Congratulations on starting a personal training or group training exercise program! Joining a fitness program is a great way to kickstart your health journey and help you achieve your biggest fitness goals. And most importantly, it can help you feel happier, more confident, and healthier for life.
But now that you’ve made this investment in your health, how do you make the most of it? Here are 8 strategies for getting the best results out of your workout, personal training, or group fitness program.
How to Get the Most Out of Your Personal Trainer or Workout Program
1. Set a Goal That’s Challenging but Achievable
The first and most important tactic for making the most of any fitness program is to set goals for yourself. Without goals, it’s like wandering through the woods without a map. It might be fun at first, but eventually, you’re going to feel pretty lost.
Fitness goals give direction and purpose to your workout. Plus, you’re more likely to stick to a workout routine when you have a clear goal you’re working towards. Especially a goal that’s meaningful for you. Because let’s be honest, there will be days when going to the gym is the last thing you want to do. Having a goal helps motivate you to throw on the gym clothes and stick to your routine.
Make sure you’re also communicating your goal or goals with your coach. They can help you fine-tune or decide on a goal if you’re still figuring it out. They can also help you break down that goal into bite-sized pieces so that it’s challenging but still achievable. This also ensures that you’re making the most of your time spent with your coach. When they know your goals, they can build a workout that’s better customized to you and what you’re hoping to achieve.
2. Stick to a Consistent Schedule
There’s a good chance that this isn’t the first fitness program you’ve tried. For most of us, finding a fitness program isn’t the problem. It’s sticking with it! And one of the best ways to turn your fitness routine into a habit is to build a consistent schedule that you stick to every week.
We get it, life happens and every once in a while you’ll need to reschedule. But on the whole, you want to treat your workouts as sacred and unmoveable “you time”. When you treat your fitness program like it’s a priority, it becomes a priority.
And it all starts by setting a workout schedule for yourself that you can realistically stick to. Start small! If you only have a few hours a week to work out, don’t hold yourself to coming to the gym four times a week.
We know how important it is to stick to a routine. That’s why with Parado Power personal training, our coaches work around your availability, not the other way around. You might train with different coaches throughout the week, but your programming will match your schedule while remaining consistent.
3. Communicate With Your Coach & Ask Questions
One of the biggest benefits of a fitness program is that you’re not figuring out fitness on your own. You have access to a coach whose job is to help you on your way to whatever fitness goals you’ve outlined for yourself. So take advantage of that resource!
Ask questions and communicate your needs with your coach. For example:
- If you hate an exercise or you’re experiencing pain during a segment of the workout, speak up
- If you’re curious about why your coach put together the training program that they did, inquire about their approach
- If you want to understand more about a particular exercise or how it works, don’t be afraid to ask
- If you want to know what you should be doing on your off days or days you’re not with your coach, get their advice
Speaking up and asking questions improves the success of your workout program. It ensures your workouts match your needs and it helps improve your fitness knowledge and understanding. And the more you understand your body and the mechanics behind your workout, the better you’ll be at designing your own workouts.
Because while we at Parado Power want to be here at every step of your fitness journey, we understand that you won’t be training with us forever or for every workout. There will be times when you’re stepping into the gym solo and we want you to feel as prepared as possible to tackle your workout with confidence.
4. Invite a Friend or Make a New Gym Buddy
Going to the gym can feel intimidating! Our goal at Parado Power is to make it feel less intimidating by creating a safe, welcoming environment. But there’s nothing that puts you at ease quite like having a friend beside you.
Recruit a friend to join you at the gym or workout class. Or, better yet, make a new friend! Not only will they help increase your confidence, but your gym buddy can help motivate and push you to perform your best. This helps improve the success of your workout program. Plus, it’s hard to skip a workout when you know you have a friend expecting to see you at the gym!
Our Parado Power Group Classes and Personal Training are the perfect places to find your new gym buddy. Our 50-minute motivating and high-energy classes usually have anywhere from 10 to 12 people in the class. And our personal training is 3 to 4 people per coach. And there’s no better bonding experience than sweating it out together through strength training exercises and functional movements.
5. Take It Slow
A good workout doesn’t always (and shouldn’t always!) leave you on the floor in a pile of sweat and sore muscles. While we all enjoy a good high-intensity sweat session every once in a while, how much you sweat and how sore you are the next day are not indicators of the success of your program. When you push yourself to the max in every workout, what you’re really pushing yourself towards is injury or burnout.
