With so many fitness apps available on your smartphone, it can be tempting to simply download an app like MyFitnessPal or Keep Fitness, and start working out on your own. Many smartphones come loaded with fitness tracking capabilities that try to prompt you to improve your activity levels and hit the universally-prescribed “10,000 step” daily goal and achieve “heart points”.
However, while these apps can be convenient and provide positive reinforcement when you decide to take an extra stroll around the block, they generally lack the same level of personalized support and guidance as working with a personal trainer. Here’s why working with a personal trainer is more effective than following a fitness app.
Why Hiring A Personal Trainer Is Better Than A Fitness App
Personal Trainers Provide Real Motivation
While it may be satisfying to check your phone after hearing yet-another notification go off towards the end of your day informing you that you reached your step goal for the day, that tiny little dopamine rush generally isn’t enough to keep us motivated to exercise. In order for exercise to be sustainable, it needs to be genuinely enjoyable for you in the long term.
The interpersonal aspect of exercising with someone is motivation in itself for many people. Whether it be working out with a friend on a regular schedule, or with a colleague on your lunch break, the most powerful and motivating interpersonal interaction that is most likely to lead to you reaching your fitness goals is working out with a fitness professional.
By working with a personal trainer, you’ll be exercising with the guidance of someone who actually wants you to succeed, and not just a preprogrammed algorithm in your pocket.
Personal Trainers Hold You Accountable
There’s no denying that we all lead busy lives in a world full of distractions. One of the major sources of these distractions are our smartphones. Every day, we receive on average 46 push-notifications delivered to each of our devices, so much so that it’s becoming increasingly easy to flick away anything that we deem unworthy of our immediate attention. When you use a fitness app on your phone, and rely on notifications to keep you on schedule for your next round of exercise, it is far too easy to “dismiss” your exercise that day and push it to “tomorrow”.
While the decision to get fit and exercise regularly is ultimately your own decision, when you work with a personal trainer and agree to a schedule that you set, there is an additional element of accountability for you. A personal trainer will also check in with you regularly to ensure that you are sticking with your routine, as well as help you through challenging times when your own motivation is lacking.
Being told by someone “Hey, you missed your workout today, when should we reschedule?” is more likely to inspire feelings of getting back to your routine than yet-another rectangle at the top of your phone screen.
Personal Trainers Ensure Safety & Personalization
Many fitness training apps, particularly those that offer a “free” service, prescribe generic workout routines to their users that aren’t right for everyone. This is especially the case for people who may have medical conditions that the app hasn’t been programmed to take into account. If there was a one-size-fits-all routine for weight loss or strength training, they would have been discovered a long time ago and would be taught in schools’ physical education classes and everyone would be in shape. But everyone is physically different, and what works for “most” people does not work for everyone.
If you hire a personal trainer, the exercise program that your trainer gives you is 100% tailored to your abilities, current fitness level, and long-term fitness objectives. In addition, your personal trainer can also offer you alternatives for certain exercises if you want to change your routine up from time to time, as well as suggest ways to improve your routine if you reach a plateau.
Arguably the most important and valuable part of working out with a personal trainer is the care and supervision they provide, particularly if you’d be working out alone otherwise. Exercising by yourself could be potentially dangerous if the exercises you are performing aren’t done correctly, or performed in an environment that is unsafe. A personal trainer can help you preemptively address these safety concerns, instruct you on proper form to avoid injury, as well as provide you with assistance in the event that something does happen.
Combining Apps Into Your In-Person Training Sessions
Fitness apps do have their positives, they make information on exercising and working out more accessible to many people and may inspire positive life choices. When using these apps, it is important to be aware of their drawbacks and consider enlisting the services of a fitness professional to help you ensure your success on your journey to living a healthy, active lifestyle.
If you’d like to get real one-on-one fitness coaching and nutritional guidance in the comfort of your own home, contact First Class Personal Training to schedule a complimentary consultation.
Gera is the Founder and Head Trainer of First Class Personal Training with over 20 years of professional experience, not only as a personal trainer but also as a nutrition and wellness counselor and a post rehabilitation specialist.
