By Beth Bishop

Before I ever start working with a client, I perform an in-depth fitness evaluation. This allows me to get to know the client, assess their current fitness levels, establish their fitness goals, and design a program to fit their specific needs.

I remember my very first week on the job- I sat down to do an evaluation with a prospective client- let’s call him “Jim.” Jim suffered from what I call “Office Workers Syndrome”- frequent back pain, tight hips, slouchy shoulders- the usual. He wanted more than anything to drop 30 pounds and to fix his back pain. I had him perform several different flexibility, movement, balance, and muscular strength tests and wrote down the results on his assessment sheet. After the tests, we went back to my office and discussed his strengths and weaknesses and what I thought would be an appropriate course of action. Jim seemed satisfied, but for whatever reason didn’t want to commit to personal training. I would see him in the gym every now and then implementing his own version of my suggestions.

Six months later, he hadn’t gotten anywhere and decided to give me a call to start personal training. Within a few months, his back pain had disappeared completely, and he had dropped 40 pounds. His only regret, he told me, was not doing training sooner. Jim is just one example of someone who benefited from personal training. Here are my top 3 reasons why you need a personal trainer:

Even if you can only afford training for a little while, it’s worth it. Think of training as education for your body. The expertise you’ll gain from seeing a qualified trainer will help you stay healthy, motivated, and feeling great for a long time to come. You only get one body and live in it 24/7. Isn’t it time you started feeling great in it?