Personal Trainer

TitanTim said:
original guvnor said:
[So why didn't you say that in the first place then? Instead of coming across as someone sneering at some one else for trying to improve their fitness. You are your own worst enemy sometimes. Don't be so judgemental of other people. Your way isn't the only way you know.

Personal trainers can be very useful in certain situations. I don't pay for one myself but I have used free consultations with them to help me design a weights and CV programme. They won't be for everyone but if you have very specific goals they can be extremely useful.
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No one is sneering, it was a :rofl: My personal opinion is they're a waste of time and money, simples :) its my opinion thats all, take or leave it with a pinch of salt :wink: With regard to being judgemental you could be more judgemental than myself, but then I don't know you from Adam just as you don't know me, so your comment is perhaps a little meaningless.

Its the same with people using life coaches :cry: but then like personal trainers if it helps them or going to church then great :)

Tim.
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Your personal opinion on this matter is formed on nothing but ignorance, but good luck with it.
 
vanilla said:
Back on track now guys...obvs I've read and tried to do exercises, classes, diet etc myself over the last 6 months but I haven't gotten much out. That's why I want to try PT and yes it's expensive (each session is same as the gym £40 monthly fee) but it's an investment to my health, well being in the future which is not really quantifiable. Plus I'm hoping to make a lifestyle change. My only annoyance is that he said my goal would take longer than I was hoping as it takes a while to build muscle. Also that he wouldn't give me a training program until a paid session. First paperwork consultation and one session were free from the gym.

Thanks for your support guvnor. :)
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Good for you!
You won't look back.

I think I know which gym you joined, I was a member that for many years and found their PT sessions very rewarding. As we've said it's just the cost that's the snag! But once you find a good one they are brilliant.

Elvis
 
I'd say go for it if you think it will help you. I had been going to the gym regularly for about a year before I had some training sessions with an instructor. If nothing else I found out I was capable of far more in the gym and as a result it helped vary my training sessions so the gym became more fun. It's not a waste of money if you can afford it and get something from it.
 
In my opinion, you'd be better reading up, subscribing (free) to a couple fitness channels on youtube, build up your knowledge and learn your body. A PT shouldnt be your motivation to go or finish your set, i think that is a crutch that may lead to throwing the towel in if/when the PT sessions end. We all go through dips in interest and motivation. I hated the big box gym i was at. I used it because it was so close to my house. Always rammed, queues for everything. This led to me just not going and feeling rubbish.

I decided i wanted to hit it hard again, but having looked at gyms in the area none fit the bill. I like to do a little of everything, for rounded, functional training. So that means bits of cross fit, cycling, power lifting etc. To get everything i needed from a training session i decided to convert the garage into a gym. Bought a Rogue squat rack, barbell and olympic plates to start with. The rack isnt cheap but has pull up bar, dip bar, safety spotter arms etc so is useful for all core activities. (Squat, bench, deadlift, rows, pull ups, dips)

I've always designed my own programming, but if you're unsure there are limitless amounts of free programs on the net.

Best advice i could muster; set yourself small, medium, long term goals. If you can only do 3 pull ups, aim for 6, 10, 15 etc and track your progress. People become downhearted thinking they're not making gains or progression, but they simply dont appreciate or know their start / current stats.
 
If you can do all this on your own and haven't let it slip, then bravo to you my man!

I know I couldn't do it without my PT

But everyone's different. I mean some folks climb Everest!
 
Evil_elvis said:
But everyone's different. I mean some folks climb Everest!
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Nothing stopping you but yourself. If you want to do it, don't let anything get in your way.

