During various stages of your training, it would be beneficial to work out with a Certified Personal Trainer. The reason? Consider the car analogy again. Engine running a little roughly? You might try working on it yourself, but the risk of making a mistake and breaking something or having to redo something is high. While you can probably go to the auto parts store and fix any mechanical blunders relatively easily, if perhaps expensively, it is not so easy to fix any mistakes you may make with your body, especially if you are over 30. You might want to think of your time with a trainer as a chance to work with a master mechanic.

There are various levels and types of personal trainers. The one you choose should be based on your fitness goals first and your budget second. The length of time that you use your trainer will also vary. The money you spend on a personal trainer is an investment in you and should be treated as such. Research and interview your potential trainers. They should also be willing to give you some of the names of their clients to talk to.

The trainer should also be interviewing you. He or she should ask about your lifestyle, your diet, your current exercise program and fitness level and what your fitness goals are. With this information, he or she should be able to design a program that works for you. In the area, you are the expert to a degree. If you feel you are being over- or under-challenged, talk to your trainer. There may be a good reason to go slowly at first; it may be the pain you are feeling may be simple muscle fatigue, rather than a strain or serious inflammation. Your trainer should be sensitive to your fitness level and goals, but he or she also is there to push you to greater fitness. It is a balancing act. Your trainer should be your mentor. He or she should help with nutrition, and, as I have said before, help you do exercises properly to prevent or minimize injury. Be sure you are giving your trainer the benefit of the doubt, but if doubts persist, try someone else.

What is their certification? The American Council on Exercise (ACE), the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA), the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), and the American Fitness Training of Athletics (ATFA) all offer certifications and are some of the more recognized certifications available. You are seeking someone who has studied and passed a well-known certification, which also encourages them to work on continuing education credits (CECs) to keep their skills sharp.

How long have they been a practicing trainer? Training is a skill that must be used in order to refine it. Trainers get better because their experience with clients teaches them new ways to describe movements, motivate people and exercise certain muscles. This is not to say that a trainer just certified wouldn’t be an asset but the question would be, to whom?

If you are an experienced athlete you’d probably be better off with a more experienced trainer. A person just starting out and in need of more basic tips will probably do fine with a new trainer. A person with a specific medical condition or physical injury needs a more experienced trainer or perhaps a physical therapist to start, until any injured muscles or tissues have recovered. Experienced trainers are more likely to know what a person with a rotator cuff injury can and cannot do and how long it may be before you can do exercises that require you to work with your arm above you shoulder.

What you want is to be sure that the person you train with understands your limitations in a way that will help you avoid further injury and facilitate recovery.

Is training their job, or their profession? The trainer who sees this as his or her profession will have a more vested interest your success than just making a quick buck. They realize that this is an industry that they must keep on top of. Take note however that this can still mean that this is not their only job. They may also be a massage therapist, or write fitness articles, or even model; things closely associated with fitness.

Ask about their philosophy of training. Do they have one? Do they teach other classes like kickboxing, or yoga or spin classes? You may not be able to evaluate their skills based on this information, but you can get a picture of whether their approach feels like the right one for you.

When are they available and what are the costs? Can they work with you when you are available? Schedules and cost are directly related to your goals and the part of the country where you live. Two sessions with an experienced, but expensive trainer may be worth more than twice as many sessions with someone less experienced, less expensive and less insightful. It is hard to know going in, but friends’ recommendations can help. Don’t be afraid to try to negotiate. Some trainers will be flexible if you are working at a club where they have other clients or plan on working out more than once a week. It is worth a conversation.

Now here are some of the things that I, as a CPT, would ask you. If you are thinking of using a trainer, use this as a guide. I can’t speak for other trainers, but offer my experiences to help guide you regarding the sorts of things they should want to know about.

What would you like to achieve -- realistically? As mentioned above, your trainer is there to help you achieve your goals in a safe and sane manner. Your goals need to be safe and sane, too.

Have you ever tried to achieve this goal before?

Did you? If yes/no, why/why not? I need to know what worked for you and what didn’t. This helps me to establish cause and effect.

How old are you? This helps me determine your maximum heart rate, a number I use to keep you in a healthy workout range. I can also determine target heart rates for strength training and cardio output. I can also keep your mindset realistic.

Do you have any physical, mental or medical conditions? This fine-tunes your workout. I wouldn’t ask someone who suffers with knee pain to do lunges (initially). I would need to modify the abdominal workout of someone with a curvature of the spine. Certain medications might make you lethargic or increase your heart rate; I need to know. If you have ADD or other issues with concentration, I can do things to keep you more focused. If your wear a leg prosthesis, I need to stretch your lower back more often. If you are obese, I need to start your training with the very basics as opposed to the magazine workout your favorite wafer-thin actress is doing.

What do you do for a living? Is your lifestyle dominantly physical or sedentary? Are you on your feet a lot? Are you a dancer? A travel agent? A fireman? I need complement what you are doing now and build from it. This also affects the amount of time you can dedicate to your workout.

What are your eating habits like? If you are taking up exercise with a goal to lose weight, a trainer needs to know what you are taking in, both in terms of calories and what kind of calories. You could become very fit and not lose a pound since muscle weighs more than fat. Does stress from a job or relationship make you eat more or less? I need to know.

Are you a smoker/ drinker? How much so? Training can actually help you reduce or eliminate these behaviors. The oral fixation of smoking can sometimes be held at bay just by having something constructive to do… like working out. I’m not going to promise you that training can get you to quit, but it can definitely get you to cut down.

All the above questions and examples are based experiences I’ve had with clients I have trained. It is my profession. Using a personal trainer is an investment in your self. Personal trainers are here to make sure that you get the highest return possible on your investment in fitness.