Hi everyone,

I am a newbie to the forum, but I thought I would get your thoughts about personal trainers and gyms. I have just started to exercise. I have a treadmill at home and weight machine. My surgery was almost a year ago, and the exercise part of getting healthy has been slow to contemplate for me :-).

So, my question is do you prefer to exercise at home or at a gym? Do you have a personal trainer? If you do have a personal trainer what are the benefits you have seen?

Thanks for your input.

I love to do my cardio at home (outdoors). But I also love going to the gym. If you haven't been in a long time, I'd suggest a trainer just to show you good form. It'll def be a confidence booster, which will help you keep going.

Like you @@kathousefl, I waited for awhile after surgery to start the gym. I never cared for the gym or exercising in general. A good friend of mine turned me on to a weight based group fitness class and it has sparked something in me. I started going and gaining friendships with others that attended the class. After going enough I started seeing gains that actually made a visible difference in my body. That helped motivate me to take a true responsibility for my fitness.

You just have to find what works for you.

Thank you Mrs. RRN for the response :-). It is way too hot by me to do cardio outside, but I do know that is probably more interesting than a treadmill.

Hi JonathanS. Thank you for that suggestion.

I live in a 3rd floor two bedroom condo. I really don't have much room to work out. I have to move all the living room furniture and shoo my husband and cat out of the room. I also don't want to be that neighbor who disturbs the family below us. So I go to LA Fitness. I'm not a fan of nature, so I wouldn't work out outdoors. So the gym it is.

Prior to my surgery when I was just about at my highest weight I joined a gym with my husband I an contracted with a personal trainer.

I want to let you know that having that trainer really helped me with learning what my body could do and how to do it without hurting myself. I was not one to shy away because of my weight, as I was very excited to have someone who was looking out for ME at the gym.

Now during this time, I ended up having to stop going to the gym and seeing the trainer as I was sick and needed to have surgery that took some time to recover from.

Currently I am back at the gym. I use LA fitness, along with the gym I have at work. I go to an aqua fit class 3 times a week. I am able to move and jump and do cardio in the pool with minimal affect to my joints.

I am looking into contracting another trainer at the gym for a more tailored work out. If you can afford to having someone who knows you and your weight and your restrictions, they are able create a program that is designed just for you and tailored to your body and your needs for weight loss or muscle growth etc.

I was never a big gym lover in the past and used to think I would not fit in...but I have to say I have found them to be very comfortable places to be even being unfit and overweight there are people out there who want to champion your fitness.

I go to the gym 4 x a week and do the stationary bicycle.

To challenge myself I keep upping the level that I work at. Today I did level 4 for 40 minutes and did 8.50 miles. I will do that level for a couple of weeks and then go up a level.

I also was thinking of getting a personal trainer to show me what else I could do with my physical ailments.

So I'm all for going to a gym to work out.

I find that I need structure and/or accountability. I have a personal trainer that I workout with as well as attend group exercise classes. My trainer comes to my house. When left to my own devices, I either flake out on regular exercise or don't work out with enough intensity.

Either way, and I am my own trainer.

Thank you so much for your input everyone. I appreciate everyone's responses.

I love working with a personal trainer, but darn they're expensive! I had free appt with one today, and then we looked at what it would cost for me to work out with him regularly and about died--$74/session if I buy 5 sessions all at a time! Yikes.

Edited June 19, 201412 yr by katesuccess

I love working with a personal trainer, but darn they're expensive! I had FreeCell with one today, and then we looked at what it would cost for me to work out with him regularly and about died--$74/session is 5 x 5 at a time! Yikes.

Wow that is really expensive. I have not decided what to do yet. I am working on my own at home right now.

I love working with a personal trainer, but darn they're expensive! I had FreeCell with one today, and then we looked at what it would cost for me to work out with him regularly and about died--$74/session is 5 x 5 at a time! Yikes.

I pay nowhere near that. My trainer comes to my house 3 days a week, I found her via Craigslist and she is certified. Shop around. Gym trainers are usually the most expensive b/c they have to give a cut to the gym.

The benefits to a personal trainer for me (other than the obvious) is that it's a way to have some accountability. I don't want to pay all that money only to cancel or not use him. So, it's a motivator to get to the gym knowing he's waiting for me.

My trainer is 60 an hour if you buy an 8 hour package. It's not cheap but I look at it as an investment in my health. And when I see the results after just 8 sessions it is so worth it!