As for the PT, if it gets you the result you need, do it. Its like people who machine polish their car vs pay a pro. We could all learn how to do it for free, given the time, effort and inclination, but we dont all want to learn but want the same end result. Nothing wrong with that at all pal.
 
i previously posted, but instantly removed it for fear of comming across badly or whatever, but screw it, everyone has their opinion.

i think everyone is trying to be a pt here a bit, its just that pt's get paid for it (and are meant to have a qualification to back it up)

so gym for the last 6 months eh? is this all the gym you have ever done? has anyone at all (gym rat friend) showed you the ropes/ what exercises are actually good/ what to avoid/ what machines are for what purpose?
at the gym do you use the isolation machines or have you ever done body weight/ body building / " old fashioned" exercises such as squats, bench, press, deads, rows, snatch etc etc. ? my guess is that you dont or havent - which could be a good reason to use a pt... but only if you can't find a friend to come and show you how to do it properly for free.

i would say that your motivation and or will power is whats holding you back more than everything. as you stated on page 1, you go to spinning classes but cant do the resistance/ dont exert youself enough to feel the pain or be particularly worn out.

i think that if this is true then its whats standing in the way, with things like this as with anything physical, you will never improve if you dont give it near 100% and absolutely cracker yourself out.

put simply, if your not F****D then you havent expelled enough energy, your muscles haven worked hard enough, so therfore why should they feel the need to repair or get bigger? if you haven used all the energy thats freely available then they wont need to go looking for the fat stores or other sugars and carb stores in your body.

so in short if you don't leave the gym knowing you've really tried your hardest thet day then why would you expect gains? in my first 6 months of gym when me and my buddy got into gym ( i was already a division 1 kayak slalom competitor and used to climb and cycle all the time) i remember we used to try so hard at everything we did we could barely walk out and our lungs were constantly on fire. we would nearly always have an ache for the muscle group from the day or two before. but more importantly, because we used each other and videos and books to find new exercises and to correct each others form, we knew we were doing the exercise right.

any ways i hope i havent offended anyone to much, maybe this thread could evolve into people suggesting some good exercises, with links to websites etc?

somewhere to start :

http://www.mensfitness.co.uk/exercises/exercise-plans

http://www.menshealth.co.uk/

i find these are two good and informative websites for picking up little tricks.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-New-Encyclopedia-Modern-Bodybuilding/dp/0684857219

i find this book really good also... im not a body builder, id consider myself athletic and i do gymnastics (well not so much now)
 
I know the message you're trying to convey but its not just a case of 'do it until it hurts', especially for a beginner. You often see people doing sets and sets of high reps of something which is at best conditioning, but is not geared towards increasing strength or size.

A PT will help avoid these types of pitfalls but unless you use him/her as a base to learn from, when moving away from the PT you're likely to either do the exact same workouts forever or try to mix it up with less optimal programming.

However, this only concerns a small % of people that want to take it to the next level, either visually or functionally. There are plenty of people that are happy just going and getting a workout in, without the concern of trying to improve aesthetics of particular muscles, or cut the bf just a little bit lower to show striations etc etc

Try it, if the bug bites you take it up a notch and go from there.
 
T2FFN said:
Evil_elvis said:
But everyone's different. I mean some folks climb Everest!
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Nothing stopping you but yourself. If you want to do it, don't let anything get in your way.

As for the PT, if it gets you the result you need, do it. Its like people who machine polish their car vs pay a pro. We could all learn how to do it for free, given the time, effort and inclination, but we dont all want to learn but want the same end result. Nothing wrong with that at all pal.
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I've been going to the gym on and off for 10 years, so ive tried both, including training with a buddy. It's nothing to do with learning like learning machine polishing would be. It's all to do with giving up, or taking it easy.

Personally for me the PT always wins, but I am a very lazy b'stard! :D

As you say "nothing stopping me but myself"
So very true :D
 
The days of "no pain,no gain"are long gone, at least for those that know what they are doing. The cross fit franchise is a perfect example of this. Lots of their trainers joke about inducing rhabdomyolysis. This is a serious condition and can cause death. Although you do want some muscle damage, too much causes muscle catabolism and actually switches off the DNA sequencing for protein synthesis / hypertrophy.

If you are an athlete or if you exercise (even run) you need to consume sufficient protein.......period! The RDA for the sedentary is 0.8 gms/kg body mass. Those that exercise should up that to at least 1gm/kg. About 1.2 - 1.5 for those that are training for hypertrophy or strength.

