Take your time to find a personal trainer in whom you can place your trust

Like many important decisions, choosing the right personal trainer comes down to fit. Fit depends on your current life stage, interests, goals, values, and personal connection.

What you seek from a job in your 40s might differ from your 20s. The therapist who guided you perfectly through childhood may not be ideal as you enter adulthood.

These same factors play into the fitness professional you hire, particularly if you're 40 or above. As a masters athlete, you need the right expert if you intend to play sports or pursue audacious goals for many years.

This article will cover the key factors when seeking personal training to keep you in the game into your 80s.

How to Find a Personal Trainer Near Me

1. Use Online Directories: Websites like Yelp, Google Maps, or specialized fitness directories can help you find personal trainers in your area. Use these as your initial filter for finding highly rated professionals.

2. Ask for Recommendations: Pose a question on Facebook or within dedicated affinity groups. Friends, family, or colleagues with similar interests can provide valuable firsthand feedback.

3. Use Social Media: Many personal trainers promote their services on platforms like Instagram or Facebook, which can give you a sense of their personality and style. Search for hashtags like #personaltrainernearme or #[yourcity]personaltrainer.

5. Attend Fitness Classes: Group fitness classes are a low-risk way to a meet local trainer and get a sense of their teaching style.

What to Look for in a Personal Trainer

When searching for "personal training near me" keep these factors in mind:

1. Certifications: Look for trainers certified by reputable organizations like ISSA, NASM, ACE, or NSCA.

2. Specializations: If you have specific goals (like powerlifting or post-rehabilitation training), look for trainers with relevant experience.

3. Populations: Many trainers will focus on serving specific segments like masters athletes or runners. These niches give them more relevant hands-on training they can apply to you.

4. Personal Fit: You'll spend a lot of time with your trainer. Make sure it's someone who meshes with you, whether you’re looking for a sense of humor or similar life experiences.

5. Training Philosophy: Ask for a consultation to dig deep into the coach's approach. Why do they use the methods they do? Are they constantly updating their assumptions and knowledge? Do they have frameworks?

6. Positive Testimonials: Look for reviews from current or former clients. You can even type in terms like "barbells" or "group fitness" into Google to narrow results.

Maximizing Your Personal Training Experience

Personal training is a two-way personal relationship. Once you've found a trainer or coach, take the following steps to get the best results.

1. Be Clear About Your Goals: Communicate your fitness objectives clearly to your trainer. And let them know if your goals evolve. The best trainers are excellent listeners but very poor mind readers.

2. Be Consistent: Regular sessions and adherence to your program will yield the best results. Constantly skipping will prove to your trainer that you're not serious about progressing.

3. Be Open to Feedback: You've hired a trainer for their expertise, so remain open to their rationales and ideas.

4. Ask Questions: At the same time, don't hesitate to ask about the reasoning behind exercises or techniques. Elite trainers love the opportunity to talk about their methods and want to educate their clients.

5. Track Your Progress: Keep a workout log if you're working out on your own in addition to training sessions. That will make your time go more smoothly since the trainer will know what happened during the other 5 or 6 days per week.

SHOULD THE TRAINER Emphasize Strength Training?

Most trainers will have a specialization but also a broad foundation. The best ones will also adapt your needs and perform research specific to you.

With that said, many people in their 40s benefit from strength training, particularly barbell lifting.

Here are a few reasons why pumping iron is a game-changer that belongs in your training routine:

1. Increased Muscle Mass and Strength: This is the most obvious benefit, but it's worth emphasizing. Regular strength training leads to increased muscle mass, which lowers the risk of sarcopenia (click here to read more about this age-related loss of muscle mass).

2. Enhanced Metabolism: Muscle tissue is metabolically active, meaning it burns calories even when you're at rest. You can make your body more efficient by slowly and steadily adding muscle.

3. Improved Bone Density: Strength training significantly increases bone density. It has the most benefit if you start in your 40s since that gives you more time to build a strong foundation as you age.

