I would appreciate some advice on selecting a personal trainer.

I have had two.

One Pre- surgery worked me very hard - pushed me - and with the result that 24-36 hours after most sessions I was so stiff I could hardly move. The hour was frankly torture that I got through.

Post -surgery I have had 12 sessions with a different personal trainer . This individual always gives me the two

kilo weights for the first rep and I need to encourage her to give me more weight. I have never had a single ache

after a session. I am not a natural fitness bunny so I can't honestly say that I enjoyed the exercise more with

this personal trainer.

Both trainers emphasised warming up and stretching so my aches and pains are not a result of that.

I read somewhere that the old adage of "no gain without pain" had been de-bunked so my question is - which

approach is better?

I am 6 months post surgery so no restrictions on what I can do.

Thank you for your input.

I would say somewhere in the middle. With trainer # 1 you felt like it was a torture. Not something one can continue for long. I have had a trainer like that in the past and ended up leaving halfway through the pre-paid sessions.

Trainer 2 seems to be overly cautious but if you enjoy working with her then talk to her and tell her that you want to be pushed a little harder. You may just find a happy medium. Write diwn what weight you use in a session and ask her if you can go higher in thenext session.

In my experience, the hard core trainers like the first one dont like toning things down. Hope this helps.

Remember they are working for you.

1) It takes several weeks for the muscle soreness to go away, that is if your working out 3 days a week.

2) Numbers dont mean that much. In other words, reps and amount of weight or resistance used are not important. The objective is to make the muscle run out of gas and keep your heart rate up. My trainer can kick my butt with very little weight.

3) An hour sounds excessive. Its suprising how much you can get out of 30 to 45 minutes. I shoot for 45 minutes but it takes a few weeks at 3 sessions a week to build up to it.

4) It shouldnt hurt. Sure your muscles will burn when they run out of oxygen and fuel, but there should be no joint or torn muscle kind of pain during the workout. Muscle stiffness after a work out is different. See #1.

5) Check the trainer credentials. Many have very little training and some have full 4 years degrees. My current trainer has a degree. She knows the biology involved and will not hurt you. This means a knowledge of muscle,one structure,joint and connective tissues plus nutrition. She specializes in helping people that are losing mass weight. Its suprising how much your core is effected by weight loss.

Thanks very much for the input.

@Lizbeth3124 I'm not sure about sleevers (I had band over bypass) but I KEPT sipping water all day. In fact, I STILL sip all day. Also, I'm not sure about you but I had to teach myself to be hungry. My brain knew the difference but my heart, emotions, body, and addiction to food didn't. That made adjusting to not putting food in my mouth, chewing it, and swallowing it a overwhelming challenge. To know is to know better.