Be careful about what you find on the internet as there is a lot of crap out there. A good place to start is the national strength and conditioning association. Their website has lots of useful free info and videos.......Nsca.org

I've been working in this field for over 20 years and publish in peer reviewed journals. In fact, I'm hosting a strength clinic on Saturday 13th sept for professional strength and conditioning coaches / physics etc. if you want to come your welcome. Oh, it's in Seattle though lol.


Seriously though, as a I said in my earlier post a GOOD trainer can take you a long way. :thumbsup:
 
dalecan said:
If you are an athlete or if you exercise (even run) you need to consume sufficient protein.......period! The RDA for the sedentary is 0.8 gms/kg body mass. Those that exercise should up that to at least 1gm/kg. About 1.2 - 1.5 for those that are training for hypertrophy or strength.
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Those kind of numbers have been plucked out of muscle mags and have no scientific backing yet every 'gym guy' quotes them as gospel. You don't need such high protein for muscle growth. Go ask a Gorilla :roll:

People's knowledge of nutrition is in the most based on heavily financially driven agenda that has been pushed on us for 50+ years by the likes of the meat and dairy industry. Just one simple example:

Ask someone why they drink milk.

Guaranteed their answer will be for the calcium as it builds string bones. Actually the biggest independent studies have confirmed this is the opposite of what it does. Consumption of pasteurized dairy (importantly calcium carbonate) has no way of entering the cells without a chelating agent, so the body pulls the calcium from the bones and other tissues in order to buffer the calcium carbonate in the blood. This process actually causes osteoporosis.

With regards to protein, there's no need to go above 10% daily calories and remain fully healthy. This can be achieved easily in a normal balanced diet, with or without meat and and definitely without processed supplementation. Increased protein (in particular casein) has been proven to have a clear relationship to cancer progression.

If interested in reading more about true nutrition, based on some of the largest studies ever conducted, The China Study is a very good read.
 
sorry guys i dint mean training in the style of "pumping iron" and i dont believe in the "pump" or really hurting the muscle, just wat i was getting at more was you w ant to feel like youve done it... a 100m sprinter will never improve without trying so hard they cant do another. you wont improve your maths skills without doing problems that you cant solve, so why would gym be different.
 
T2FFN said:
dalecan said:
If you are an athlete or if you exercise (even run) you need to consume sufficient protein.......period! The RDA for the sedentary is 0.8 gms/kg body mass. Those that exercise should up that to at least 1gm/kg. About 1.2 - 1.5 for those that are training for hypertrophy or strength.
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Those kind of numbers have been plucked out of muscle mags and have no scientific backing yet every 'gym guy' quotes them as gospel. You don't need such high protein for muscle growth. Go ask a Gorilla

People's knowledge of nutrition is in the most based on heavily financially driven agenda that has been pushed on us for 50+ years by the likes of the meat and dairy industry. Just one simple example:

Ask someone why they drink milk

If interested in reading more about true nutrition, based on some of the largest studies ever conducted, The China Study is a very good read.
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The numbers I quoted are backed by a ton of peer reviewed scientific data!
Milk is one of the best things you can take, although we are actually designed not to drink it after infancy.
Most people eat too much protein and cause ailments, like kidney stones.
Extra protein alone will not build muscle.
Gorillas have a completely different hormonal status to us, including the myostatin gene (ask the Belgium blue cow).
 
Cow Milk is not designed for us and has proven peer reviewed scientific links to so many biological problems in humans. Diabetes, auto immune, cancer... mmm, got milk?

How about vitamins? Peer review studies say they're good for us right, like eating an apple in a pill? Haha, ok then.

Where there's money to be made there's agenda.
 
T2FFN said:
Cow Milk is not designed for us and has proven peer reviewed scientific links to so many biological problems in humans. Diabetes, auto immune, cancer... mmm, got milk?

How about vitamins? Peer review studies say they're good for us right, like eating an apple in a pill? Haha, ok then.

Where there's money to be made there's agenda.
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There's also a lot of money to be made by elite athletes, where the extra 1% can make all the difference. Not all "research" is a scam.
 
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