The lowdown on personal trainers

Can a personal trainer really add value to your exercise regime? Or is it just hype, a status symbol, or both? What do you need to look out for before you hire one? Kavita Devgan has some answers

For most people, exercising is as simple as getting up half-an-hour earlier and going for a walk. Increasingly, for many others, a personal trainer is a must-have. Such as Vice Admiral D Sai Prasad Varma (retd.), a very fit 62-year-old who is now working with the Defence Research & Development Organisation in Delhi. “My job is sedentary, so to keep fit and healthy I exercise every single day — an hour of any cardio exercise. Sometimes I go to the gym if I have the time, but I prefer to work out at home with a personal trainer at least twice a week as that saves me the travel time,” he says.

“This trend is fairly recent in India; I have seen it evolve over the last three years or so. It seems to be fast catching up,” says Dr Chandra S Siddaiah, Head, Department of Sports Medicine, Manipal Hospital, Bangalore. Nisha Varma, Reebok Master Trainer (North India), who has been teaching, training and doing personal training for the last 18 years, is emphatic about the benefits. “Personal training is very result-oriented — it gives you more results in a shorter time. When you are accountable to someone (other than yourself), it always pushes you to deliver; secondly an expert knows which muscles to work and how to get good results. Plus a good trainer can design your exercise workout programmes specific to your body and your needs, help you maximise the time versus dividends ratio (efficiency of your workouts). Thirdly, a trainer can keep the exercise regime fresh, new, and changing — thus challenging and interesting to stick to.”

That sounds pretty convincing. It would appear that there are five categories of people who usually opt for personal trainers — those who can afford one and like the idea of having a personal trainer as a status symbol; busy professionals who understand the need to stay fit but don’t have the time to follow regular fitness regimens; those who are too famous and well known to avail public options for security reasons; people who have a specific physical reason — either are grossly obese, or have a medical condition or an injury that needs special assistance such as depression, heart problems, post-operative problems relating to knee, back, shoulder etc; or those who have specific training goals (running a marathon, competitive sports).

While personal fitness training can be considered a necessity for the second, third, fourth and fifth categories, the first category of people will probably benefit more by opting for a gym or a group fitness class (like aerobics or yoga). “For a normal healthy adult working out in a group can be extremely therapeutic,” Varma emphasises. Siddaiah too believes that learning how to do an exercise in the right manner is more important than doing it under constant supervision all the time. “With the hi-tech equipment that are now available there is not much worry about going wrong. But when dealing with free weights like dumbbells, etc, you do need proper guidance,” he adds.

Choose right
The crux here is that a personal trainer needs to be fully qualified and experienced to help you achieve your health and fitness exercise goals within an optimum time frame and safely. ‘Trained’ is the operative word here. Make sure you are not taken in by tall claims ( trainer of a famous person); and make sure you check his/her credentials.

Is the trainer qualified?
“A personal recommendation does work, but before hiring ask for a resume, and proof of his/her basic fitness trainer certification. Ideally your trainer should have first aid and CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) certification as well. There are many international bodies like ACE (American Council on Exercise), ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) and NSCA (National Strength & Conditioning Association) which certify, after a training schedule and stringent tests. In India too, many organisations such as Reebok, YMCA and Talwalkars certify trainers,” explains Siddaiah. “But the problem is that there is no central accreditation board (like the Medical Council for doctors) which can keep a check on the standards and quality, so be extremely careful in choosing your trainer,” he adds.

Know your needs
The trainer’s approach to fitness and your goals must match. Perhaps you believe in going slow and steady but he wants to hasten things; maybe you just want good cardio health and he likes to give his clients a sculpted body — it’s important to remember that different fitness goals require different exercise workouts. For example, weight loss workouts are very different from muscle toning, bodybuilding or strength training exercises. Finally there should be a degree of comfort and rapport with the trainer.

Trainers vs nutritionists
Fitness trainers are not nutritionists so they are not supposed to give diet advice — no supplementation advice, no suggestions about multivitamins, fat burners, steroids, even proteins or hormonal pills. Ishi Khosla, Delhi-based consultant nutritionist, adds that the excess egg white, creatinine, protein powders and so on that most trainers ask their clients to have are simply not necessary. “You will only end up gaining weight,” she says. “Steroid peddling is also rampant. I have even come across people (even school children) undergoing 2-3 hours of intensive training with no additional water, electrolytes, salt replacement, and glucose. Make sure that you are not making this mistake,” she points out.

“Concentrated proteins can ruin your system, hormonal pills can load your kidneys and liver, weaken your bones, and even mess up your immunity,” adds Dr Rommel Tickoo, consultant, Internal Medicine, Max Hospital, Delhi. “It’s important to do your own research, consult your physician or a nutritionist before agreeing to eat/drink anything. There is a thin line between acceptable supplements and those that are best avoided,” advises Khosla. “In fact, always talk to your doctor about any supplements before taking them, especially if you’re on any other medication which may be affected by other supplements. If your trainer forces you to take something you’re not sure about, let him know your concerns,” adds Tickoo. There were recent reports in the papers about an actor who went into complete muscle failure as he was trying out two kinds of workouts and diets at the same time, preparing for two different roles.

One is company
If you need it and can afford it, hiring a qualified personal trainer is a good idea. If you can’t, there are alternatives. You could consider hiring a personal trainer for a short time in the beginning, say a two week period and then go it alone. Or train under one for a few days a week like Delhi-based Anil Mehra, 48, director, BEC Conduits. “I play tennis four times every week and do strength training twice a week, supervised by my wife who is a personal trainer. On Sundays, I chill out, rest and eat,” he says.

Tickoo is of the opinion that “unless body building is on your agenda, 20 minutes of treadmill, some cross training and light weights, and a brisk walk a few times a week are just perfect to keep you fit”.
 

SAMPLE REGIMEN
A 6-week plan for for a forty-plus individual beginner who is generally healthy

• Exercise for a minimum of 30 minutes every day, slowly increasing the time up to one hour at the end of six weeks.
• Three days of cardio exercises for 30 minutes at low to moderate intensity (for example, walking at the speed of 10 minutes/kilometre, or level one or two of the cross-trainer or cycling).
• Three days of strength (resistance training with dumbbells, tubes, stability ball) and flexibility exercises. One day yoga/pilates/taichi and two days of strength-training in a circuit format to work most of the major muscle groups in the body.
• Final day of the week — anything fun and recreational such as playing with children, taking the dog out for a long walk, walking in the mall, or playing a sport like basketball, tennis etc.
•   At the end of six weeks, the next level begins in which the resistance and difficulty level of all exercises are increased.

(Nisha Varma, Reebok Master Trainer)

THE COST
A personal trainer charges either on an hourly basis or monthly. It can start at about Rs 750 for beginners and go up to Rs 2,000 an hour for specialised cases (average cost is usually Rs 1,000-Rs 1,200 per hour). So depending on how many hours you engage the trainer, it can cost you anywhere between Rs 12,000 to Rs 30,000 a month. ‘Celebrity’ trainers charge more, of course.

Kavita Devgan is a Delhi-based nutrionist and writer