By Melanie Chisnall

Do you think personal training is a waste of time and money? For more than a decade, like many people I know, that’s all I believed it was.

Until I finally gave it a try a few weeks ago. I was curious to see what all the fuss was about and I figured one session would be enough to do this – without burning a hole in my purse. Here’s what I learnt and what you can gain from one or two sessions…

That extra motivational push

My session was an hour long and we worked my biggest problem area – my legs. I did five or six leg exercises in all (15 – 30 repetitions), three times. By the end of it, my legs felt like jelly.

I realised something important in that session: fitness trainers don’t talk nonsense when they say that we’re stronger than we think we are. It’s all true. We really can push our bodies so much further than what we think is possible.

What personal trainers help you do

For starters, they give you the tools you need to reach your fitness or weight loss goals.

1. They show you how to correctly and safely perform moves. For years I was doing a few leg exercises the wrong way – and not seeing the results I wanted.
2. They give you that extra motivational push. There were times during that session I felt like crying, throwing up (just a little), or quitting. But, my trainer cheered me on and I finished. I even managed a few laughs in between. When you reach that level of fatigue, that’s when transformation happens.
3. They hold you accountable. It’s easy to skip a workout session when you don’t feel like it, or have someone waiting for you. When you have a trainer, you’ll also be more likely to stick to a proper training programme.
4. They add variety to your workouts. They’ll teach you a variety of exercise methods (some of them you can do from home) to keep you from getting bored.
5. They help you make the most of your workout time. Even if you’re 10 minutes late to your session, they’ll tweak your workout so that you’ll burn the same number of calories as you would in an hour session.

Give it a go

Why not get a jump start on your fitness goals for 2015 and give yourself a festive present?

I highly recommend booking one personal training session to see what it’s like. Who knows, it might be exactly what you need to tone up those trouble areas or get out of your exercise rut!