"Will I get a better workout if I hire a personal trainer?"

Obviously, any one hiring a personal trainer has decided a big resounding YES to this question. I was walking down the street from my studio about a month ago and I ran into someone I knew from the neighborhood. I hadn't seen her in a long time. She asked me how Urbanfitt was doing since the recession. I said good. That things held steady and that I have more clients who train out of necessity. I'm dealing with many more specialized medical conditions, injuries and with people who don't want to go to big gyms.

She said, "Well aren't you lucky they think it's necessary". What she said to me really stuck with me. Isn't our health a necessity? Isn't being able to walk up and down stairs without pain a necessity or sleeping without back pain a necessity? What about being able to get up and down off the ground in order to play with our kids?

I've read stuff here and there about how people think the personal training industry is dying. I beg to differ. As people get older and as life only continues to get more stressful, people need personalized help in order to tackle health issues including obesity and challenges specific to the aging body.

So when one of my clients told me about the Globe and Mail article that summarized a recent study regarding the efficacy of personal training in terms of improved results over training alone, I had to take a look.

So will you get better results if you work with a trainer?

In my opinion, the answer to this really depends on who you train with. And if you look at fitness holistically, results can be defined in many different ways. The study outlined in the Globe and Mail really just focuses on strength and muscle growth.

Here's part of the Globe article:

"In a famous study at Ball State University in Indiana, researchers put two groups of 10 men through identical 12-week strength-training programs. The groups were evenly matched when they started, and they did the same combination of exercises, the same number of times, with the same amount of rest.

At the end of the experiment, one group had gained 32 per cent more upper-body strength and 47 per cent more lower-body strength than the other. No performance-enhancing pills were involved – the only difference was that the more successful group had a personal trainer watching over their workouts."

Here are some interesting highlights from the article:

By the halfway point of the Ball State study, the supervised group was choosing to lift heavier weights. Since both groups started with the same motivation level, it was likely the trainer’s presence leading that group to set more ambitious targets.

Novice weightlifters choose weights that are too low to stimulate significant gains in strength and muscle size.

Women who train alone choose particularly too little weight as compared to men to stimulate muscle growth.

Women who do not have a personal trainer underestimated their own abilities.

Motivation and the willingness to tackle ambitious goals seem to be one of the main differentiating factors when working with a trainer.

For less experienced exercisers, the educational role of the personal trainer takes on greater importance.

But the BIG caveat here is, a weekend course to get certified as a personal trainer does not make a good trainer. Results depend in large part on the trainer's skills, knowledge and experience. Make sure you find a good one.