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  1. #1
    Registered User John61590's Avatar
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    Should I get personal training?

    Sorry if this question has been repeated several times but I believe my situation is interesting.

    I'm very beginner to the gym and want a trainer to show me how to do different basic moves probably such as push-up, barbell squat, bench press, etc. Everyone in the Bay Area / San Francisco charges at least 50 for a one-hour session. Some in San Francisco charge 100+ an hour and can go as high as 160 an hour which is definitely a lot more than what I make an hour at my current job. I can't really justify paying those prices, so I've been trying to find 50-100 a session.

    One trainer I met said I should not be lifting weights yet since my form is bad and my back has too much of an "S" curve but I doubt any trainer can fix that in weeks time since it is a posture problem. We did TRX suspension exercises for two sessions but I learned nothing and would have spent 140 since we did it both sessions. He said we would do weights in a week. He charges 70 for 1-1 session 3x a week (total: 210 a week) but regular 160.

    The other trainer I met does split routines as opposed to full-body. We started off with leg press, leg extension, and bodyweight squat. He charges 50 an hour for partner training session.

    Or I could just continue looking closely at stuff online. I have been recently interested in the beginner program at weighttraining.guide .

    Any tips in evaluating trainers these days? Should I even pay that much for a training session?
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  2. #2
    Registered User brianmcg321's Avatar
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    If you belong to a gym, see if they have someone that can work with you for an hour just to show you the exercises. Some places do that for free as they don't want someone to hurt themselves.

    Its not really a training session, more of an introduction.

    When my wife and I joined the Y many years ago, my wife got a free trainer for two weeks. That really helped her a lot.
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  3. #3
    husband, father, trainer KyleAaron's Avatar
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    Everyone will benefit from training. If you find yourself a community gym like the YMCA they should give you a few sessions for free to get you started. Of course, this will cost you more than $10 a month. So one way or another, if you want instruction, you have to pay. And you need instruction.

    If you feel you don't need instruction, go and do it on your own for 12 months, then review and see what results you've got. So you can pay $3,000 to succeed or $1,000 to fail. Up to you.
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  4. #4
    Registered User John61590's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by brianmcg321 View Post
    If you belong to a gym, see if they have someone that can work with you for an hour just to show you the exercises. Some places do that for free as they don't want someone to hurt themselves.
    They offer personal training at 24hour fitness but they charge 79 USD for 50-minute session...
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  5. #5
    insatiable TrinnieBuu's Avatar
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    This will be an evaluation only you can do. We don't know how bad your form is or how comfortable you are with lifting on your own. From what you wrote so far I'm assuming you are not very confident in your lifts form-wise or in you knowledge of bodybuilding. Explain your finances situation to you trainers and supplement with your own research. Most trainers I know don't want to lose a customer if they can help it.
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  6. #6
    husband, father, trainer KyleAaron's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by John61590 View Post
    They offer personal training at 24hour fitness but they charge 79 USD for 50-minute session...
    The 24hr gyms are for the lazy cheaparses who never go. It's cheap because they have 10,000 members, and they can only have 10,000 members because none of them go.

    That's not where you go if you want results. You find a black iron gym of some kind, or an old-school bodybuilding gym. But again, these will cost more.
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  7. #7
    Registered User kitpapa's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by KyleAaron View Post
    The 24hr gyms are for the lazy cheaparses who never go. It's cheap because they have 10,000 members, and they can only have 10,000 members because none of them go.

    That's not where you go if you want results. You find a black iron gym of some kind, or an old-school bodybuilding gym. But again, these will cost more.
    Not all of us who go to those types of gyms are lazy arseholes thank you very much. Some of us, who are very dedicated, can only afford that type of gym.
    And quite frankly, I know you are a mod and most of the time I agree with you, but this is what I hate about the fitness scene. People think it's about the NAME of the gym or it's reputation. It's one of the reasons a lot of people just don't go at all. It's about dedication and progress and learning, nothing else.
    Let me beat some ppl in lifts or in competitions and then what's the excuse they are gonna use...cause it will no longer be the name of the gym I go to.
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  8. #8
    husband, father, trainer KyleAaron's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by kitpapa View Post
    Not all of us who go to those types of gyms are lazy arseholes thank you very much.
    I didn't say "lazy arseholes", I said "lazy cheaparses."

