By Deborah Jeanne Post
It may seem like hiring a personal trainer is only for men trying to become buff or training for triathlons. However, personal trainers can provide women with many benefits, whether they are training for a sport or not.
Whether leading at home or in the boardroom, many women feel weary of making decisions and want a customized workout routine prepared for them.
“They make decisions all day long and want someone to just tell them what to do to work out,” said Danelle Edwards certified personal trainer, certified, a wellness practitioner and head of Rochester Regional Health Wellness Center. “Women want structure. A lot of women come to a personal trainer for accountability and reassurance that what they’re doing is safe.”
It’s also a form of self-care for women who often care for everyone but themselves. Regular exercise can provide stress relief and a sense of accomplishment.
Some women seek custom workouts as they want to keep their bones strong. Edwards noted that half of women older than 50 have some kind of bone loss, but training with weights can help retain and build bone.
For 50-plus women “it’s not always about vanity but quality of life to play with grandkids and get down on the floor. Having that personal trainer helps you learn to move correctly, safely and be strong.”
Learning how to stoop to lift a grandchild and developing the strength to do so can help women stay active and spend more quality time with their family.
Working out at a gym may intimidate some women whose cultural background does not include things like strength training. Kimberly Whitcomb, one-on-one certified personal trainer in Fairport and Wolcott, saida woman working with a trainer “gets workouts specify designed for their body, lifestyles and goals. That can be anywhere from someone living a quality of life to someone having just outdoor activities they enjoy to someone training or a specific event or an athlete.”
She listed improved endurance, strength, mobility, weight loss or athletic goal as a few examples of why women can see gains with a personal trainer.
Innumerable videos online can demonstrate effective workouts. However, Whitcomb said that the motivation of a personal trainer can help women accomplish more than they would on their own.
“Some people find it hard to stay accountable but working with a trainer gives them someone to be accountable to,” she added. “Making a commitment to a trainer gives women incentive. A trainer cares about them and their progress as much as they do themselves.”
A trainer can also tweak the workouts for when the client isn’t feeling as well or has experienced an injury. Whitcomb encourages her clients to tell her if something is “off” for them that day so she can accommodate them.
Trainers should also keep in mind hormonal swings.
“With younger women on their cycle it’s incredibly important to keep in mind,” Whitcomb said as an example. “They’re losing a lot of blood. They can’t do the same high intensity workout when they’re on their cycle as when they’re off their cycle.”
Menopausal women also have challenges such as hot flashes that can make workouts feel difficult.
Sean Smith, certified personal trainer, owner Baddass Bodies By Sean, a women and family-only gym in Rochester. Creating a space free of “gym bros” can help women feel like they receive training that works for their bodies.
“A woman should have a woman personal trainer,” Smith said. “No woman knows a body of a woman like another woman. With women in personal training, I can focus on areas important to them because they’re important to me.”
She focuses on core strengthening, since many women experience difficulty in this area. Many postpartum moms come to Smith to receive help in regaining their core strength.
She also keeps women’s time restraints in mind. She creates 30-minute workouts to save women time.
“If you don’t have a lot of time to work out, you need to make that time effective,” she said. “I used to write a plan for four months in advance. I stopped doing that because the plan I have for you has to align with how you feel that day.”
She checks in with clients’ emotional state first because if they’re not emotionally equipped to work out, it won’t be as effective.
Smith noted that some women have trauma from working out at a gym where they did not feel supported or worse unwanted attention made them feel uncomfortable.
“The last thing they want is someone watching them do squats,” Smith said. “Fitness is for the people. You just have to understand the people.”