Let’s say you’re one of the many Americans that want to make a lifestyle change and begin to workout. You’ve decided you want to get into shape and start doing some research. You go online and google, “get fit”, or ,”how to get into shape.” You probably get a lot of ads from gyms, health food companies, maybe some hypnosis centers, and quickly realize you have no idea where to begin. Welcome to the world of fitness! This is where everyone wants to make money on your fitness dilemma and will promise your results in an unbelievably short amount of time. Now, if you’re like most people, you’ll probably be skeptical of the advertisements such as “six pack abs in one month with only ten minutes of exercise a day”. But, what actually does work? What do you have to do to make a difference in your fitness level, and what is the best option for you.
My name is James Kling and I own Body Basics in Boise, Idaho. My fitness center is a personal training club which means everything we offer our clients is led and facilitated by a certified personal trainer. We consult with our clients and determine what is best for them based on our knowledge of fitness and where each client is at. We also do Functional Movement Screens (FMS) on each client we see to determine their proficiency with certain movement patterns. This puts my club on the more expensive side of the fitness options available to you, but here’s what we offer and why it might be beneficial to you. As you found when searching online, there is a ton of information, a ton of options, a ton of ads and so on. Working with a personal trainer like we have, allows you to get past all the “stuff” online and figure out what is true and what isn’t. It also allows someone who knows what they are talking about to help you begin to put a plan in place for how you are going to get fit. Lastly, you will have a person who knows a lot about training, watching you, coaching you, and helping you perform movements correctly. This not only ensures you’re doing the right thing for your body, but that you are doing it rightly!
So, right now, if you’re saying, “Yeah, but aren’t you just selling me “your” product?” The answer is in a way yes and in a way no. The difference between hiring a personal trainer or purchasing a proprietary product like P90X or buying a machine that claims it can give you everything you want is this: we’re like consultants. When you pay a consultant for something, you are purchasing their knowledge and wisdom in an industry. So, if we feel like a certain exercise, or product is good for you, we’ll prescribe it to your routine. If we don’t, we won’t. We don’t have any vested interest, and don’t receive any monetary reward if we tell you that kettle bells would be better for a certain movement than a TRX. However, if you ask someone who works for one of those companies which you should use, they will obviously recommend their product.
In my opinion, this makes personal trainers the best option if you are new to fitness or exercise and are trying to weed through the marketing. You’ll get better advice and won’t be persuaded to purchase or use something that may not be the best for you. If you are interested in trying a free personal training session, get in touch with us!