to get a personal trainer cause' I was out of options... didn't have self control, etc. So, I've dropped almost 40lb with a *GOOD* personal trainer. Just watch out.. get one that actually likes what they do and they're not out to just take your $$.

You dropped a 40lbs what? Bar, dumbbell? Doing what exercise?

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: Chunkee
yes. if you are just beginning...you can get hurt...

i would think hard and ask for credentials about so called trainers however. i have been a CPT for several years and have trained many peoplel, some have gone to be pro body builders...make sure they have experience... the list below is some things to look for and lookout for

1. They should be in shape themselves. NO FATTY trainers. It makes me laugh when going to a gym, an their trainers are out of shape. That does not mean they do not know what they are doing per se, but come on?
2. If they do not do a thorough analysis...then they suck.
3. If they do not ask you about your goals, they suck.
4. If they do not inquire about medical history, current conditions, they suck.
5. If they do not do at least a 3 day full diet evaluation (your personal log of eating and drinking for 3 whole days), they suck.
6. If they start you off with maxing out, they suck.
7. If they negelect your flexibility training and the importance of warming up and cooling down, they suck.
8. If they eat in front of you while you are training, they suck.
9. If they talk about themselves all the time, during your training, they suck.
10. If they do not encourage you and follow-up they suck.
11. If they do not focus on good form, they suck. No fast hard jerky movements. Controlled, nice eccentric contraction form as well.
12. If they allow your session to be interrupted by others, they suck.
13. If they do not ask you how you are doing before each sesssion, they suck.
14. If they do not log or do not have you log your workouts, they suck.
15. If they do not mix up and change your routines, they suck.

I enjoyed doing it for the year that I did. The last few I charged a high premium. I also enjoyed getting referrals and working with re-hab, post-rehab and people with some problems, such as eating disorders, fibromyalgia and other auto-immune illnesses. Those that went to pro bodybuilding were okay...but required a tighter grip, due to the nature of the goal "Too quick of gains can be dangerous"

Use it for what its worth. BE VERY CAREFUL!!! I truly promote safety, good form, and flexibilty. Ironic this past Sunday in demoing an exercise on a leg press for my wife and two of her friends...I end up tearing my internal oblique or some connective tissue just below my rib. I am getting OLD....i am taking the week off and seeing what i can do next monday and ease back into it.

Good luck and have fun.

jC

What do you mean by maxing out?

today we did chest excercises. Afterwards, he asked me how many push ups can i normally do. I said 15. He said show me. I tried and i couldnt even do 1!!!

That's when he said i maxxed out excercising my chest muscles. (remember, today was my 1st session.)

And also said why free weights are better than the circuit machines. (cause i work out my muscles more.)

 

[Poulsonator]

Do you have the discipline to do the exercises on your own? To research, ask around, not bothered by asking for help, etc.? No? Then get a personal trainer. It's your body...don't be cheap when it comes to your body. Do what you need to do.

 

[purbeast0]

If it's only $70/mo, and like 3 times a week, I would do it if I were you. He will teach you a lot about correct form and correct methods. Just use him for a few months then when you have learned enough and have a good workout routine going, do it on your own.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
If it's only $70/mo, and like 3 times a week, I would do it if I were you. He will teach you a lot about correct form and correct methods. Just use him for a few months then when you have learned enough and have a good workout routine going, do it on your own.

$70/month is 2x/month.

$300/month is 3x/week.

(each session is 1/2 hr)

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: purbeast0
If it's only $70/mo, and like 3 times a week, I would do it if I were you. He will teach you a lot about correct form and correct methods. Just use him for a few months then when you have learned enough and have a good workout routine going, do it on your own.

$70/month is 2x/month.

$300/month is 3x/week.

(each session is 1/2 hr)

Wow at that price actually I don't think it's worth it. You can learn by watching people and by doing research. I actually learned by starting out with my brother. You will also meet people at the gym over a little time and you will get a feel for what's right.

Just make sure to do full contractions on all your exercises with proper form. Again this can be found by watching some people or doing research online.

 

[Brassman]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: Brassman
I had to get a personal trainer cause' I was out of options... didn't have self control, etc. So, I've dropped almost 40lb with a *GOOD* personal trainer. Just watch out.. get one that actually likes what they do and they're not out to just take your $$.

