Considering hiring a personal trainer? Or do you prefer exercising with others?
When asking yourself the question ‘Should I choose group exercise or personal training?’, there are a few key things to consider.
What’s Your Exercise Experience?
Firstly, and foremost: What is your experience level? Have you ever stepped foot in a gym? Do you even know what a dumbbell is? If the answer to both these questions is no, then maybe you should consider getting personal training.
Why? Well because being an experienced, qualified, personal trainer, they will be able to teach you these things along with also being able to teach you the proper technique the first time. Because old habits can be hard to break!
Do You Want Friendship? Results? Fun? Cardio?
Whilst on one hand group exercise classes can be a great way for you to meet new friends, or even go with your friends to motivate each other to work out together, they also have the potential to not be the right type or exercise for what you want to achieve.
Do you just want to have fun? Or do you want to get some serious results? Maybe you really want to push yourself, and, in this case, boot-camp style group exercise sessions can be a great way to motivate each other and really push yourself to the limits.
And don’t underestimate the boost that exercising in a group may give your mental health. For many people, simply doing something with others is all they want from their physical activity. To learn more, please see here.
Personal Trainers: A Tailored Experience
On the other hand one-on-one training sessions at your local gym, or in your home, with a personal trainer that is experienced in helping people reach their goals might be the better option, depending on what you’re after of course.
Are you recovering from a recent injury and looking for someone to help with rehabilitation and strengthening certain muscles?
In some cases group classes such as cross-fit can have a large amount of people in the class and not necessarily be able to pay you the attention you need to get the right technique and avoid further injury.
Personal trainers will have your attention for the entire session and be able to guide you through everything in a step by step process and be there to answer all your questions.
Group Exercise: Crowd Motivation
However, let’s remember that we may not all have the same budget and be able to afford a full time personal trainer. Group sessions, can sometimes work out cheaper and more affordable.
At the same time with group exercise you may also have a range of different classes and experience some new skills or discover a new hobby.
Maybe you’ll find that you really enjoy spin class and it’s really getting you some great results, or maybe you’re in to boxing and enjoy more of the circuit style group training with like-minded peers.
At the end of the day both group exercise and having your own personal trainer have their pros and cons. It comes down to what you want, what you can afford, and what you enjoy, but most importantly what helps you to reach your fitness goals.
Fitness directories are useful for determining what’s right for your situation. Have a browse through and go for a yoga class, a PT park training session or just check out the local gym. With so many fitness professionals at your fingertips, try each one and chat about your options – that way you’ll be on track to meeting your fitness goals in no time.
Whether you decide to try group exercise or personal trainer, embracing some form of physical activity will be a win/win for your health and mental wellbeing.
If you’d like some advice on how to exercise safely, see here.
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The Questions You Must Ask Before Taking A Personal Training Course.
