Can having a personal trainer bring more results at the gym?

This text was written by a TecMundo columnist; Learn more at the end.

Despite the strong trend in gyms low cost While professional supervision is low (both in terms of number of professionals and quality), a recent study has shown that professional supervision in bodybuilding is important and produces greater results. Learn how to do this science experiment and Understand how professional auditing can help you.

Explore the study

Researchers recruited 45 recreational bodybuilders from the university population with at least 1 year of training experience to train for 2 months. Nine of them could not complete the study for various reasons, and the remaining (36 people) were divided as follows:

1. Professionally supervised group (20): In this group, practitioners were verbally encouraged by a professional to perform each set of exercises until muscle failure (the point at which one repetition could no longer be fully performed). personal trainer He also gave feedback on exercise technique;
2. Group without professional supervision (16): In this group, practitioners were instructed to train to failure, but there was no one to supervise them.

Both groups did 3 exercises per week for 8 weeks, and the weight training exercises were a full-body sequence: front pull (back), machine press (shoulders), machine bench press (chest), triceps rope, biceps dumbbell curl, leg press (quadriceps). , extensor and flexor (anterior and posterior thigh). For each exercise, 3 series of 8 to 12 repetitions with a 2-minute break were performed.

While compliance (how much of the recommended training was completed) in the supervised group was 96%, this rate was 92% in the group without professional supervision. There were 7 dropouts in the self-trained group and only two in the supervised group. .

Things tested and compared between groups: body composition (bioimpedance), muscle hypertrophy (via ultrasound), 1-rep max strength in squats and bench press, countermovement jumping.

Both groups have improved in some respects. But in most respects, supervised training produced superior results. Those tested further increased their lean mass, as well as triceps and thigh measurements and squat strength (1RM) (hypertrophy).

What previous studies say

One of the first studies to test the hypothesis that education: personal trainer It can produce more results. It was published in 2014. The men were divided into two groups: one training on its own and the other group training on its own. personal trainerBoth groups consist of 17 people and train three times a week for three months.

After this period, the results Those who trained with personal trainers increased their lean mass by 1.3 kgThere was no change in those who trained alone. The same situation was observed in muscle strength, bench press and leg press exercises, and lower extremity strength.

Another 2017 study compared muscle strength and load differences between trained subjects; some under the supervision of a personal trainer, some without special supervision. The results showed the superiority of personal training.

The exercises tested were leg press, bench press, knee extension and barbell curl, and those who trained with personal training performed with a higher load. Perceived effort was also higher in the group that trained with a personal trainer, which is a positive situation..

How can professional inspection help you?

Unfortunately I’m amazed at how PE professionals go unnoticed in so many gyms these days. This is one of the few environments in which healthcare professionals are present where many people do not engage and approach professional presence, just as is often the case when we buy a medicine in pharmacies without medical or pharmacist advice.

But thankfully, this did not happen to other healthcare professionals such as physiotherapists in their clinics, doctors and nurses in hospitals, as well as psychologists, nutritionists, dentists and speech therapists in their practices.

Apart from supervision and detailed exercise prescription, support, encouragement and feedback from the professional in individualized training, which can lead to more intensive training and perhaps greater results, one of the main advantages of this type of service is the social aspect.

In this sense, the Hawthorne effect is a phenomenon that partially explains the results: When people are observed, they change their behavior and try to do better.. This is important about one basic thing: motivation.

Social connection, as a basic psychological need, may be important to the bond between professional and practitioner; this is a relevant determinant for adherence to physical exercise, especially in the gym context where the practitioner trains alone in most cases. social interactions, especially in large gyms. Since most desired outcomes are aesthetic in nature and dependent on frequent stimuli, adherence is a non-negotiable basis.

Scheduling exercise as a personal appointment can make a difference when we often don’t have the desire or energy to exercise on certain days. This aspect was commented on by the authors of the most recent study; When they talked to the participants after the study was completed, many people who received supervision training stated that this supervision made them responsible for the training program and this motivated them. They can participate even if they do not want to.

If you can’t pay personal trainerIt may help to plan training with a friend and view it as a social responsibility. In fact, in addition to auditing, the authors also recommend: personal trainerAnother possibility to promote hypertrophic benefits is to train with a friend, which can also provide positive effects.

According to one of the study’s authors and today’s top bodybuilding researcher, this can help someone monitor exercise technique, suggest corrections when appropriate, and motivate their colleague to push harder with each series; We know this is the case in Brazil. Make it up to the PE professional. A scientific tip: make exercise a social activity!

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Fábio Dominski He holds a PhD in Human Movement Sciences and a degree in Physical Education from Santa Catarina State University (UDESC). He is a university professor and researcher at the Laboratory of Sport and Exercise Psychology (LAPE/CEFID/UDESC). He is the author of the book Exercising Físico e Ciência – Fatos e Mitos and hosts the program Exercising Físico e Ciência on UDESC joinville radio (91.9 FM); in the program Available as a podcast on Spotify.