    But let me get this straight: a professional trainer with her own business can't afford more than the cheapest gym membership, and think it's not worth paying for instruction?

    Let me beat some ppl in lifts or in competitions and then what's the excuse they are gonna use...cause it will no longer be the name of the gym I go to.
    I am hopeful but not optimistic. It's very hard to rise above your current company. I was 4 years in a globogym and none of the guys I trained ever benched 100kg (ignoring a few who started with like 95). In 6 months in my dusty garage, 6 of us did it. Why? Mostly it was the environment. There's only so strong you can get squatting next to someone on a bosu ball. And note that they were paying about half in my garage what they paid me in the globogym (though they were still paying more than an unstaffed 24hr gym). So it's not the money as such, it's the environment.

    There are better gym environments out there than an unstaffed 24hr gym. And many of them are cheap. I understand Mark Bell's gym is free. But generally speaking, you get what you pay for. So I am hopeful that you will beat people in competitions coming from your cheaparsed gym, but I am not optimistic. Your environment matters, your peers matter.

    The OP needs, as I said, to seek out a YMCA or similar, where they give you some instruction as part of your membership. Not an unstaffed 24hr gym. This used to be what all gyms were like, the default was to expect instruction, now the default is no instruction - but of course, gyms were more expensive in those days.
    Last edited by KyleAaron; 01-15-2018 at 06:14 PM.
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  9. #9
    No Huevos katya422's Avatar
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    Well you have learned something at least. It sounds like you have a mobility issue and that is probably what the trainer was trying to address with the TRX work.

    So it would probably be a good investment for now to work on mobility and core strength. I don't think you need a trainer for that.

    Looks like a good amount of free info here:

    http://mobilityforweightlifting.com/...ting-mobility/

    I like the free stuff on the Mobility Workout of the Day...that isn't specific to weight lifting though.

    Maybe try to get where you can do the movements without weight (try a PVC pipe) and can hold a plank for at least a minute.

    In the meantime you can research gyms/trainers in your area...read reviews, chat people up maybe.

    Then go work with a trainer. Do a try out session for sure and if you think that you are communicating clearly and he/she knows what's up and coaches you well consider a package that will last a couple of months to manage the cost.
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  10. #10
    Registered User kitpapa's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by KyleAaron View Post
    I didn't say "lazy arseholes", I said "lazy cheaparses."

    But let me get this straight: a professional trainer with her own business can't afford more than the cheapest gym membership, and think it's not worth paying for instruction?


    I am hopeful but not optimistic. It's very hard to rise above your current company. I was 4 years in a globogym and none of the guys I trained ever benched 100kg (ignoring a few who started with like 95). In 6 months in my dusty garage, 6 of us did it. Why? Mostly it was the environment. There's only so strong you can get squatting next to someone on a bosu ball. And note that they were paying about half in my garage what they paid me in the globogym (though they were still paying more than an unstaffed 24hr gym). So it's not the money as such, it's the environment.

    There are better gym environments out there than an unstaffed 24hr gym. And many of them are cheap. I understand Mark Bell's gym is free. But generally speaking, you get what you pay for. So I am hopeful that you will beat people in competitions coming from your cheaparsed gym, but I am not optimistic. Your environment matters, your peers matter.

    The OP needs, as I said, to seek out a YMCA or similar, where they give you some instruction as part of your membership. Not an unstaffed 24hr gym. This used to be what all gyms were like, the default was to expect instruction, now the default is no instruction - but of course, gyms were more expensive in those days.
    Well aren't we a bit presumptuous. Think you know me and what goes on in my life and finances? Think again

    And I NEVER said anything about paying for a trainer, at all.
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  11. #11
    Registered User John61590's Avatar
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    Providing an update here but I did hire a personal trainer eventually. Quite expensive one but I am still unsure if this trainer is right for me yet. I think I'll leave it to another thread maybe for discussion on good / bad training exercises for beginners.
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  12. #12
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    Just started, already second-guessing. A dream client
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