Choosing a Personal Trainer

Choosing a personal trainer is easy. There are literally thousands upon thousands of personal trainers and personal training companies practising up and down the UK. However, choosing the RIGHT personal trainer for YOU is the key factor when deciding upon which personal trainer to hire. Choosing a personal trainer can be a lot like picking a partner. You want them to be reliable, trustworthy, reasonably good looking and fun to be with. Chances are you will be with your personal trainer 2 to 3 hours each and every week, so being around someone that you like and that you click with will become important very soon in your relationship.

Your personal trainer's personality

A personal trainer can come in all shapes and sizes, both physically and mentally. You might be the type of person who will only push themselves when they are being barked at by some muscle bound drill sergeant, but the chances are you'll want a personable personal trainer who understands that you want to be encouraged and pushed just a little, but in an motivating, pleasant and fun way.

So make sure that you ask your prospective personal trainer what their style of motivation they use and decide whether that style is the type of encouragement you're looking for.

Your location

Your location and that of your personal trainer is very important. If you live too far apart chances are traffic and other unforeseen issues may become a barrier to you exercising when and for how long you want. Therefore, make sure any personal training company you hire have a local (within 5 miles) personal trainer available to train you at least twice a week.

Personal training qualifications

A personal trainer is someone who is a highly qualified exercise professional. A personal trainer IS NOT someone you know who goes to the train and has offered to show you the ropes every now and again. A qualified personal trainer has experience of training clients regularly and so they will have, more often than not, helped others reach the same goals that you yourself are trying to reach. A qualified personal trainer also has experience of designing tailor-made exercise programmes for a number of people with a variety of needs and wants. A qualified personal trainer should also have at least a basic understanding of nutrition and how best to help you lose weight, maintain weight or even gain weight, depending on your goals. 

Personal training courses vary considerably. Some personal trainers will have studied a 3 year degree course in Sports Science, whilst others will have undertaken a 3 week crash course in basics of personal training. So make sure you ask your trainer who they trained with, for how long and what the course included.

Also make sure that you ask to see the personal training qualification certificates of anyone claiming to be a qualified personal trainer. Chances are they will have them to hand and will be more than able to produce them during your first meeting.

Personal training liability insurance

All qualified personal trainers and personal training companies should hold a minimum of £5 million public liability insurance. This means that, heaven forbid, something happened during your personal training session, your personal trainer's insurance company may step in to help pay off an medical bills incurred, loss of earnings due to injury or anything else that may have arisen due to your personal training session.

The cost of a personal training session

The cost of a single personal training session can vary depending on your location and the experience / profile of your personal trainer. For example, typically personal training sessions will cost more in affluent parts of the country; the City of London, Central Manchester, Farnham, Oxford, Edinburgh etc., whereas in inner-city London, Liverpool, Glasgow or elsewhere the cost of a personal training session might be less.

Also mentioned is the experience and the profile of your personal trainer. That means that if you're looking for the personal trainer who transformed Daniel Craig's body for the role of James Bond or you want to hire the celebrity personal trainer of J-LO or Jennifer Aniston, expect to pay a premium price for the privilege.

That said, many personal trainers offer their clients discounts if they bulk but sessions in advance. So if you're willing to pay a personal trainer up front for 5, 10, 15, 20 or more personal training sessions, your personal trainer will offer you a sliding scale discount.

Remember, Total Trainer allows you to search and find qualified personal trainers in your local area. Simply complete the request form above and we will match you to the personal trainer that offers the personal training services you seek.