Why Personal Training?

Sometimes I ask myself: Why personal training? Why do I go downtown DC to Bench Gym for personal training? It is usually two to three times a week, and it’s been happening for more than 7 years.

The answer is simple. I go for personal training because I like it.

I don’t have to go. No one tells me to go. I go because I like it. But that answer isn’t good enough. Why do I like it?

Some exercises are rewarding. How about the unusual prone hula hoop exercise? How about the triumph of holding a forearm plank for 8 minutes? Maybe 11?

Some exercises are really big exertions, and I can’t do them well at all. Do I like to fail on the 16th push-up when really I should do 20? Do I enjoy jumping up onto an upside-down Bosu Ball to do deep squats with weights in each hand while keeping balance?

Not really. What about the one-legged squat with the TRX straps? Some days I am glad when the hour is up. I’d rather be in the shower.

I go for personal training for two reasons. First, I treasure and admire fitness. I want fitness for myself. Sure, that is what personal training is all about. I want my body to be trim, proper weight, and look good (so I can like what I see in the mirror).

I want to be able to walk long distances briskly. I want to try to slow down the loss of flexibility and balance that comes with age.

Couldn’t I go to a membership gym, such as Washington Sports & Health or LA Fitness or Gold’s Gym, and accomplish the same thing? I could go there, but I don’t because I would not get the personalized one-on-one guidance that personal training gives me.

And I choose Bench Gym because it’s a private gym exclusively for personal training and has no membership.

That leads me to the second reason why I go for personal training. It is personal training, not a group class and not me anonymously amidst a crowd of others. The hands-on work – I need it – to get the alignment right.

But it’s not only physical. Personal training is also for conversation between trainer and client. Conversation about fitness for sure and life in general. It’s a friendly chat between two like-minded people.

A bond can form in a good trainer-client relationship, so says a fitness professional from a website I found. I have that and I can say that training with Jon Ponce, the best personal trainer in DC is truly the best caretaker for my health and fitness needs.

So go for personal training because it gives you fitness to feel good and to look good. And go for personal training because you have a personal relationship with your trainer.

It is a relationship that transforms the physical hard work into a pleasant hour that you look forward to each week.

By: Stan Nollen, Emer-Professor, Georgetown University- Blog Contributor/Fitness Enthusiast

Jon Ponce- Fitness Expert/Owner, Bench Gym Personal Training, Washington DC