Personal Training

1stBusiness

Hi :wave:

Appologies, I'm sure this question has been asked a million times, but I shall ask it anyway!

What's the cheapest way to get fit with a personal trainer? :think:

I'm looking to lose at least a stone, if not more, as well as getting fit and lean/toned (I have a VERY high percentage of body fat :shocked: )

I joined my local gym a couple of weeks ago (£18.99/month) but I haven't gone yet. I need the motivation of a personal trainer to shout at me and make me exercise!

Ideally I would like to have 2-3 PT sessions a week as I already do a pilates class at work, so in total exercising 3-4 times a week. I thought I might lose a bit of weight by walking to work (30 mins each way) but it hasn't really done much lol

Most personal trainers I have seen charge about £40/session, which is really expensive!Are there any cheaper alternatives available?

TIA.

whatmichaelsays

Is £40 for a one-on-one session? If so I'd say that was very reasonable - especially for a good PT.

Consider high intensity group classes at your current gym (things like boxercise are very good) if they are available.

However, I'd question whether exercise is actually the problem. You seem to be doing a fair amount with 30 min walking and Pilates. What is your diet like? You might find changing that is a bigger factor.

1stBusiness

Is £40 for a one-on-one session? If so I'd say that was very reasonable - especially for a good PT.

I know it's a good price, but really expensive and out of my price range!

Consider high intensity group classes at your current gym (things like boxercise are very good) if they are available.

I'm actually considering cancelling my gym membership, as I was intending on using it mainly for the classes. However, every class I try and book (boxercise, body pump, circuts, legs bums & tums etc) are always fully booked from the moment they appear online! It's so fraustrating I don't want to waste £19 a month on a gym I'm not even using!

However, I'd question whether exercise is actually the problem. You seem to be doing a fair amount with 30 min walking and Pilates. What is your diet like? You might find changing that is a bigger factor.

I know my diet could be better, but it's not *that* bad at the moment. I've tried calorie counting and Slimming World, which do give an initial weight loss but then the naughty foods creep back in. I've been doing the Dechox challenge this month so have been off chocolate (it finishes tomorrow! ) and even that has had no effect on my weight! I only started pilates last week, so I'll wait and see how it goes.

purpleshoes_2

Depends where you live. The going rate in my area is 25 pounds. I give a discount if people block book. I give a discount if people train in pairs and I give a discount to people who do my fitness classes.

An alternative is to find a bootcamp. Even though I'm a pt myself I don't have a pt. I get a weight programme done for me and I do bootcamp 3 times a week.

I also follow an eating plan along paleo principles. Ive lost a lot of weight and my fitness is much better than it was even a year ago.

lr1277

Here are some of my experiences and observations having used a personal trainer for 3+ years.


Cost: If you find a trainer you like, they may well do a volume discount. My trainer charges £45 for one session, but £375 for 10 sessions.


Since I am in my mid 40's and very much overweight, I can't instantly go into doing high intensity exercises, because if I do, I injure myself and then don't go to the gym at all. I need to build up the intensity. I don't know if this is applicable to you.


According to my PT, 80% of weight loss is diet and the rest is exercise. However I do find that exercise decreases my appetite, which can be helpful.


In terms of the goals I set my PT, first is was improving my core strength, then improving my posture and finally decreasing the execessive curvature in my lower back (lordosis). Now these are not measureable goals unlike weight loss. If I start again with another personal trainer and keep the same goals, I would get them in the 1st or 2nd session, to think of some exercises/tests that could be used to measure my attainment towards my goals.
Also my PT worked out my whole body, not just the bit between my ribcage and the bottom of my hips, which is what I imagined my training would involve.
For the me the advantage of using the PT was that she varied the exercises each session. Also if I had any aches or pains, she would usually give me some exercises/stretches to relieve the pain. It is only if I was going to her as a new client, would she prefer me to have received a medical diagnosis for my aches and pains from a physiotherapist.


So my advice would be:
1) know your goals
2) Discuss with your PT, what they are going to do to help achieve your goals
3) What are you going to do outside of the PT sessions to help you reach your goals
4) See if you can set a baseline for your goals so you can occasionally measure your progress.


HTH

purpleshoes_2

Walking and Pilates won't get the weight off in the same way hiit classes will. I do boxing classes, kettlebells. Even if you can't access the classes get a programme made up if you can.

Keep a food diary. I don't eat wheat, processed foods and I rarely drink alcohol. I feel much better for it.

There's loads of stuff on YouTube. Hiit classes. Just a matter of finding one that suits you. You can buy skipping ropes from poundland for a quid.

You can get a good workout using body weight exercises only.

purpleshoes_2

I was very overweight when I started doing classes such as metafit. 4 stones heavier than I am just now. I had always exercised but after a couple of injuries my weight was higher than it had ever been. I was almost 16 stones. That was 20 months ago. I always did classes such as les mills body attack and that worked for me in my mid 30s, not 10 years on.

I was overtraining and doing too much cardio and not getting results. I started to clean up my diet, lost some weight, started lifting weights and then started doing boxing classes which led me to bootcamp.

I wouldn't have got the results I have if I had continued doing high impact aerobics and not matching my eating to my training.

I work with people who have a lot of weight to lose who do HIIT training, but they'll do shorter sessions until they build up their fitness.

One girl who does my fitness classes has lost two stones in less than a year by doing two hiit classes a week (4 x 30mins) and by tweaking her diet.

I walk a lot, around 5 miles a day and I like it. But if you do want to lose weight, drop body fat percentage, lifting weights and doing high intensity training even twice a week will get you results quicker than Pilates and walking.

