5 Ways to find the best personal trainer for you

If you think that you are most likely to meet your weight loss or training goals with a personal trainer, don't let the search intimidate you from finding the perfect person for your needs. These five tips can enable you to find just the right trainer for you.

1. Talk to Your Peers

Among the best ways to find the right personal trainer for your needs is to see who people with similar needs have used. Do you want a personal trainer to help you prepare for a sport or activity? Talk to your teammates or other people who are involved in the same activity to see if they have used a personal trainer that has worked well for them. Do you admire the weight loss of a friend or colleague? Ask them if they used a personal trainer to help them achieve their goals.

While talking to your peers is a great way to find a great personal trainer for you, don't just go on the first recommendation. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you ask friends, co-workers, and teammates about personal trainers:

• Does the person you're asking have a similar personality to you? Your teammate may have done very well with the trainer who yells in their face to get them to lift more weight, but you may not do well with the same sort of encouragement.

• Does the person you're asking have a similar body type to you? Your very petite friend may have lost weight easily with a particular personal trainer, but if you have a more robust frame, you may find that the same techniques don't work well for you.

• How does the person you're asking's schedule and budget compared to yours? It is entirely possible that your colleague was able to meet their fitness goals with a given trainer, but if they paid half your monthly salary for each session, you are unlikely to be able to hire the same trainer.

2. Get Online

When it comes time to find a personal trainer, the internet can be a highly effective tool. Social media sites, advertisement listings, blogs, and forums can all be a great way to find the perfect personal trainer for your needs.

The internet can be particularly helpful because you can sort results very specifically and use directories to find certified individuals. Look for a personal trainer that is devoted to helping people lose large amounts of weight or a trainer that is specifically qualified to train you in a given sport. You can search a social media site like Facebook by people, groups, events, etc to help you narrow in on the perfect personal trainer for your needs.

Not finding what you need in a search? Try asking your question on social media or in a forum to see who is suggested for you.

3. Ask at the Gym

If you are already working out at a gym, this may be the perfect resource to help you find a personal trainer. Many gyms employ personal trainers that can work with you at the gym or come to your home.

You may be able to have access to these personal trainers at a reduced rate compared to what the cost would be if you did not have a gym affiliation. You may also see people working out at your local gym with a trainer who doesn't have an affiliation with the gym. Take the opportunity to observe how the trainer works with their clients so that you can decide whether this is the sort of workout you want to get. Don't hesitate to ask the trainer whether they have room in their schedule for a new client.

4. Interview a Lot of Personal Trainers

A quick Google search is likely to turn up a number of personal trainers in your area. It can be difficult to tell which is best for you. Many personal trainers do not have an extensive website or even social media page by which you can gauge their work.

However, this doesn't mean they aren't high-quality personal trainers. Reach out to trainers via e-mail or telephone and ask them key questions about their training style, expertise, credentials, etc to help you narrow down which trainer will be best for your needs.

5. Be Honest With Yourself

An important component to finding the ideal personal trainer for your needs is to be very realistic about exactly what you need from your personal trainer and what you are likely to respond best to. Just because a trainer tells you that their hard-line approach gets results doesn't mean that your personality will respond well to being shouted at. If you will need to go to a gym each time to meet a trainer, but know that you tend to flake when it comes to commitments like this, it may be worth the extra effort to find a trainer who will come to you so that you are more likely to actually get the training that you need. Being honest with yourself is absolutely essential during your search for a great personal trainer for your needs.

Find the Best Trainer for You

Finding a great personal trainer can be intimidating, but by being dedicated in your search, you have a superior chance of finding somebody who will really make a difference in your fitness goals.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or the management of EconoTimes