Personal Training

[prescribingmum]

I asked a question on here about PT just over a year ago and got some really helpful advice. Was hoping those who have been using a PT in the longer term could guide me to whether my expectations are realistic.

I have been working with a PT for around 3 months. I have enjoyed it but I feel like it is getting really repetitive and was wondering if this is normal or I just get bored easily/am too demanding?!

When I started, they said that there would never be 2 identical workouts no matter how long I trained and while that is broadly true, they pick the same exercises each week and just vary the format so it does feel repetitive to me. There were a couple of days where they got some other equipment out and I even expressed how much more I enjoyed the variation but then it was back to the exercises I am less keen on. They don't tend to use much in the way of equipment and its making me wonder whether I should save myself the expense and go back to working out at home with my own dumbbells! The other side is obviously it is beneficial to have someone push me that much harder on something I don't like so much and less inclined to do...

So I am torn! Do you enjoy exercise with your PT or is it a necessary evil to push past for better health?!

There are only so many workouts you can do & part of the secret to success is to keep using same or similar ones to develop the strength/muscles. I used my time with a PT to understand what each exercise was targeting, form to aim for, reps & the general science behind a workout.

After that either go it alone or use the PT sessions to get you into the gym…

Strength and conditioning PT’s will normally run the same program for up to 3 months of progressive overload before changing it up. They tend to focus on a few key exercises and then vary the supplementary exercises. If that doesn’t suit you that’s fine to admit.

I’d say it’s about finding the right PT for you. You want to find someone where going to train with them feels like a treat rather than something you should do. You could give it one more shot with this PT and explain how you feel.

Also, the range of exercises is vast, and I don’t buy into the idea that you should persevere with exercises you don’t like.

Keep in mind that your aims and your PT's are aligned: you both want to see you get stronger and fitter. They also want you to come back and pay them. This only happens in the long term if you're enjoying the process - an honest conversation could make all the difference.

Repetition is normal and good programming. The repetitive nature and trying to improve incrementally is something I love so motivates me. Tbh a PT that promised to mix it up all the time would ring my alarm bells.

But that said the best programme is the one you'll do and if for you that's more variation then your PT should be able to accommodate that. There are a finite number of things you can do though, and results will slower. I'd definitely communicate what you want to them but it'll be a compromise.

I've been with mine for 3 weeks.

Personally I do want to do some more stuff after the 12 weeks, I'm always taking screenshots on instagram. I don't know whether you need a totally new program or incorporation of a few new exercises but I think 3 months is a good time to review your goals and adapt the plan accordingly, and a good time to have a conversation with your trainer.

Thank you so much for your responses, gives me something to think about.

Working out itself is not something new, I’ve been following online programmes such as Fitness Blender with a set of dumbbells for years but paying for a trainer is an absolute luxury. I agree that repetition in general is required for progressive overload and this is something I do at home in the other 3-4 sessions of exercise.

I was clear at the beginning which areas I wanted to strengthen and that I wanted to be exposed to more equipment. They focused on the former well and I fully accept there are some exercises I am less keen on that I need to do to achieve this. The latter is more a sticking point for me as I have dumbbells at home which I can do a lot with so I see the investment as as opportunity to use more equipment.

There are some exercises I have been clear I am really not so keen on whilst others I found challenging but in a positive way. I am disappointed there is less of the enjoyable challenges and ones I hate are repeated each session.

Im under no illusion I’ll be loving every aspect of the session - I am paying them to push me harder than I push myself but I am finding myself not looking forward to sessions if they are to include things I hate each time.

I suppose i would ask more, are you making progress towards your fitness goals? If not, maybe it isn’t working but if you’re getting fitter or more toned in areas you wanted to, their methodology is helping it’s just that you’re a bit bored now?

One thing that stuck with me with training is that it’s the boring repetitive work that gets you the results.

It is, but... only if you're motivated to do that repetitive work. If you're not it won't get results, so better is something you'll actually do. (And I'm saying that as someone who loves the repetition)

I would also suggest it is worth reminding your PT of your goals. I find they start out quite well then tend to fall into their own routine\preferences.

Thanks, it is the repetition of the hated exercises which is killing my motivation. When I look at their social media, it is clear they have their preferred exercises (I am assuming most trainers do) but I really hate some of them. I tolerated them in the hope that the next session would not include it but they have been there most weeks (even though I have expressed how much I dislike it).

Repetition of compound movements while progressively overloading weights, I am up for and will do without complaint.

In terms of my fitness goals, I am getting stronger. I haven't made any significant dietary changes so not expecting changes in my physique but my focus as always been to be strong and fit

Before I renew, I am considering what options I have and where money is best spent

So if it's accessories then they should always be able to find alternatives, unless it's everything for a particular muscle you don't like. With my PT if I'm struggling to feel a muscle with an exercise he'll just switch it (at the moment cos I'm in comp preparation, if we had more time he'd help me with the exercise more).

I think you just need to have a full and frank discussion with your PT. Explain that you are disliking the sessions to the point where you are thinking of cancelling. I would say that I have been working with my strength and conditioning PT since before Covid started and my program has remained pretty similar throughout in terms of the exercises I do. The number of sets/reps varies as does tempo and rest periods. We do slight variations of some things (e.g. switching between sumo and conventional deadlift). The accessories change more frequently but he is very unresponsive to me making a fuss about a particular accessory unless it actually hurts. He might remove it from the next training block (I do blocks of 6 to 8 weeks) but it is almost unheard of for me to be able to get rid of an accessory mid-block because I don't like it. I can tolerate that because I trust him and get good results. I just swear at him while doing the hated exercises. I know for sure he would make changes if I said I hated things to the point of cancelling.

I stick to my program for 12 weeks before changing with the same exercises but with progressive over load. If there’s something I really hate he’ll swap it out but generally because it’s only a short period I can stick it out.
I’m training for strength as well as to change my shape and all of my training involves equipment.

Mine is like this too. A positive is that sometimes I start to like an exercise when I finally make progress in it.

Thank you all. From reading your posts, I feel like I should have asked more about how he does a programme and discussed the exercises for a fixed period rather than a block of sessions and assuming. I am going to address this part going forward and be clear about wanting to use more equipment.

As many of you have suggested, I need to have that difficult conversation and make my requests clear for this to continue to work

Can you give us an idea of a typical workout?

I’ve been training with a PT for 5 years now and he has a repertoire of stuff we do - the big compound lifts (squats and deadlifts) or other strength work such as the sled or a superset of pull ups and squats. I go heavy on the strength stuff

After 30 minutes of that, we’ll go into metcon stuff - alternating cardio work with accessory work. Today it was the Ski Erg, the Rower and running around the car park, alternating with burpee box jumps and sandbag weighted walking lunges.

He combines stuff differently but it’s all based on pretty much the same basic moves. I’ll use dumbbells in things like thrusters, devils press or renegade rows in the metcon training but heavy stuff is barbell or sled focused.

The only machine we use for strength is the lats pull down - although when I started he got me on the leg press so I could really overload without the danger of collapsing under the weight in a back squat! I think I was pushing around 160 kgs which is over double what I can squat.

You say you want to use machines/equipment. You know that generally, that won’t be as challenging as free weights?

The thing about working with free weights is that you have to exercise more control over them and this pushes your technique.

Also, we all have exercises we don’t like doing but I do stuff because I know it’s good for me. For example, I really hate doing a pyramid of going higher and higher (then working my way back down) on the treadmill incline level while running. By about 12 on the incline even if only running at 8 kph I want to die. But I know that it’s a really excellent conditioning exercise. And it’s only 3 minutes.

I think I haven't described myself clearly - by equipment, I mean barbell, bench for pressing, battle-ropes, TRX, sled. Not so much the machines but things other than bodyweight and dumbbells as I have those and can use them myself at home!

