What Makes a Good Trainer?

When you first think of personal training what is the image that comes to mind? Is it the loud trainer who is highly motivational and intense or is it the more reserved but technically brilliant tactician? See a great trainer is a combination of both. To be great in this business one has to combine a thorough understanding of anatomy and physiology, exercise science, and psychology. They also have to have excellent communication and people skills. A quick google search for “what is the definition of a personal trainer” will yield a variety of hits. The one that resonates the most with me would have to be from Prospects a UK based website, “A personal trainer creates one-on-one or group based fitness programs for their clients, motivating and guiding them to achieve their goals”.  A personal trainer is like a shepherd guiding a flock of sheep. They help to work with the client or clients and help guide lifestyle and fitness changes to best help accomplish the said goal. 

Why is Personal Training Important?

The importance of a personal trainer and proper fitness guidance can be summed up by this statistic from the Center for Disease Control(CDC) only 23.2% of people meet the weekly exercise guidelines for optimal health for both aerobic and resistance training. One of the most common reasons people do not begin exercise is they do not know where to start. Another common reason is that they have had bad experiences here in the past. Research has also indicated that there is a progressive decline in physical activity levels as students transition from high school to college life (CALESTINE et al., 2017). This is in spite of the fact that increased levels of exercise and physical activity have been shown to lead to decreased levels of anxiety, depression, and improved academic performance(CALESTINE et al., 2017). Additional health benefits including a decreased risk of heart disease, stroke, type-2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and a lower all-cause mortality rate (CALESTINE et al., 2017). With all of these benefits, it should become blatantly clear that a commitment to fitness can help across so many areas of one’s life.

What does URI have to offer?

At URI Campus Rec we offer a number of different packages to help with this. We have a team of personal trainers each of who has their own specialties. Speaking for myself, I live by my ethos that every person is an athlete and will be trained as such. The only difference will be the exercise selection and intensity based on population demands. I also love working with physique athletes, Olympic weightlifters, and showing females that lifting weights does not make one “bulky” and changes one’s approach positively.  We offer free virtual consultations where we go through your goals and current program and or help guide you on how to make better progress. We also offer 1-1 packages with a range of session options to best fit your goals. Each session will last 45 minutes and is tailored toward your own unique fitness goals. Should you prefer to work with friends we will also be offering small group training where groups can receive personalized fitness instruction.

At URI Campus Rec, we believe in being active, being well, and belonging.

Through fitness programming, you can see each of these beliefs coming through in some of our other initiatives including nutrition, well-being, and soon-to-be group training through F45. Nutrition guidance is offered through our campus dietician Kelli Kidd, who can be found on Instagram @kellikidduri or at URI Nutrition Counselling.

Well-being Coaching is a service offered to students to help with behavior change and decisional balance as well as stress mitigation. We have two coaches who are trained to help guide students to reach their personal mental, physical, or emotional goals! Interested – sign up here! You can also listen to the coaches talk on their podcast Holistic University.

Lastly, coming soon to URI Campus Rec is F45, a group fitness class focused on functional training led by URI certified personal trainers. Our goal through these programs is to build healthy, happy, successful students at URI! We hope you will join us through our personal training or other fitness programming and trust us to be your guides on your fitness journey!

 

Works Cited

CALESTINE, J., BOPP, M., BOPP, C. M., & PAPALIA, Z. (2017). College Student Work Habits are Related to Physical Activity and Fitness. International Journal of Exercise Science, 10(7), 1009–1017.

 

Hi! I’m Nick, a first-year student in the Masters of Kinesiology program at URI. I am a certified strength and conditioning coach through the NSCA, and a certified personal trainer through the American College of Sports Medicine.

I believe everyone is an athlete. My training philosophy utilizes a variety of methods focusing to help improve your health, performance, appearance, and overall athleticism. In my free time outside of school and work, I enjoy lifting weights, training for weightlifting competitions, playing golf, relaxing, and reading on the beach. If you are interested in personal training at URI, I would be happy to serve as a guide and work together to reach your goals! Fun fact about me, I hold a level 1 certification in Olympic weightlifting!