Personal Trainers: are they necessary?

It’s a common dilemma: should you exercise on your own or is it worth investing in a personal trainer? Different people will have different reasons to exercise. If you are looking to get specific results in a specified time, a personal trainer might be what you need to motivate you and get you on track e.g. if you have a certain amount of weight to lose before a wedding or if you’re training for a triathlon. Qualified trainers will also help those that have struggled to incorporate exercise into their daily lives. It’s a trainer’s job to help you find motivation and find the time that you’ve struggled with up until now. They are also trained to take into account any medical problems and/or special nutritional needs you may have. Getting into an exercise routine on your own whilst trying to balance health issues can be tricky and put people off, so why not leave it to a professional to work it all out for you?

The alternative is to do it yourself. Nowadays, there is handy technology out there to help you train on your own: mapmyrun.com or walkjogrun.net are good websites and mobile apps to help you track progress and build your own cardio goals. In terms of resistance training, it gets harder to form goals but common sense indicates if you are trying to get bigger then you should be keeping note of how much you are lifting and try to increase it methodically (see Resistance Training). Any regular gym will have instructors who can take you through a resistance program for free and are obliged to construct follow-up programs for you at regular intervals too.

If you are thinking of hiring a personal trainer make sure they are properly qualified and registered with a reputable body like the Register of Exercise Professionals. They should take you through your goals and any health issues BEFORE your first session. Good luck!

Ease into squats by stretching your hams

Legs are often the least favourite part of people’s resistance programs. For this reason, many people – mainly men – neglect lower body exercises. Here’s my tip: concentrate on increasing flexibility in your hamstrings. It’s very often tightness in this muscle area that is making the squat uncomfortable, and therefore putting you off doing them. Neglecting your lower body will only lead to muscle imbalances and give you chicken legs! So get stretching! Developmental stretches are best; ones that you hold for at least 15 seconds, and then try to stretch further and hold again for another 15 seconds.

Meanwhile, here’s one of my favourite Biggest Loser moments ever – courtesy of the American series. US trainer Bob Harper is usually the calm, mild-mannered one. It’s Jillian Michaels who is normally shouting her mouth off at the contestants in the gym. But everyone has a tipping point, and Bob’s came when one of the contestants continued to quit on him. Realising she was perfectly capable of completing the exercise, Bob pushed and pushed until he proved his point. What a monumentally epic freakout. I love the way he essentially just shouts the same thing over and over again – comedy gold!

adductor/abductor machine

When working legs, most people use the Leg Press, Leg Curl and Leg Extension machines. If using free-weights, the Deadlift and Squats are popular choices. Whilst these are perfectly valid exercises for lower-body workouts, it neglects two crucial leg muscles: the adductor and abductor muscles. Don’t forget to do exercises that move the legs laterally so you are strengthening the quads from a 360° perspective. This is especially important if you play sports, where your legs will move in all directions, not just forwards and backwards.

Farmer's Walk

If you’re going for heavy weights in your gym sessions, your ability to go heavier could be impeded by a lack of wrist and forearm strength (behave!). Improve your grip strength by doing Hammer Curls and Wrist Curls with dumbbells or an EZ bar. Another effective exercise is the Farmer’s Walk, holding a towel with a weighted plate threaded through it. For a demonstration, click here.

Fight the Flu!

Cardiovascular training is vital to maintaining overall fitness and well-being. However, an unfortunate occurrence for many regular exercisers is the dreaded cold and upper-tract infections. Fight the flu by taking 3mg of Vitamin C in divided doses through the day (you can buy it in powder form). Also, suck on zinc lozengers and take a vitamin B6 supplement. If you’re ill – take a break! Don’t stress your body out by exercising through it. Taking a couple of days off will be better for you in the long run.

Bagel - a pre-workout snack

The last thing you want to do after a taxing workout is starve yourself. So here are some nutritious snacks that will replenish your energy levels without increasing your waistline:

- Banana sandwich
- Oatmeal biscuits
- Rice cakes with fruit spread
- Grapes and oranges
- Muesli
- A baked or boiled potato
- Maltodextrin drink (250ml)
- Fruit squash/soft drink

Want to snack BEFORE your workout? Try these 45 minutes to an hour before you hit the gym:

- Banana
- Apple
- Bagel with low-fat cream cheese
- Rice cake with fruit spread

Tips for beginners

If you’re new to exercise and you’re unsure about how to structure a resistance program, bear the following in mind:
- Always begin with a warm-up and stretches for the whole body
- Start off with 1-2 exercises per body part
- Work larger muscles first (chest, back, legs) and leave smaller muscles for the end (biceps, triceps, shoulders)
- Work opposing muscles together (chest/back, quads/hamstrings, biceps/triceps)
- Try an upper-lower-upper-body sequence (as above)
- Leave abdominals until the very end
- Finish with a cool-down and stretching
- Try not to let your routine go on for longer than an hour

daily nutrition stats

Many people like to use the 1g per kilogram of bodyweight rule when calculating how much carbohydrate and/or protein to consume for a healthy diet. For a rough guideline, however, these are the daily vital stats for an average 2,000 calorie diet (slightly higher for men):

Carbohydrate: 250g
Protein: 50g
Fat: 70g (of which no more than 20g saturated)
Fibre: 18g
Sugar: 50g
Salt: 6g (for men and women)
Water: 2-3.75 litres (for men and women)

You will need to increase all of the above if your day is very active.

Here are some more gym-based drills: