FORWARD MOTION

BETTER TOGETHER

Need a little extra direction and a lot of extra motivation in your workout? Consider working with a personal trainer.

Keon Addison views his personal training business as relationship-building. He provides the tools for his clients to succeed and holds them accountable for following through. The owner of Unleashed Potential Fitness in Montgomery, Addison has been a personal trainer for 12 years. His business grew from a passion that developed in his early 30s, when he wanted to not only help others, but himself as well. “I was strength training, but I never took it seriously, because I ate whatever I wanted to,” he said. “I really got into it because I wanted to change something within myself.”

And today, the certified trainer uses that drive to help motivate others. According to Addison, the benefits of hiring and using a personal trainer are endless – and one of the main ones is accountability.

Accountability matters.

It is what Addison hears most. Clients know the exercises, he said, but they sometimes would never do them themselves.

A personal trainer carries the responsibility of helping a client reach his or her fitness goals, and on the other side of the spectrum, the client also has the responsibility of following the instruction and advice that the trainer deems pertinent to achieving those goals. According to the National Federation of Professional Trainers, it’s a two-way road with both the trainer and the client holding each other accountable.

Stay safe.

Another reason hiring a personal trainer is beneficial,

V

Addison said, is to help avoid injury. “The clients I have, we exercise so long, that sometimes our form is not even correct,” he said. “If we’re doing squats, and your back is hurting, then there’s something wrong.”

The American Sports and Fitness Association agrees. It claims using a personal trainer can help keep people safe since the trainer has the knowledge to make modifications and changes to a client’s training plan if they feel it’s needed. Because you want to be challenged but not injured.

Get a goal (together).

In addition to providing motivation and teaching proper form, a personal trainer can also help you define your fitness goals, and, as you make progress on them, celebrate with you; the latter is something Addison stresses. “I consider myself fun,” he said. “I want it to be fun, and you’re building relationships with your clients. You’re getting into a part of their lives that they don’t really share with everybody. I feel very humbled by that.”

Addison gets something from the relationship too. “Establishing friendships and relationships is key. If I had a client that I just gave exercises to and knew nothing about them outside of that … I don’t like to have that kind of relationship.”

That aside, Addison said when it comes to hiring a personal trainer, you want to be goal-oriented. “Not everyone comes to you to lose weight,” he said. “I always ask my clients, ‘What’s your goal?’ I want to center their workouts around their goal. Sometimes they just want to feel better.”

Find the real deal.

While there are benefits to hiring a personal trainer, hiring the wrong personal trainer can be detrimental to your health and fitness goals. There are signs to watch for when choosing. A bad trainer doesn’t listen to you, pushes you beyond your capacity, body shames, only promotes one training style, focuses on intensity over form and promises quick results.

That’s one thing Addison does not do. He understands the hard work it takes to produce what you want. “They want to lose the weight in 10 days,” he said of some people looking for personal trainers. “I always have to make sure that I put the responsibility back on the client, that I give them the tools to succeed, and that they’ll have to put their foot forward as well. I never give them guarantees. I try to let them embrace the process of this, and love this process. But it still falls back on them.”

CHOOSING A PERSONAL TRAINER: picky

LOOK FOR: • The right certification • Solid experience • Comfort factor • A good reputation • Affordability

WATCH OUT FOR: • No certification • They don’t align with your goals • They program beyond your experience • They’re lacking proof in clientele