You dropped a 40lbs what? Bar, dumbbell? Doing what exercise?

Whoops.. sorry about that. I haven't checked this one for a while.

I lost 40lb doing an exercise regime and eating right. The exercising consisted of:

M - Cardio (30-45min)
T - Back/Bis
W - Cardio (30-45min)
R - Chest/Tris
Sat - Legs/Shoulders
Sun - Cardio(30-45min)

And, eating around 2000 cals a day... but, also staying away from high sodium (or preservatives), high fat (bad fats, that is), high sugar foods. Keep high fiber, high protein foods at your disposal. Also, eating more regularly... eat every 3-4 hours to keep your metabolism rate up. Smaller portions are good.. it's hard to start eating less, but if you do it in 2 weeks, you'll be golden. Making substitutions is also key

A typical day of mine was something like this:

8:30 - 1.5 cup of maple + brown sugar frosted mini wheats with 1 cup skim milk
10:30 - snack (string cheese, danon light n' fit yogurt, serving of trader joes soy crisps or something like that)
12:30 - Chicken breast and veggies
3:30 - snack
7:30 - dinner (healthy choice meal with 100 calorie cookie pack, or something else)


Now, given this isn't the *best* plan, but it worked very well for me.

 

[Brassman]

Originally posted by: Brassman

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: Brassman
I had to get a personal trainer cause' I was out of options... didn't have self control, etc. So, I've dropped almost 40lb with a *GOOD* personal trainer. Just watch out.. get one that actually likes what they do and they're not out to just take your $$.

You dropped a 40lbs what? Bar, dumbbell? Doing what exercise?

Whoops.. sorry about that. I haven't checked this one for a while.

I lost 40lb doing an exercise regime and eating right. The exercising consisted of:

M - Cardio (30-45min)
T - Back/Bis
W - Cardio (30-45min)
R - Chest/Tris
Sat - Legs/Shoulders
Sun - Cardio(30-45min)

And, eating around 2000 cals a day... but, also staying away from high sodium (or preservatives), high fat (bad fats, that is), high sugar foods. Keep high fiber, high protein foods at your disposal. Also, eating more regularly... eat every 3-4 hours to keep your metabolism rate up. Smaller portions are good.. it's hard to start eating less, but if you do it in 2 weeks, you'll be golden. Making substitutions is also key

A typical day of mine was something like this:

8:30 - 1.5 cup of maple + brown sugar frosted mini wheats with 1 cup skim milk
10:30 - snack (string cheese, danon light n' fit yogurt, serving of trader joes soy crisps or something like that)
12:30 - Chicken breast and veggies
3:30 - snack
7:30 - dinner (healthy choice meal with 100 calorie cookie pack, or something else)


Now, given this isn't the *best* plan, but it worked very well for me.

Whoops, didn't include exercises... Those would be mostly free weight exercises that my trainer showed me... combined with machine exercises.. Say, for your back/bis:

4 sets/12 reps each - on the pull down machine that works your back muscles
4 sets/12 reps each - same machine, switch bars
3 sets/12 reps each - different machine that works your back

then, go to bis

4 sets/12 reps each - curls
4 sets/12 reps each - trap workout (shrugs)
4 sets/12 reps each - hammer-type curl

 

[Ranger X]

Just look up everything on-line. Personal trainers are for lazy people w/money who don't want to do any research on their own so they want someone with the 'professional' label telling them what to do. I've listened to trainers working with their clients and what they say is mostly common knowledge.

 

[Christobevii3]

I'd consider the twice a month or maybe once a week. Then work out on your own like twice a week more.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

if you have never worked out befoer it is worth it for a month or two until you are on the right path.

 

[Brassman]

Originally posted by: Ranger X
Just look up everything on-line. Personal trainers are for lazy people w/money who don't want to do any research on their own so they want someone with the 'professional' label telling them what to do. I've listened to trainers working with their clients and what they say is mostly common knowledge.

No, personal trainers aren't necessarily for "lazy" people... they are for people that can learn better by having somebody show them how to do it instead of by reading/watching a video.. If you make a mistake on posture, for example, the video/internet resource can't tell you you're doing it wrong.