Keep the Pilates up as it's good for developing your range of motion, but add other exercise in and overhaul your diet.

pjcox2005

Cheapest way is probably enrolling a friend, or making a new gym friend so that you both encourage each other to go and become more accountable if you aren't doing things right.


Next is maybe to get a personal trainer once a month. They can suggest effective exercises for you, and you'll be accountable at the end of the month if you haven't been keeping them up as you won't be able to do what your meant too.


Otherwise it's speak to the gym about class numbers. Either they extend the schedule/occupancy or perhaps ask for the membership to be discounted when you can't make classes. They may say no, but effectively you can't use a service you're paying for.


Youtube and other websites have guidance on exercises and diet but they require self motivation rather than others pushing you. Perhaps make a bet with your partner or a family member to achieve X. Pride or what you win may be enough to incentivse you into going and then hopefully it becomes habit after a couple of months.


Other technique would be a savings jar, money goes in after each workout and you can treat yourself to a specific thing at the end.

purpleshoes_2

The gym I go to, if you cant get booked onto a class, they wouldn't give you a discount, its always going to be the case that there are far more members than classes, but its rare that every class every day is going to be full, it may well be so in a small gym, in that case Id suggest joining a bigger gym chain, you might pay more, but the gym chain I go to has 13 gyms you can use, so if a class is full in one gym, you'll get in in another.

There are always going to be far more members than classes, particularly if you are in a small studio where numbers have to be capped.

If the gym doing have an online waiting list facility then its worth asking them to do this, because so many people dont turn up to classes, if you are on the waiting list you will often get a space.

Its also worth looking on groupon or similar. I do think bootcamp would be a good option, you can often get bootcamps that run for a couple of months that cost the same as a couple of PT sessions.

In the bootcamp I go to we get fitness tested at the beginning, at the end and we get worked hard in between. I pay 35 pounds every 8 weeks, its discounted as Im a gym member, would be £90 if I wasnt, but its worth every penny.

Many PTs I know also run fitness classes as well because they know its expensive for people to get PT. I do, my brother does, his friend does as well and as I said before some PTs will also do group PT sessions where you train with a couple of friends, I charge £10 an hour for a group PT session, as long as 2 people turn up Im happy to run it. It does vary depending on where in the Uk you are, but if you look on gumtree, you might see some PT's advertising on there and some might do small group fitness sessions.

1stBusiness

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions everyone

Cheapest way is probably enrolling a friend, or making a new gym friend so that you both encourage each other to go and become more accountable if you aren't doing things right.


Next is maybe to get a personal trainer once a month. They can suggest effective exercises for you, and you'll be accountable at the end of the month if you haven't been keeping them up as you won't be able to do what your meant too.


Otherwise it's speak to the gym about class numbers. Either they extend the schedule/occupancy or perhaps ask for the membership to be discounted when you can't make classes. They may say no, but effectively you can't use a service you're paying for.


Youtube and other websites have guidance on exercises and diet but they require self motivation rather than others pushing you. Perhaps make a bet with your partner or a family member to achieve X. Pride or what you win may be enough to incentivse you into going and then hopefully it becomes habit after a couple of months.


Other technique would be a savings jar, money goes in after each workout and you can treat yourself to a specific thing at the end.

I do have a friend at work that's interested, so I'm gunna go and pester her some more to see if she'll join me!

I've tried the savings jar, but it didn't work for me! (Also my partner ran out of change and had taken most of the money out without my knowledge :rotfl:)

The gym I go to, if you cant get booked onto a class, they wouldn't give you a discount, its always going to be the case that there are far more members than classes, but its rare that every class every day is going to be full, it may well be so in a small gym, in that case Id suggest joining a bigger gym chain, you might pay more, but the gym chain I go to has 13 gyms you can use, so if a class is full in one gym, you'll get in in another.

There are always going to be far more members than classes, particularly if you are in a small studio where numbers have to be capped.

If the gym doing have an online waiting list facility then its worth asking them to do this, because so many people dont turn up to classes, if you are on the waiting list you will often get a space.

Its also worth looking on groupon or similar. I do think bootcamp would be a good option, you can often get bootcamps that run for a couple of months that cost the same as a couple of PT sessions.

In the bootcamp I go to we get fitness tested at the beginning, at the end and we get worked hard in between. I pay 35 pounds every 8 weeks, its discounted as Im a gym member, would be £90 if I wasnt, but its worth every penny.

Many PTs I know also run fitness classes as well because they know its expensive for people to get PT. I do, my brother does, his friend does as well and as I said before some PTs will also do group PT sessions where you train with a couple of friends, I charge £10 an hour for a group PT session, as long as 2 people turn up Im happy to run it. It does vary depending on where in the Uk you are, but if you look on gumtree, you might see some PT's advertising on there and some might do small group fitness sessions.

I'm currently joined up to Pure Gym, but I don't think my membership allows me to use other locations...I'll definately check that out though.

I did do a bootcamp just before Christmas as my OH bought it for me as a birthday gift (I asked for it, he didn't just present me with it lol). I'll be looking on Groupon for some cheaper alterntives now!

If only you lived near me! That's such a good price!!!!!!

I'm going to set my Wii fit back up this weekend and see the damage I've done since I last used it!

purpleshoes_2

You could maybe see about getting online PT, I know some people offer a service where they make up programmes for people and give online support re nutrition. Or as I said before, just get a gym programme done and supplement it with classes (if you can get in them), my bro is a PT but I dont see him for PT, but every 6 weeks he does me a fresh gym programme. Theres always more cost effective ways of keeping fit if PT is too expensive and I realise that it can be.

Facebook groups too, some trainers do free outdoor bootcamps now and then as well.