[mylove0mylife]

I had my first personal trainer session this morning. She was super sweet, and turns out we're both going to school for the same reason (Bachelor's in Health Administration). She had me do 5 exercises, three of which I had never done before.


Inverted push ups made me feel like I was going to fall, because I was terrified the bar wouldn't be able to hold my weight. It did, but that one I felt!

Using the bar to do push ups was a lot easier for me then doing it on the floor. I'm not sure if it's because I'm putting more weight on my feet, instead of my arms...but it did work. I wasn't as afraid I was going to fall because pushing up hard enough got me back on my feet.

Lunges were lunges. Not too difficult. I felt it, but it was easy enough.

Mountain climbers I had never done before. I didn't mind them, it felt kind of silly, lol. The only thing I didn't like was I was holding myself up on something that is rough to keep you from slipping with your feet...so it hurt my hands a little. Otherwise it wasn't too bad.

Ball squats...OW! Squats in general just feel the burn. My legs are still killing me from yesterdays workout, but all in all it was okay. I knew that squats were a good exercise and eventually I was going to have to do them. I like the ball because it didn't put any pressure on my back when I was squatting. (I have lower back issues).

I did all that in 25 minutes. I was impressed how I felt, and she was super sweet. I have her again next Friday (wednesday is Christmas, so they're closed), and I'm actually looking forward to it.

What were your experiences with a personal trainer?

[Quiet Ballerina]

Unfortunately, I had a pretty rough experience with my personal trainer. In the beginning he was great, but somewhere around the 6 week mark he was very distracted and I wanted to drop him.

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/exer...iner-move.html

I actually wrote a post about him here, seeking advice. I would have 'let him go' a lot sooner, except I had paid for sessions ahead of time and I wanted to finish them out. On one of my last sessions with him, he was more than an hour late! His "motivation" technique also changed. He was actually sort of...yelling at me? Instead of encouraging/cheering me on.

Please don't let my bad experience scare you off though! If I could go back in time, I would have spoken up a lot sooner. In the end, I did send him a long email detailing my complaints about him and the experience. He apologized, but I would never work with him again.

For what it's worth, I would work with a (different) personal trainer again -- he didn't scare me off from all of them! I'd just discuss things in greater detail. Sometimes I have a hard time standing up for myself.

[mylove0mylife]

I like the fact that there are two trainers at that time, and since they're hired by the gym, I'm sure I can just go speak with the manager if I had a problem. I could go to the male trainer instead of the female trainer. I was put with her because she's is more of a motivational trainer, where the male trainer is more focused on rehab therapy type fitness. I'm signed up for a year, but I can cancel at anytime and while they would charge me for it that money that goes towards cancelling goes towards a few more sessions as well.

I just read your article, that stinks that happened to you. I go to YouFit, where it's 20 a month, and for 3x a week it's $35 a session for 30 minutes, at least that's the price I was told...not sure if it's more or less if there is a YouFit by you. It's a $100 processing fee, and they do have a year contract, but the manager I saw worked with me if I wanted a shorter one. Cancellation fee is $175 (I'm 99% sure, it might of been lower), but that price goes to a few more sessions so they can try to convince you to stay. The YouFit is cheaper because they don't offer classes, but if you're just going to use the gym portion $20 a month would still only put you at $440 a month (3x a week with a personal trainer plus membership) where at $40 at 3x a week would be $480 so it would still be cheaper, you'd just have to go to the gym. I don't know if there is one near you but I would check it out. I hear planet fitness is similar to them too...but I don't know about the trainers.

[Quiet Ballerina]

Thanks for the information! I really appreciate it.
That does sound like a nice setup that you have. I'll look into it for sure.

And good luck with your trainer! I hope it goes really well for you.

[mylove0mylife]

No problem.