Your trainer has the knowledge and the experience to make you look and feel your BEST.  She (I’m using the female pronouns for simplicity’s sake… and ‘cuz I’m a female) brings her competitors to the stage in amazing form and condition; her weight loss clients have nothing but praise for her attention and methods.  So why does SHE need a trainer?

True, a trainer should have education (more specifically, renowned certification) and experience. But those are certainly not the only reasons that people hire trainers.  I have worked with many different clients who have a wealth of knowledge, education and experience in both the gym and the kitchen.  In fact, I have trained countless personal trainers and professional athletes (NHL, NFL, Olympians, IFBB Pros…) So what do they need me for? They’ve obviously reached a much higher level of athleticism and aesthetic perfection than I have!?  

But maybe they need support; they need to know that I am there for them, even if they don’t win… that I do understand how hard it is to be strict with diet and training all the time.  Or perhaps they’re seeking motivation?  Even earning millions of dollars a year does not guarantee that an athlete will have the motivation to push themselves through brutal workouts; I can take the boredom out of their every day routines and make things fresh again.  I can be the one to push them.  One more rep.

Accountability is another huge component of hiring a trainer.  Knowing that someone is waiting at the gym for you; knowing that you have to weigh in weekly; knowing that your trainer is going to be seeing you in your bikini and looking at your physique with a magnifying glass…  like it or not, these things keep you honest.  Keep you on track.

But, I believe that every one of us – every trainer out there – only has so many tricks up her sleeve.  We see things with only our eyes.  We feel things with only our emotions and we think with only our brains.  When we make the choice to work with another professional, certified trainer, we are opening ourselves to a new world of possibilities.  And trainers, more than anyone, know the importance of breaking through plateaus.

So, if you’re a trainer, put your ego aside; swallow your pride.  Hiring someone else to oversee your fitness and nutrition plan is NOT an admission of defeat or lesser knowledge.  It’s acknowledging that you, too, are human.  Give yourself permission to shut off your brain and let someone else do the thinking for once.