The Right Personal Trainer Can Provide Motivation to Stick With It

By Ann Weber, The Blade, Toledo, Ohio

Jan. 8–The new year is fat with promise, and so are many of us.

We’re going to lose weight. We’re going to get in shape. Yes, Siree Bob. We’re really gonna do it this time.

But “this time” can become just like those other times when our inner voice falters. That’s when another voice might make all the difference — that of a personal trainer.

Part coach, part cheerleader, a personal trainer may offer the extra push you need to start a fitness program, tweak a routine that’s gotten stale, work out more effectively, build strength and flexibility, and lose weight.

Maybe you need help training for a marathon. Maybe all you want is to be able to lift your grandchildren or walk up a flight of steps without becoming breathless.

“I never liked to work out before. It was never my thing. Now I do it every day,” said Beth Miller of Lambertville, who started doing Pilates four years ago with Rebecca Arbogast, a personal trainer and fitness director at the Summit YMCA. “The motivation factor with a personal trainer is huge,” she added. “They really keep you moving ahead, but at a gradual pace so you see the improvement without overdoing it.”

Ms. Arbogast guides Ms. Miller through a session with free weights.

It’s a route that worked for Margeretta Ezell as well.

“I knew I needed to lose some weight, and I felt I needed some help,” admitted Miss Ezell of North Toledo, who has been working with Mark Iagulli, owner of PowerLine Personal Fitness Trainers in Sylvania Township.

Over the past year she dropped 62 pounds, lowered her blood pressure, and gained mobility after knee replacement surgery.

“It builds up your confidence, and you feel better about yourself because you’re feeling good and you’re looking good,” she said.

While her results have been dramatic, Miss Ezell’s experience illustrates another truth about working with a personal trainer: It’s not a quick fix.

“You can’t spend an hour in the gym and stop there,” declared Ms. Arbogast. “You have to take home what you’re learning in the gym. It helps you get started, but there has to be a lifestyle change.”

Fitness industry gimmicks and hype make people think that exercise will do it all, she said.

Nor does the solution lie just in cutting calories, said Mr. Iagulli. “What you want to learn how to do is fat loss,” he said, not just weight loss that comes from losing muscle as well as fat.

“We’re bombarded with the perception we can do it all on our own, so millions and millions of people try on their own and wonder why they’re not getting anywhere,” he continued. “How do you decipher out of all the junk what is true and what is false?”

The desire to lose weight is probably the No. 1 reason people go to a personal trainer, Ms. Arbogast said. Others may have a specific health issue such as joint pain, or want to gain strength in muscles they haven’t been using because of a sedentary lifestyle, illness, or surgery. A third group is made up of athletes and exercise enthusiasts who want to intensify their routine. “They want to be pushed. Many times when they’re working out by themselves they can’t get that extra edge,” Ms. Arbogast said.

At Lifestyles for Ladies Only, younger clients generally are looking for sports-related training, said Melissa Pietrzak, director of the personal training and nutrition programs for the chain. She said many women in their 20s and 30s are looking to lose weight after a pregnancy, while older women want to increase their flexibility and stamina.

The length of time that people use a personal trainer ranges from one hour-long session or a package of sessions, to years.

So, what can a personal trainer do for you that you can’t do for yourself? Why should you spend an estimated local average of $35 to $60 a session when you could just lace up your walking shoes and head outdoors?

The role of a personal trainer is to clarify a client’s goals and to design a program that will get them there the right way, said Scott Wasserman, personal training director for Wildwood Athletic Club in West Toledo.

Mr. Wasserman said people who try to go it alone often do too much too fast. “They go gung ho and have some setbacks because the body is not ready for that level of activity,” he said.

Ms. Arbogast said her first session with a client includes an assessment of his or her physical condition. She takes basic measurements that will be useful in charting progress and puts the client through some exercises. “That’s for me to see how the person’s body moves, to see where their weaknesses are, where to set the starting weights,” Ms. Arbogast explained. “Then we can start to get a program together.”

Mr. Wasserman pointed out that many people don’t use resistance training machines or free weights correctly, so that they don’t get the results they’re after. “We can make it more effective.”

Personal trainers vary on the extent of guidance they offer on diet and nutrition. Mr. Iagulli, for example, offers personalized nutrition plans as well as exercise, while Lifestyles provides general advice about healthy eating and has an online meal program and dietitians on staff for clients who need more in-depth information. At the Y, Ms. Arbogast said she doesn’t go beyond advising clients to watch portion size. “I don’t write out a diet program because it’s not in my realm of certification. I tell them to speak to their physician and a nutritionist,” she added.

Certification is a hot topic in the field of personal training.

“There are thousands of certifications out there,” Ms. Arbogast said. “You can go online and never step foot in a gym, just get the workbook and take the test.”

Among the respected national certifying organizations are the Aerobic and Fitness Association of America, American Council on Exercise, American College of Sports Medicine, The Cooper Institute, National Academy of Sports Medicine, National Council on Strength and Fitness, National Federation of Professional Trainers, and National Strength and Conditioning Association.

Mr. Iagulli suggests talking to several personal trainers and visiting their facilities before selecting one. And don’t stay with a trainer just because you like him or her personally, he warned. “He better be giving you what you’re paying for.”

One of his current clients is a good example.

Greg Fisher of West Toledo said he worked with several personal trainers before finding the right program to target his back problems as well as improve overall health and fitness.

“It always helps when you have somebody standing next to you to see if you’re actually doing the exercise correctly,” Mr. Fisher said. “It’s not as beneficial if it’s not done correctly.”

The trainer also makes sure you’re working at the right level, he said, rather than either straining to do too much, or not exercising to your full potential.

For those who are just getting started on a fitness program — or starting over — Ms. Arbogast advises taking it slowly, having realistic expectations, and not comparing your results to anyone else’s.

Finally: “Have fun. It should be fun. They shouldn’t dread going to work out.”

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Copyright (c) 2007, The Blade, Toledo, Ohio

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