Here are 5 qualities of a personal trainer that will benefit you right away!

1. Accountability

Personal trainers or even group fitness instructors offer a level of accountability that is difficult to maintain on our own. Most people are taught at a young age that it is important not to fall back on our commitments and let people down. Sometimes just showing up to your workout is half the battle. If on occasion, you show up to a training session for the sole purpose of not letting your trainer down – that’s at least one more workout that you wouldn’t have gotten in if you were on your own.

This same principle can also apply if you are working out with friends in a group class or training session. We want to be reliable and show up, it’s human nature. Plus, there is always the element of a little friendly competition. Which brings us to the next point.

2. Motivation

Motivation is similar to accountability. The reasons that keep us accountable can also motivate us to keep going. However, motivation can also be internal. It comes from the reasons you are trying to better yourself in the first place. Maybe it’s improving your health, your appearance or just your overall quality of life. Motivation is difficult to maintain. It comes and goes throughout any process so it can’t be something you rely on.

It is very helpful though, and trainers can offer motivation in a multitude of ways. I think the most important way personal trainers can help to motivate their clients is by tracking progress in a variety of different ways and pointing out successes in areas a client might not have noticed on their own.

For example, if a client is constantly focusing on their weight as a measure of progress, a client can have them take measurements, progress pictures and even just track how they feel in their clothes. Also, even if a client has a specific goal, they may be happy to hear about improvements they’ve made that aren’t directly related. For example, a female client may have stalled in her weight loss but has managed to work her way up to doing her first pull up. Those small victories can drive motivation and trainers should be pointing them out and cheering on their client’s progress.

3. Educational Resource

One of the most valuable aspects of hiring a personal trainer or coach is having an educational resource. This is especially important for beginners but really, anyone can continue learning and adding to their health and fitness repertoire.

Trainers not only provide creative and fun new workouts, recipe ideas and program planning but they can explain to their clients why they are doing certain things and help to educate them so they may not even need such involved training in the future. Teaching someone how to exercise and eat right in a way that will help them to be successful for the rest of their lives is one of the most rewarding parts of being a personal trainer and nutrition coach.

4. Professional Insight of a Trainer

Related to the point above, trainers can be someone clients go to to shed some light on their current practices and what might be holding them back. Most of us have experienced a stall or plateau in either our training or diets that we just couldn’t get out of, no matter what we tried. Trainers can be the ones to pinpoint the practices or lack thereof, that may be holding us back.

5. Objectivity

Finally, trainers can generally maintain an objective stance when it comes to evaluating progress and planning to reach your goals. The tough love and hard truths that trainers must provide is something that you aren’t likely to get from your friends and family. But it is a trainers job to be honest and tell it like it is, in order to help you move past the things that are standing in your way.