It’s no secret. Personal Training can be a costly purchase for many people. In fact, the general public view private training as a luxury expense that only the rich and wealthy can afford. As someone who has worked in the health and fitness industry for over a decade I can understand this belief however from my own personal experience I strongly disagree with the statement that hiring a good trainer that has a wealth of knowledge and expertise is unaffordable altogether. In fact, I would go as far as to suggest that working with a trainer might be one of the smartest investments that a person can make not just for their health and appearance but also to help improve their overall quality of life.

Now I’m sure you’re thinking that ofcourse I’m going to be preaching the services of a fitness expert, after all it is what I do for living. However I can honestly say that I’m not using my blog as some type of marketing ploy to attract new clients (however I would be lying if I were to say I wouldn’t be happy if it does ;^)). When I first started out in this profession I never thought that it would become a life long career for me. I consider myself to be very fortunate that our company has become so successful over the years and that we have the opportunity to work with so many incredible people that continue to motivate us each and everyday to get up and do what we love to do for a living, and that’s help people. But I never realized until a few years ago just how much of a difference a good personal trainer can really make in a person’s life, both physically, mentally and emotionally.

At Forever Fit we work with all different types of clients. We work with athletes, fitness competitors, CEOs, businesswomen and men, young adults to senior citizens all of whom have different training goals and all of whom are starting out at different fitness levels. We do not discriminate our training style to fit one specific demographic. In fact, we feel our jobs would be quite boring if all we did was cater towards one particular group of people. So while we may be working with a hockey player who needs to strengthen his slap shot and increase his speed on the ice to graduate to a higher one hour, we might be working with someone else who is battling heart disease or going through chemotherapy and is using fitness to help save his or her life during the next hour. One goal is not more important then the other as each person has their only reasons as to why they want to accomplish their goals, and it’s our job to help them achieve this.

True, there are alot of people who work out on their own. However without sounding too much like a gym jock snob I wouldn’t call what I see them doing working out. Performing a set and resting 2-3 minutes while checking your phone or taking selfies before your next set is not working out. Choosing a weight that allows you to perform endless reps without breaking a sweat is not “toning” a muscle. And using your entire body weight along with the help of your workout buddy to do 1 or 2 reps with the absolute worst form imaginable while grunting and groaning at the top of your lungs is not considered “hardcore”. In other words, from what I’ve seen go on in most gyms appears to be more of either a social party or some kind of animalistic sex orgy.

Now I’ll be honest. There are alot of bad personal trainers out there. By bad trainers I’m referring to the ones who spend the first 10-15 minutes of their client’s workout having them warm-up on the treadmill. The trainers who give every single client the same workout routine without taking into consideration their client’s true health and fitness goals. The trainers who show up late for their session or finishes their session 5 minutes early. The trainers who offer generic diet advice and have no background in nutrition whats so ever. These are the trainers that give this industry a bad name and I would say are the number one reason why so many people are weary about hiring a personal trainer all together. And truthfully, I really can’t blame them.

Having worked in the service industry for ten years prior to becoming a business owner/personal trainer has allowed me to not make these mistakes with regards to poor customer service that have become common in an industry that’s so heavily saturated with so-called fitness experts and health gurus. Therefore I make sure that when I’m working with a client that he or she receives my undivided attention. That means I don’t get into long drawn out conversations with other trainers or gym members on the floor nor do I check my phone for new text messages or Facebook statuses during my client’s session. The client is paying for my time and my expertise and I make sure that’s exactly what they receive.

In the end I’m simply stating that by working with a trainer who is as committed to your health and fitness goals as you are will always be viewed as an asset rather then a liability. We’ve worked with clients who have told us that without our help they don’t know where they would be today. Some may have ended up overweight and unhealthy. Some may have ended up never making it to that next level in their sport or stepping on stage to compete at a local fitness show. And some may have even died from an early heart attack or other deadly cardiovascular disease due to a lack of exercise and poor nutritional habits.

So the next time you are going over your finances and figuring out your monthly budget for your necessities and your luxuries don’t forget to take into consideration your quality of life and just how important that life is to you. And if you’re having trouble sticking to an exercise routine and following a healthy lifestyle then you need to ask yourself if personal training really is just a luxury for the rich and wealthy or is it in fact a necessity that can and perhaps should be used by us all?

Yours in Good Health,

Nick Cosgrove