Hmm, with the exception of the tiny mom and pop gyms just about every gym I've been to over the years has pushed an initial free personal trainer session with the hope you sign up for more.
Working out is, well, work. If you're out of shape it's not fun and if you don't have the motivation to get in shape it's not going to work. To be perfectly honest, I think that's what a good (read: effective) trainer does more than anything else - instill motivation. There's plenty of info on how to work out, and barring that, you can quickly observe how people use the equipment and their form. You can watch trainers instructing others. It's really not that hard. I started at 13 years old, years before the world wide web existed, and basically learned everything I needed from a subscription to a couple muscle mags. Aside from that, the only people I learned from initially were other friends my age that were also beginning to work out because we certainly didn't have the $$ for trainers. I went from 90 lbs. to 130 lbs. in that first year. Basically I was just really sick of of being 90 lbs. That's it.
I'd almost equate it with coding, expecting some hand holding will get you only so far. The internal motivation will have to be there sooner or later or it won't stick.
Nowadays I don't do it nearly as much, but I can't take more than 3 or so days off because I begin to feel like crap, and I'm addicted to not feeling like crap.
Working out is, well, work. If you're out of shape it's not fun and if you don't have the motivation to get in shape it's not going to work.
Amen. It has little to do with user experience. Even when I was in shape and going regularly, there were days it was hard to get myself there- you are constantly, slowly adding weight, so it is always hard.
Driving out of a deep squat is always the hardest part for me. I find it just requires so much more willpower than a press or the like.
Driving out of a deep squat is always the hardest part for me. I find it just requires so much more willpower than a press or the like.
It probably also requires recruiting more muscles at the same time and coordinating them all, and more effort to keep your balance (recruiting even more small muscles), which adds to the complexity of the exercise.
Working out is, well, work. If you're out of shape it's not fun and if you don't have the motivation to get in shape it's not going to work. To be perfectly honest, I think that's what a good (read: effective) trainer does more than anything else - instill motivation. There's plenty of info on how to work out, and barring that, you can quickly observe how people use the equipment and their form. You can watch trainers instructing others. It's really not that hard. I started at 13 years old, years before the world wide web existed, and basically learned everything I needed from a subscription to a couple muscle mags. Aside from that, the only people I learned from initially were other friends my age that were also beginning to work out because we certainly didn't have the $$ for trainers. I went from 90 lbs. to 130 lbs. in that first year. Basically I was just really sick of of being 90 lbs. That's it.
I'd almost equate it with coding, expecting some hand holding will get you only so far. The internal motivation will have to be there sooner or later or it won't stick.
Nowadays I don't do it nearly as much, but I can't take more than 3 or so days off because I begin to feel like crap, and I'm addicted to not feeling like crap.