Personal Trainer?

[danzasmack]

After reading all these crazy posts about "how to exercise" on 2p2 I got to thinking I might need a personal trainer.

We have a gym in my apartment building but it is VERY small and gets crowded to the point where I can't do what i want when I want (like right after work). So I joined the NYSC (New York Sports Club).

Yesterday was my 1st day there. The place is big and intimidating. There are people all over the place, most more comfortable with the place than me. They have tons of machines for each muscle group - to the point where I really don't know which I should be doing/when.

I have never had a personal trainer, or any type of fitness trainer. I'm assuming my form isn't the best when lifting and I may not be working the correct muscle groups on the correct days.

GQ this month has "personal trainer horror stories" about crazy trainers, etc. The NYSC offers things like 10 session packages, which I am thinking about getting.

Please share you personal trainer experiences and suggestions. Thanks.

[cbloom]

A lot of gyms give you a free half hour session to teach you the machines when you join, surprised NYSC doesn't.

[danzasmack]

[ QUOTE ]
A lot of gyms give you a free half hour session to teach you the machines when you join, surprised NYSC doesn't.

[/ QUOTE ]

They do. But I want help putting together a regular program for me. I want to know what i should be doing this day and that day, and when to change that.

[soko]

I did 3 semesters of weight training in high school so I had somewhat an idea on how to exercise and such. 4 years later I decided to join a gym and wanted to do it right so I paid $1400 for 30 sessions, very expensive indeed but I feel like I got every bit of value out of that, I noticed a major and significant change in the entire tone of my body and overall improvements in other areas. The best thing about a personal trainer is you are never in the gym for more than an hour and he/she totally kicks your ass in to shape to the point where your inches from complete and utter failure, it's a motivational thing.

Well I cleared through my 30 sessions about a month ago and only been to the gym maybe 2 times since then, I have a very active job and active lifestyle so im not losing any of that hard work I did but I don't want to pay close to 50 dollars a session anymore because I don't feel like I need to but at the same time i have motivational issues to get to the gym.

I say if you have extra money kicking around they are definatly worth it if you have motivational issues.

[bwana devil]

check craigslist for more reasonable rates than what a gym will charge.

[imitation]

Personally I think it's a waste of money, if you have the time to research yourself. Personal trainers are notorious for giving bad advice as well, they also don't really explain why you're doing things so you're forced to keep coming back to them. This is what i've heard from others I have no personal experience.

When I first started weight training I just poured over the forums at forum.bodybuilding.com for a few weeks and read alot.

My knowledge now is pretty good in that I can easily put together a progam for myself and you can find videos to check your form for different exercises.

I also think nutrition information from there is very solid as well.