Prep/Diet coach or Personal Trainer??? HELP!

[Marna]

I am new to this whole thing and I want to do it properly. So right now I am trying to decide between a prep coach/diet coach and a personal trainer. Can someone please give me their opinion on this and explain a little why they feel that way.

Also, I know what a personal trainer should cost but what is realistic for a prep coach? I don't want someone taking advantage of the fact that I'm totally new at this.

Thanks SOOOOO MUCH!
Marna

[Quelly]

my suggestion first (being a personal trainer and prepping myself for a show) would be to get a bit of info first so you can defend against the possibility of hiring a moron...check out the contest prep forum and read layne's article on contest prep that is a sticky at the top of the forum, even if you're not ready to do a show all the info up until the last 2 weeks applies to making body composition changes.
And if you hire a personal trainer just make sure they have a background in what you are looking to train for...if that's physique competition make sure they have a handle on that....90% of the clients I get are women over 45 looking to lose weight....so if it wasnt for my personal interest in physique competition, performance nutrition, and strength athletics, my knowledge would be limited to that population group....see what I'm saying? Find somebody with the proper background or you'll get joe trainer....who although might help you, might not be the best for your goals

[Nancypro]

Marna,

Maybe you don't need either one??? What are your areas of weakness and what are your areas of strength. Most competitors, or many of them are also personal trainers so to hire a trainer for contest prep does not make much sense, but if your background is in nutrition maybe you have this area covered. Think about what your questions are that you have going into a competiton and that may sort it out for you. A good contest prep coach will cover all the bases from organization to compete in to suit selection and color to posing to diet and nutrtion as well as tweaking your workouts, if you have a foundation in exercise, a coach is the way to go, if you are clueless hire a trainer and also have them do your contest prep. Just my thoughts. Regarding price that varys like the cost of a swimsuit, it is like saying how much does it cost to have a custom one piece. (hahaha) Hope that helps some.

Nancy