Exercises that feature regularly in our workouts include squats, lunges, planks, arm holds, bicep curls, arm presses, sometimes slam-balls. I have no complaints about any of these but I can do them at home. I would prefer incorporating for example a barbell with higher weight for squats as I am almost maxing out my current dumbbells at home, not squatting less than I do at home.
Exercises that feature regularly and I despise are jumping exercises (weak pelvic floor which I have said but they still won't cut them right out which is annoying me a lot), box step ups but having the box really high which makes the step ups a killer. I know I'm paying to be pushed but I really can't stand it

The structure of sessions vary but with the same exercises. I don't actually mind that aspect either. Vocalising it on here has really helped as it is increasingly clear what I am frustrated with!

Yeh that sounds daft. There's loads of ways to exercise the same muscles as box step ups without making you do box step ups.

And there's nothing wrong with wanting to use the barbell cos you can't do that at home.

Where I am they definitely take into account what I want, sometimes on the basis of what I consider to be cool.

Making you do db squats instead of bb is just silly. It could be because they want to work on form, but you could also do that with a bb and if you'd enjoy it more that's reason enough!

Just an idea, but thinking about what you enjoy and what you want from a PT, you could try a PT who specialises in teaching the Olympic lifts: clean and jerk + snatch.

Or, if sticking with this PT, you could drive the conversation around different periodic goals. Bench x, squat y etc each program should then be built with each goal in mind. If you take this approach, the structure of the sessions week to week won’t vary too much during the goal period, but during the year they’ll vary a lot.

Im going to start with having the conversation I’m not keen on having! Even if I stop, I owe it to them to tell them why (although I’ve been looking through old communication and I was very clear about the equipment side and that I want to use what I don’t currently have!)

Thanks for tips on what to look for if I decide to stop.

I'm going to disagree with a PP and say I'd very much focus on the means rather than the ends, so what you want to see in your programme rather than expecting a goal to mix your programme up. I train powerlifting, so my goals are very specific, and my programme is very repetitive as a result. Which is what I like. They could mix it up a bit if I asked I'm sure, and we do sometimes do that. But fundamentally if I'm doing squat, bench and deadlift, I do those plus accessories to support those. Which is always going to be within more narrow parameters. Training for a sport, be that Olympic weightlifting or powerlifting, will be more likely to narrow the exercises used rather than broaden them. It's one of the things that mean that style of training doesn't suit everyone.

Olympic lifting is quite different to powerlifting and contains way more variation in training due to the technical and mechanical requirements to get into position. It also focuses on true power: force x velocity, which we lose as we age (probably why the PT included jumping/box steps ups).

goblet squats, front squats, back squats, overhead squats, row variations, multiple pull variations, multiple press variations etc etc plus all the bridge accessories and shoulder mobility work.

I found huge variety in Olympic weightlifting training, especially for beginners.

ultimately agree with you though, it should be based on what you like.

Repetition in itself doesn’t bother me however repeating exercises I really don’t like does - particularly jumping ones when I’ve expressed I have pelvic floor issues with jumping.

I am confident with compound movements and have been told my form is decent so I would like to build on these in a way I can’t do at home eg while I can squat upwards of 20kg on barbell, I don’t have the barbell and would struggle to get it off at the end so doing this with them (whilst also making sure my form doesn’t deteriorate) would be ideal.

Before starting, I was pretty clear on the equipment front and wanting to get stronger and fitter. I haven’t put emphasis on physical changes as that is not my priority and I need to adjust my diet more. I have been clear about not wanting to jump and that I hate the step ups but guess I need to be clear that pursuing these are stopping me from continuing training and see if it changes anything

Exercises that feature regularly in our workouts include squats, lunges, planks, arm holds, bicep curls, arm presses, sometimes slam-balls.

These accessory, mobility & agility exercises are really important to support your main strength training. Box jumps are excellent for developing explosive power.

Maybe the conversation you need to have is about moving from dumbbell use to barbell work. That seems to be the specific thing you want to learn more about.

Although, I could go to the gym and make up my own programme, based on what I've learned over the years of working with a PT. But I know I wouldn't push myself as hard as when I have my dratted trainer whispering in my ear. "Right fucking now. Go faster"