4. Better Joint Health: Contrary to popular belief, proper strength training improves joint health. Like muscles, lifting strengthens the connective tissues around your joints, providing better support, stability, and resilience

5. Enhanced Athletic Performance: Strength training leads to increased power. Whether you're a weekend warrior or a competitive athlete, you can translate that power into specific sport performance. Think about swinging a bat in your softball league or gaining an extra kick for the final leg of your sprint triathlon.

6. Increased Insulin Sensitivity: Regular strength training can help improve your body's insulin sensitivity. While men appear to get a bigger impact, this study highlights the value of resistance training in any population.

7. Improved Mental Health: Resistance training can reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression while boosting self-esteem and confidence. (Note: it's most potent when combined with other treatments like therapy.)

You will reap the maximum rewards of barbell training you fall into any of the below categories:

You've primarily participated in endurance sports.
Most of your training emphasizes aerobic conditioning
You're an experienced lifter experiencing more aches and pains as you age
You're brand new to fitness and you’re drawn to barbells.

The Role of Barbell Lifting in Strength Training

Movements like the barbell squat can transform your training, particularly if you’re an athlete in your 40s or you’ve most focused on endurance sports.

Lots of excellent tools exist for strength training. Machines, dumbbells, kettlebells, and many other implements work well. But barbell lifts are the gold standard for masters athletes. Here's why:

1. Compound Movements: Most barbell exercises are compound movements that simultaneously engage multiple muscle groups and joints. Fewer movements equals more efficient workouts or more time for conditioning and recovery.

2. Progressive Overload: Barbells allow for precise incremental increases in weight. That makes it easier to slowly increase the stimulus to your body – a key principle in strength training.

3. Functional Strength: Barbell exercises mimic real-world movements, helping you build functional strength that translates to everyday activities.

4. Versatility: A barbell, bench, and squat stand allow limitless variation. Barbells target every major muscle group in your body with movements like barbell squats, barbell deadlifts, bench presses, and rows. Add a landmine for even more dynamic challenges.

5. Return-on-Investment: While the initial cost can be high, you're saving yourself a lot of money down the road. Plus, the versatility eliminates the need for multiple machines.

To learn more about training read my article at this link.

How a Personal Trainer Can Help

We've established the importance of strength training and barbell lifting.

Let's discuss why you might want to seek personal training in Evanston.

1. Proper Form: while highly effective, barbells have a learning curve. An expert can teach technique that maximizes benefits while minimizing the risk of injury.

2. Customized Programming: Normal variation means we all have different limb lengths, work capacity, and muscle fiber types. A tailor-made program from a strength coach incorporates your goals, current fitness level, and any limitations or injuries you may have.

3. Motivation and Accountability: Skipping workouts or cutting corners is easy when training alone. A personal trainer provides the motivation and accountability to stay consistent and push yourself.

4. Progressive Overload Management: Knowing when and how to increase the weight or reps is crucial for continued progress. A skilled personal trainer will make data-driven decisions.

5. Nutrition Guidance: Many personal trainers also offer general nutrition advice to maximize results. Lifting heavy weights requires a bit of extra fuel for performance and recovery.

7. Time Efficiency: Sifting through all the fitness information available online can feel overwhelming. A personal trainer synthesizes the latest research so you can get the best workout in the shortest session possible.

Conclusion: FIND THE BEST FOR YOU, NOT JUST THE BEST

Personal trainers can transform your fitness. The key: find someone with the right expertise and personality for you.

Positive reviews and convenient locations are a good start, but dig deeper and ask prospective coaches about their approach.

Some may push you to your physical limits every session. Others will strategically progress you. Some may provide sessions in a private studio to help build confidence, while others run small groups for fun and community.

All these approaches produce results and long-term compliance - it just depends on the individual.

Chris Van Nostrand is a strength & conditioning and personal trainer in Evanston, IL. He provides small group lifting classes, personal training, and remote coaching.

How To Find a Personal Trainer Near You