How To Work With A Personal Trainer To Achieve Your Goals

When you sign up for a gym membership, you'll often have access to all of the equipment you could ever hope for. With a 24-hour gym, you'll also be able to come at a time where you'll have maximum privacy. However, there are so many decisions to be made, and you might feel decision paralysis. When getting started with a physical fitness program, you'll want to talk to a personal trainer about your specific goals.

Know Your Goals

If you are training for a particular event, it makes sense to tell your personal trainer about exactly what you are training for. If you're planning on training for a bodybuilding competition, you'll need to have a different training program than if your goal is to go hiking for long distances. 

Understand the Effects of Weight Training

When you train your muscles, they become stronger. But just because your muscles become stronger, that doesn't mean that you'll be able to achieve your goals. Muscles not only become stronger but also respond to the conditions that they are placed under.

Those who work out only by lifting very heavy weights might find that their muscles are slow but powerful. They have trained their bodies to lift heavy weights, but they haven't trained their muscles to be fast or agile. This can be a problem if your goal is to perform in a competition that requires speed and agility, such as sparring in a martial arts tournament.

Learn About Bulky Vs. Toned Muscles

Whether or not your muscles become large and bulky or small and toned depends on how much weight you lift and the number of repetitions that you perform. For example, if you are performing a bench press, one repetition is a single attempt at pushing the weight upward and off your chest. If you lift lighter weights, you'll typically be able to perform more repetitions. This will produce muscles that are more toned, and some weight lifters are looking to achieve this look. 

Because of the different results you can produce by heading to the gym, it's important to work with a personal trainer. He or she will have the knowledge and experience to guide you toward the right exercises and to also ensure that you're performing these exercises correctly. You may need to lift weights more slowly or quickly, depending on your goals, or lift heavier or lighter weights.

Contact a personal training service for more information.

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