It is not something that most people just “do
properly” on their first time. Imagine the first
time you drove a car. You probably had
somebody teaching you how to drive and it
probably took many hours of practicing before
you felt confident on your own to drive on the
streets with other cars around. Weight
training is very similar. It can be something
very beneficial but it can also be dangerous as
one can get hurt if things are not done
properly. It can be extremely advantageous to
have a teacher there to teach you how to
properly move your body, create a program,
avoid plateaus and engage certain muscles.
I actually think that every person who is new
to a gym and is looking to use resistance
training to transform their body should get a
minimum of 6-8 weeks of personal training. In
this time frame you might not see a large
amount of physical results other than feeling
better, but you have the potential to learn how
to use the tools properly and efficiently to
craft a masterpiece of your own.
Now, the key is not to just hire any personal
trainer, but the right one. It is very
unfortunate that at this day and age very
few personal trainers know or even care
about what they are doing. When you walk
into many gyms nowadays, many of the
personal trainers are out of shape, are not
paying attention to their clients, and have
the client on programs that are not right for
their goals. I do not necessarily blame the
trainers for this but the industry.
It takes no more than a weekend course to
become a certified personal trainer now,
which has caused a major diluting of good
quality trainers. Although many of the
trainers do have the best intentions with
their clients, they are not subjected to the
proper knowledge and practical experience
before they are put out on the gym floor
with somebody who may have never even
touched a weight before.