Whilst it may seem daunting at first, having a highly qualified trainer introducing you to new workouts can be the best decision you’ll make when it comes to your personal fitness journey.
PTs don’t only focus on workouts, they also help you lean towards healthier eating habits and leading an active lifestyle with flexibility. Your PT will also be there to motivate you to keep it up when the going gets tough so you get the most out of your sessions.
Background Assessment
Before we get stuck into the exercises, I want to know a bit about your fitness background. This will include things like what exercises you’ve done in the past, and what you enjoy doing. I’ll also need to know about any prior injuries or physical restrictions you have.
It’s important for me to know all of this because it will enable me to help you to overcome these injuries and not add to them. I will also use the information you give me to tailor your programme to suit your specific needs.
I’ll also ask you about your current nutrition to find out about any allergies or intolerances and we can discuss any goals you may have when it comes to nutrition.
Goal Setting
What do you want to achieve from this fitness journey? Is it to lose weight? To feel healthier and get more toned? Or is it just to enjoy the benefits of improving overall fitness? Whatever your goals may be, it is important to establish what exactly those goals are in order to achieve them. Once you have identified and written down your goals, break down each goal into smaller goals or short-term milestones. For example, if one of your goals was to lose 10kg, a sub-goal would be to lose 2-3 pounds in the next 3 weeks. Or if you had a goal to run 10k without stopping, then a sub-goal would be to go for three 10-minute runs in the next week.
My aim is to help you achieve your goals, no matter how big or small they are. But before we can do that, we will establish exactly what those short and long-term goals are. I’ll ask you what it is you want to achieve, and help you find healthy and sustainable ways of getting there. Examples of some goals may be that you want to improve your cardiovascular endurance for long-distance running, or increase muscle mass and be able to deadlift your own body weight! Or perhaps you have a specific event you want to train for like a 10k park run or your first marathon. Whatever you start with, you may find that some of your goals change over time or that you think of new goals as you progress through your fitness journey.
Fitness Assessments
It can be really helpful to assess your current fitness in order to gauge your current fitness levels. This will enable me to identify any target areas that we can focus on and provide me with the information I need to create your bespoke training programme. Everyone is different, and everyone starts their journey at different places. This is why the more information I can get about you as an individual, the better your training programme will be.
Some examples of body assessments could be testing your current strength levels, cardio, flexibility and endurance as well as checking your heart rate, pulse and blood pressure. It is totally up to you whether or not you want to do this, you will never have to do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable.
The workout
We’ve now got to the stage where we can begin the workout! I’ll show you around the studio and give you demonstrations on how to use the equipment. Once you’re happy that you have an understanding of the equipment available, we’ll get started on a short circuit and try a variety of different machines to see what works for you! This will be more about feeling out different movements and finding exercises you enjoy so I can create a programme that suits you.
Post-workout debrief
Congratulations on completing your first personal training session! Now we will discuss the workout, what you found challenging and what you found easy, as well as talking about your goals and action plan for future sessions.
We will then get our schedules together to find the times that work for you and book our next 5 sessions. Having a schedule will help you keep on track of your fitness journey and allow you to be fully immersed at every stage too. You can also discuss any concerns or worries you may have, and be assured that all your questions will be answered.
