The Internet is flooded with free fitness tips and ways to lose weight.
Some look easy, some are daunting, and others are too good to be true, yet people fall for them and forward these videos all the time.
How do you know if these exercises are effective for your goals or are the right ones for your problem?
Last week, a childhood friend who has developed some knee issues dropped in for a visit.
I was shocked to see him limping and using a walking stick.
Refusing to consult a healthcare professional, he opted to seek advice from a complementary medicine practitioner and went for acupuncture sessions.
It helped for a while, but he still had difficulty extending his knees upon getting up from a chair.
He then decided to search on social media for ways to strengthen his knees and tried out a few exercises.
The result: his knees worsened and excruciating pain set in.
If you can relate to this, hiring a personal trainer who can carve out a personalised plan for your goals could be a solution (after you’ve gotten a diagnosis from a doctor, of course).
Yes, it may be an additional expense and requires time and commitment, but it’s worth the investment even if you only work with one on a short-term basis.
We’re all made out of different cookie cutters, so every training programme has to be individualised.
A certified, experienced personal trainer can help design an exercise regimen based on your goals.
He can help correct your alignment and form, thus ensuring you’re working out all muscle groups safely.
For example, most people are familiar with squats, which are intended to strengthen the muscles surrounding the knee joint.
It’s a wonderful exercise, but the position where the thighs are parallel to the floor exerts a high amount of compression force on the knee joints.
Men at the gym love to do barbell squats and often load their bars with heavy weights.
For people with knee osteoarthritis, these forces can irritate the cartilage within the knees and worsen pain.
That doesn’t mean squats should be eliminated from the workout.
Rather, the exercise should be modified so that those with knee osteoarthritis do not go as low as in a parallel squat, take a wider stance with feet turned out (duck squats), or do wall slides to reduce the risk of putting unnecessary pressure on the knee joint.
A good personal trainer should be able to help you with this.
A 2019 study published in the journal BioMed Research International found that when participants with osteoarthritis performed static, low-angle squats, they had significant improvements in pain relief, range of motion, muscle strength and knee stability over a two-year period.
And contrary to what you may assume, personal trainers are not only intended for beginners, they’re also of great service to seasoned exercisers who have reached a plateau and want to progress further, and to those returning to activity after a long hiatus, e.g. after pregnancy or injury.
Occasionally, I too hire a personal trainer to tweak my workouts, especially when it comes to strength training.
No one can claim to be an expert in all forms of fitness as the industry is constantly evolving, with newer programmes being introduced all the time.
If you’re still not convinced, check out these additional benefits of hiring a personal trainer.
Not everyone takes to exercising like a duck to water, and despite the plethora of information out there, many are clueless on what exercise is or how to design a complete programme that includes cardiorespiratory, strength and flexibility training.
The personal trainer can show you the ropes in a few sessions.
Once you’ve mastered the basics, you can continue from there.
She can also teach you how to exercise on your own so that you can improve faster.
Motivation comes from all kinds of places, both internally and externally.
You may already have some intrinsic motivation to exercise, such as wanting to be healthier, bringing down your cholesterol levels or reducing the dosage of your blood pressure drugs.
Despite that, there may be times when you also need extrinsic motivators to keep working out.
This is where the personal trainer comes in as they can be that “rah rah” person to motivate you.
It is of great importance that you click with the trainer, who must in turn engage with you, listen to your needs and put your well-being as their topmost priority.
There is no point pushing you when you truly need and want to stop – although I’ve some friends who swear that only military-style trainers can enable them to achieve results.
Very few of us are highly disciplined and tend to slack off when there is no motivation, so having a personal trainer give you that extra encouragement could be the key to keeping you on your fitness journey.
You might also want to consider recruiting a buddy to join in your training sessions so that you can share the cost, as well as have two external motivators.
Routine is frequently the middle name for people of all ages.
The elderly prefer to walk or hike, young men have a penchant for body building, while the pretty lasses are attracted to aerobic, Zumba or pilates workouts.
Each demographic group picks their favourite activity, and does this over and over again.
Eventually, they get burnt out and have no desire to exercise.
Repetitive motions can cause overuse injury and a good personal trainer can help you address this by incorporating cross-training, i.e. doing different types of movement, allowing your muscles to rest or work differently.
He can offer a fresh perspective and new ideas to challenge your body and your mind.
You don’t necessarily need one or two sessions a week with a personal trainer – even a monthly session can be refreshing.
However, if you have a specific medical condition or illness, make sure your trainer has the knowledge and experience to know what he is doing, so that he can guide you properly.
Check his credentials before agreeing to hire him.
Revathi Murugappan is a certified fitness trainer who tries to battle gravity and continues to dance to express herself artistically and nourish her soul. For more information, email starhealth@thestar.com.my. The information contained in this column is for general educational purposes only. Neither The Star nor the author gives any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to such information. The Star and the author disclaim all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information.
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