Why hire a personal trainer? I’ve been a personal trainer in London for over 12 years now, and the reasons why people hire me are many and varied. Here are some:

More energy

I have personal training clients who work in the City of London. Most of them are pretty knackered when they come to me, and they want to have more energy to rise to the challenge of their demanding jobs, and still have the energy to enjoy life outside work too.

When you’re fitter and stronger, you have more energy. Your capacity to meet the demands of life is greater. You sleep better.

Reduced risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes

One of my personal training clients in north London told me when we met that he wanted to reduce his risk of getting any of the three dreaded diseases above. This is a very worthy goal, and if everyone thought this way, there would be no NHS crisis.

Fewer bouts of colds & flu

This client was a lawyer in the city of London who kept getting colds. My personal training covers nutrition as thoroughly as exercise, and poor nutrition was the main cause of his frequent colds. Out with the junk food, in with the fruit & veg and wholesome food. Much less alcohol, much more water.

I’ve not had a cold for over a year, because my diet is packed with good nutrition, and I show my clients how to adopt this lifestyle too.

More confidence

One of my youngest personal training clients in London was a skinny 18 year old guy who was at uni and he wanted to build muscle. His chief motivation was to look bigger and stronger, and feel more confident. I helped him combine muscle-building workouts with a nutritious meal-plan to achieve his goal.

One of his problems was that he was spending more money on alcohol than food, a double-killer if you want to build muscle. I helped him reverse that habit.

Resolve back problems

Lower back pain can be crippling, and it can mess up your work life, your sex life, and your sleep. I had a client in north London who had suffered lower back pain on and off for most of his adult life, and with a combination of weight-loss and muscle-strengthening and stretching, I managed to resolve these issues for him.

Stay active into later life

Another personal training client in north London wanted to keep skiing, water-skiing, and playing tennis into his fifties and sixties without slowing down. The notion that you inevitably get weaker and slower as you get older is a bit of a myth. There is so much you can do to delay the ageing process, and stay fit and healthy into old age.

So, why do most people neglect their health? And why do so few people hire a personal trainer?

Not sporty

People who don’t see themselves as the sporty type can fall into the trap of thinking physical activity is not for them. These are the people who need it most. Who wants to be as weak as Mr Burns in The Simpsons?

Exercise and healthy eating are boring

This is probably a hangover from school memories of soggy veg and being forced to play rugby on cold rainy days. The fact is that healthy eating can be delicious, and exercise can be as fun and varied as you like. The skill of a good personal trainer is to find activities that even the most reluctant client will enjoy.

Can’t afford personal training

Sure, you can get fit without a personal trainer, but you’ll get fit faster and more safely and effectively with a personal trainer. Same with anything you want to achieve, you’re more likely to succeed with an expert coaching you.

No time to exercise

No time really means not a priority. Everyone has the same amount of time. If you’re determined to get fit and healthy, you’ll find the time.

Tried exercising before with a personal trainer and it didn’t work

There could be many reasons for this: you didn’t address your nutrition, your personal trainer was not much good, the trainer was good but you didn’t do any activity outside of the one hour a week with the PT, you didn’t stay the course for long enough to see results, the list is endless.

Just because previous efforts failed is not a good reason for giving up altogether. The rewards of being fit and healthy are worth the effort, even if you have to try again and again. If you learn from previous experiences and you’re honest with yourself, you’ll succeed eventually.

Dominic Londesborough is a personal trainer in London and author of the Fitness4London blog.