It’s tempting when starting a new fitness program to give it your all so you can start seeing results immediately. But this isn’t going to give you the results you’re looking for. A good workout program is about longevity. It’s about long-term success, not short-term burnout.
After all, working out should be fun! That way it becomes a regular part of your life and routine. So start slow and progress at your own pace. Your coach will help you take your time, learn proper form, and focus on mobility in your training. If you’re consistent, we promise you’ll start seeing results sooner than you might think. And you don’t have to push yourself to the max to do it.
6. Build In Rest & Recovery
Part of taking it slow and avoiding injury is making sure you’re building in time for rest and recovery. Working out puts stress on your body. But as long as you’re not pushing yourself too hard, this is a healthy form of stress that helps build stronger bones and muscles.
As you work out, you’re creating tiny tears in your muscle tissue. You’re also challenging your body’s cardiovascular system, increasing your oxygen consumption, heart rate, and blood flow. You’re also putting pressure on your joints and bones.
This pressure and stress are key to building stronger bones, muscles, and cardiovascular endurance. But, that can’t happen if you don’t give your body time to recover.
Here’s what we mean by that:
- Space out your high-intensity workouts: Don’t go back-to-back with intense workouts. Go for a walk or schedule a low-key yoga class between your training sessions.
- Listen to your body: You might need a rest day if you’re experiencing muscle soreness and/or fatigue. Taking the day off will help your body recover so you can come back tomorrow ready for your workout. After all, it’s better to take one day off now than have to stop your workout program due to injury down the road.
- Build recovery into your workout: Your coach should be adding stretching or myofascial release exercises (like foam rolling!) to the end of your workout. This helps close out your workout with a focus on recovery so your muscles can bounce back faster.
- Prioritize sleep: The best recovery method is one that you do every night: sleep. A full 7-8 hours of sleep is one of the best things you can do for your body after a workout.
The amount of recovery you need depends on the person! If you’re new to fitness, you might need more time to recover from a workout than, say, an Olympic athlete. The best way to know is to listen and pay attention to the signs your body is giving you. (And communicate those signs to your coach!)
7. Take Notes & Track Your Progress
It’s easy to miss how much progress you’re making when you’re so focused on one workout to the next. But by taking notes and tracking your progress throughout your fitness program, you can see the improvements you’re making week to week and month to month.
There’s nothing more encouraging than seeing how far you’ve come or how close you are to achieving the goals you set out to achieve! This adds extra motivation to your workouts, which improves the success of your workout program.
Your coach is there to help monitor your progress and keep you on track toward your goals. At Parado Power, we keep detailed notes of your progress and can quickly pull up past workouts and track your PR’s. We also have an InBody biometric scale that breaks down weight into water, muscle, fat, and more. But we also recommend that you keep your own notes through a workout journal or fitness app. And for those that have an aesthetic goal, we recommend taking “before” photos and tape measurements as well. This way, you can have your own record of what you did during the workout and how you’re improving.
Monitoring your progress and keeping track of your workouts also helps you and your coach notice any trends so they can adjust your workouts accordingly. This improves the effectiveness of your program while helping you visualize how your workouts are helping you grow.
8. Don’t Forget About Nutrition
The fuel you’re putting in your body is just as important for the success of your fitness program as the fitness program itself. Food has the power to improve your health, sleep, mood, and exercise performance. So an exercise program that doesn’t consider nutrition is missing a big piece of the puzzle.
At Parado Power, we’re here to support your full-body wellness with healthy nutrition advice including guidance on healthy habits and food choices. Your coach can offer direction on how to maximize your performance in the gym with the right nutrition, like the best foods to eat before and after your workout.
We also offer customized Nutrition Coaching services and meal plans if you’re looking for more hands-on support. With the right nutrition powering your workout you can supercharge your efforts and reach your goals twice as fast.
Join a Fitness Program at Parado Power
Parado isn’t just a gym. We’re a community. This is where you’ll build a healthier, happier relationship with your body.
And our personal training and group fitness classes are a great resource for helping you reach your personal fitness goals. Come discover the popular destination for fun, friendly fitness in the heart of Honolulu with a free introductory session.