Can you be trusted?

Do you really push yourself in the gym?

As a Certified Personal Trainer (ISSA) I train a lot of people on a daily basis. I have seen one very specific theme—most people cannot be trusted to push themselves hard in the gym. Most people will bring a stock workout into the gym and when it says “Do 3 sets of 10 repetitions” they will pick any weight and then stop at 10 repetitions each set. Why? Because that’s what the program says to do.

Have you given any thought to the effort you are putting in at this point? When you get to the prescribed reps (10 in the example above) are you sure you’ve selected the right weight. The idea is that you are supposed to fail right at or about 10 repetitions. If you get to 10 easily then something (probably the weight) isn’t right. This is where I say most people cannot be trusted.

If I (a personal trainer) was standing there, I would force you to use a heavier weight on the next set at the very least. I would be adjusting things so that your exertion was getting you to just 10 repetitions and no more. Remember, the program didn’t say “do 10 easy repetitions” so why are you stopping there? The other thing I might do is make you continue the set for more repetitions. Either way, I am pushing you towards a tougher workout. Can you be trusted to do that yourself?

This is just one of the many benefits a personal trainer brings to the table. We know the correct form on all the exercises. We know what exercises work what body parts. We understand how to put the exercises together for maximum benefit. Can you be trusted to do that yourself?

If you are going to take the time to weight train you might as well do it right. Hiring a personal trainer is an investment. Yes, it can be very expensive, but the end result is going to be better. Nobody says you have to use a trainer indefinitely. Think of us as your professor or muscle. We can teach you how to train for maximum results. If you pay attention and actually learn to push yourself then you can eventually move away from the trainer and do it all by yourself. All of that is completely up to your own effort.

The bottom line is that you should give it your all when in the gym—with or without a trainer present. Can you be trusted to do that yourself?