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You Do the Work With a Personal Trainer   

There’s nothing like having another person hanging over you while you are working out to push you to the next level. When you feel like you can’t do one more rep, a personal trainer is there cheering you on. A trainer provides accountability, encouragement, instruction and expertise.

To find a personal trainer, you can ask around at your gym, talk to your buff friends or even search the Yellow Pages. Regardless, make sure you ask for referrals from existing clients. Also, check credentials. The American Council on Exercise (ACE), the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) or the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), which requires a degree, are a few of the certifying organizations. A qualified trainer needs to know training methodology, human musculature, nutrition and other pertinent subjects.

You also want someone you like and with whom you will enjoy working. Make sure they challenge you, but also know your limitations.

A personal trainer will usually start with an assessment session to evaluate your fitness and goals. He or she will then design a workout program to help you meet those goals. Some trainers will meet you at the gym, but others will even come to your home if you have workout equipment available.

One of the benefits of a personal trainer, in addition to motivation, is the one-on-one attention. He or she can check your form to ensure you get the most out of the exercise and to prevent injury.

You can expect to pay anywhere from $25 to $75 an hour for a personal trainer. Most trainers will give you a discount for multiple sessions. One way to save money is group training. If you can find two friends to sign up with you, you can split the cost or ask the trainer if he or she has clients who are willing to join you. Even if you can’t afford regular training sessions, try two or three just to get you going on the right path. Then, maybe once a month or so, you can have a check-up session. Also ask about the cancellation policy upfront.

Take notes or record your sessions to get the most out of your trainer. Ask questions. Be ready to work when your trainer arrives. Realize that unless you work with the trainer three times a week, you will also have to workout on your own to see results. 

 

Move Ego To the Side When E-mailing

New research shows that when most people communicate via e-mail, they are communicating egocentrically instead of thinking about how the other person will process the information. According to the article “Think Your E-mails Are Clear? Maybe Not,” by Johnathan Silverstein on the ABCNews website, this means people creating e-mails thinking about how they would sound to themselves.

Justin Kruger, an associate professor at New York University, and Nicholas Eply, an associate professor at the University of Chicago, are the authors of a paper on the subject recently published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. According to the authors, people are not as good as they think they are at expressing themselves and their emotions via e-mail.

The world of e-mail communication is chockfull of horror stories of misunderstandings and the resulting tarnished reputations. One problem, Kruger says, is that it’s very hard to get beyond our own perspectives and realize how impoverished our communications can be for other parties. Kruger recommends people use e-mail with caution, both in the way they construct their communications and in how they interpret what they receive.