Choosing the best coach for you

How to choose the right personal trainer to achieve your health and fitness goals

All right, you’ve decided it’s time to “get in shape!” Once and for all, you’re ready to do whatever it takes to look and feel better the healthy way—through nutrition and exercise.

Hiring a fitness coach or personal trainer can improve your rate of progress and help ensure success from your efforts. But, how do you find the right coach to work with? Follow these five guidelines to ensure a wise decision in choosing a personal trainer..

1. Look for personal trainer certifications

Quality coaches are certified. The gold standard for certification agencies in the United States are the American Council on Exercise, National Strength & Conditioning Association, and American College of Sports Medicine. A qualified trainer should at minimum have a certification with one of these agencies.

But, certification just means they’ve passed the “baseline of standards” to call themselves a personal trainer. It does not mean they are good at what they do or can deliver a specific result. There is a big difference between a “trainer” and a “fitness professional!”

2. You want more than a workout

A top quality fitness professional does more than just “take you through a workout”. Anyone can count to 15 by themselves and hold a clipboard. Look for a coach that will educate you about all the components necessary to achieve optimal health and a fitness result.

A complete program should include:

Nutrition planning,  the foundation of health and fitness

Supplementation review, to ensure complete nutrition and healthy options for meals on the go

Resistance training,  to build lean and toned muscle to increase metabolism

Cardiovascular  exercise,  to increase endurance and maximize fat burning