If you're just getting started on a new fitness journey, or have hit a plateau in your current training regime, our team of expert Personal Trainers are here to get you on track.
For Personal Training beginners, it can be daunting to put your health into someone else's hands, or nerve-wrecking to imagine how they'll put you through your paces to achieve your fitness goals. Dismiss that mental picture you have of a drill-seargant type trainer bellowing at you to do more push-ups. Personal Training isn't about that. It's about careful planning, measurement and motivating you to get to where you want to be.
We sat down with Personal Trainer and Fitness Team Leader, Jane at Village Gym Glasgow to find out what you can expect in your first Personal Training session.
What Does A Personal Training Consultation Involve?
"A consultation with your Personal Trainer involves a sit down chat to find out all about your lifestyle and fitness goals. It’s important to actually write a goal down as this makes it ten times more likely that you’ll achieve it. So it's a great idea to write out what it is that you're hoping to achieve before your first personal training session.
We'll then take your goal, and make it 'SMART'. This is...
Specific, to your own lifestyle, ambitions and preferences.
Measurable, so that we have some sort of numerical value that you can keep track of ( e.g weight loss, strength, running times.)
Achievable, because if you pick something unachievable then you'll very quickly lose motivation. For example you wouldn’t say that losing a stone is achievable in the space of 2 weeks. We'll help you plan targets we know you can reach.
Realistic, similar to the above, though based on what is do-able for your lifestyle. If you've never set foot in the gym, commiting to workouts five days a week just isn't realistic. So we'll plan your workouts around your other life commitments.
Timescale, there must be a timescale to achieve your goal otherwise you're not accountable for your training. It's easy to sit at home and say, 'I'll go tomorrow', though if we have a timescale in which to achieve success, you'll be more motivated to stick to your plan. Sometimes picking a holiday or an event in your life to work towards can be more motivating than simply saying 'I'll get there in twelve weeks'. Picture how you want to look and feel at that friend's wedding, that long-awaited beach holiday or the marathon you've just signed up for!"
Measuring Up
"After your goal is set, we'll usually take measurements so that we have a starting point for reaching your goal. This can be anything from weight, measurements of hip, waist etc. for body composition. Or it can be how much weight you can lift in the gym, time of running a 5K or a fitness test if your goal is more sport or strength orientated."
How Will We Track Progress?
"Your Village Gym Personal Trainer will keep a confidential record of all measurements and update this as we go. For goals such as weight loss or body composition changes the usual time to see a difference would be 6 weeks, so this is when we would re-measure to ensure we're on track.
For sport specific goals you will usually see the progress weekly and so this can be recorded as you go."
Fitness Testing
"During your first PT session, your Personal Trainer will ask you to do basic exercises to assess your fitness level. This gives us a good idea of how tough to make your sessions and how big or small a programme to make. It also allows us to see your techniques and correct any poor form."
What Questions Should I Ask My PT?
"There are no right or wrong questions to ask, so pick your Personal Trainer's brains and find out whatever you need to know. If you have any injuries or health issues, we need to know about them, so ask us how we can modify certain exercises to avoid injury or discomfort.
Find out about the personal training success stories your PT has achieved with other members. This will give you an idea on what they are like to work with.
If you have a busy lifestyle, ask how you can incorporate your training around your other commitments to ensure you're still achieving results.
And if you're trying to eat more healthily, ask us about the apps we recommend for tracking calories and macros.
A Personal Trainer is a human too so they will talk to you about normal things during sessions, we don’t all just talk about fitness constantly."
How Will You Motivate Me?
"When working with a Village Gym Personal Trainer, you'll receive one to one support throughout. We'll create a programme that will suit your goals and your ability, so you'll feel confident about achieving results.
We find that members stay motivated when they see their progression, so we focus on regular measurement and tracking so that you can see at a glance how well you're doing... even if you don't feel as though you are!
Your sessions will be enjoyable and challenging yet fun. So it will feel less like a chore and more like a lifestyle. We'll also tailor your workout sessions to how you're feeling on that day, so workouts can be progressed or regressed accordingly."
If you're ready to get started, book a consultation with our Personal Training team and let's get you on track towards smashing your fitness goals!
