A personal trainer can mean the
By Tim Ryan
difference between getting fit
and giving up
Star-BulletinAre you stuck in a fitness rut? Do you need help developing a new exercise program? Looking for a little motivational boost? Enter the personal trainer.
Personal or fitness trainers can help you get over a fitness plateau, offering incentive to get to the gym when you'd much rather watch "Seinfeld."
But ... it takes time, commitment and m-o-n-e-y.
Virtually every fitness center on Oahu offers personal trainers for one-on-one training or fitness trainers for training and fitness assessments.
Personal training has been the boom industry of the '90s, largely because it works.
"I worked with a personal trainer twice a week for six months and lost weight, firmed up and actually had less injuries than I ever did when I tried to exercise without help," said insurance representative Luke Timmens, 41. "I learned how to make my training time more efficient and even less difficult and still got the job done."
Fees range from about $33 to about $55 per session, depending on the number of sessions and qualifications or popularity of the trainer. At some gyms, such as the Nuuanu YMCA or Clark Hatch, where workout instructors are called fitness trainers, personalized fitness courses are included with membership or monthly fees.
A '90s thing
Before the 1980s, most exercise instructors were group-oriented coaches, aerobic-dance instructors and physical educators, even body builders. But the new decade witnessed an explosion of instructors who worked one-on-one with clients.Since 1996, the number of personal trainers and clients at the Honolulu Club on Ward Avenue has about doubled, said trainer Glynis Ramirez. The Club employs about 16 trainers who conduct some 400 individual sessions a month.
"Two years ago we did about half that or even less," said Ramirez, who personally conducts 25 one-on-one sessions a week. "I've got so much (personal training) work that I can make a living off of just that."
Fees at Honolulu Club range from $42 to $50 a session. New members are given free fitness testing and two personal sessions.
"People like an individualized training program because everyone's needs are different," Ramirez said. "A fitness center is a big room with lots of equipment that can be dangerous without help. We provide that help and create a program that will work for the individual."
24 Hour Fitness has 20 full-time personal trainers who conduct about 800 sessions a month; sessions range from $33 to $55.
Since last year, the national fitness chain has seen a 20 percent increase in the number of members using personal trainers.
"The personalized, one-on-one relationship with a personal trainer helps people stay more focused and motivated than they would normally be on their own," said Denny Marsico, 24 Hour's director of Fitness Education.
"Members get results and good news travels fast," fitness supervisor Lou Ortiz added. "They're a walking billboard."
Ortiz says there's "gym science and real science" when it comes to fitness training.
"Our instructors put it on the right level by teaching how to work out smarter, not harder, which can cut workout time in half."
That extra push
"Laura" (not her real name) said she was embarrassed about her ballooning weight. Despite her relatively young age, 32, she was unable to climb two flights of stairs without getting winded."The hardest thing for me was just getting up the nerve to put on shorts and a T-shirt to work out," she said. "I was 60 pounds overweight and had never ever been physical."
Her physician recommended a rigidly monitored exercise trainer. So Laura hired a female personal trainer, and after a painfully slow start, lost more than 40 pounds after 18 months.
"Now I know what to do without much assistance," she said.
Results of regular exercise will be felt as well as seen almost immediately, fitness experts agreed. Blood pressure and heart rates should fall within a couple of weeks, while weight loss and changes in body fat composition can be seen within four weeks, they said.
Like most fitness centers, Clark Hatch compiles a fitness profile of new members, followed every several weeks with a progress evaluation. The center charges $58 monthly, which includes the cost of designing individual programs.
The Nuuanu YMCA personalizes a routine for new members in its "First 90 Days" program.
"The drop-out rate for new members is highest in the first 90 days because they don't get into a scheduled work-out routine," said Kristi Paul, the Y's physical education director.
"Educating new members on the importance of health and fitness as a lifestyle and getting them in to a scheduled routine will increase the likelihood of their adherence," she said.
