Do you lose weight with a personal trainer? One would hope, right–after all, isn’t that why you’re shelling out high-dollars? Well, hiring a personal trainer is only half the story, and whether you lose weight with a personal trainer depends on a variety of factors.
I’m a certified personal trainer and the owner of a virtual fitness company, so the topic of this post may be a little surprising to you.
Do I believe that personal trainers a waste of money? Have I become disgruntled at the industry and am taking my vengeance public? Not at all.
But what I do want to do is set the context for what personal trainers do, what they don’t, and what you need to know about fat and weight-loss that may require a more comprehensive approach than simply hiring a trainer.
After all, if you’re a busy entrepreneur, these two things are probably true:
1.) You’ve likely let some healthy habits slip in the name of hustling on your biz.
2.) You can’t afford to spend time on anything that’s not efficient or effective.
At first blush, the question of what a personal trainer does may seem simple–they help people lose weight. Well, almost. To be precise, personal trainers–whether live trainers or virtual fitness trainers like me–help people exercise. Which–hello–is a hugely integral part of losing weight.
But often clients can tend to treat personal trainers like doctors, trusting the trainer to be solely responsible for their waist size, their rate of progression, and even their aches and pains.
And while trainers, because of their understanding of the human body and interest in all things going on inside it, may indeed be a wealth of health information. But strictly speaking, unless they have additional certifications or degrees in other modalities such as nutrition or physical therapy, their pure authority is in teaching people how to exercise safely and effectively. (And, of course, providing accountability to help clients stay the course.)
Why do I make this point? Well, certainly you shouldn’t go to your personal trainer for a diagnosis of what’s wrong with your trick knee, though they may be able to help once you have a diagnosis from your doc.
But what you may not realize, is that body composition (the technical term for your levels and ratios of fat and muscle) is comprised from a whole array of medical processes and underlying causes. Lack of adequate exercise can certainly be a cause for being overweight–it is impossible to have optimal levels of muscle and fat without being physically active. However, it simply is not the only contributor, and other factors may need to be corrected before you can finally get that body you wish you had.
Here is a list of potential metabolic contributors that may be impacting your ability to lose weight:
- Imbalanced diet (okay, your trainer may be able to help with this in general, but unless they are also a registered dietician, they can’t customize a diet around any deficiencies or sensitivities)
- Food allergies and sensitivities
- Chronic stress (part and parcel of being a business owner!)
- Insulin resistance
- Low thyroid levels
- Hormone imbalances
- Insomnia
- Fatty liver
- Chemical toxicity/oxidative stress
- Chronic inflammation
This list is not comprehensive, and many of these factors can and may be present at the same time– engaging with one another in a cycle that sabotages your weight-loss efforts.
The point is that the medical processes of metabolism are highly complex, and often beyond the scope of a personal trainer, whose specialty is exercise alone. Now, a good trainer will know enough to tell you that the items above do have an impact on your metabolic rate (and, consequently, how easily you lose weight).
A really good trainer can speak in generalities about the bare minimum things we can all do to optimize our hormones and increase metabolism–for example, finding ways to reduce stress or avoiding as many toxic chemicals as possible–but it’s your responsibility to take it from there and find a practitioner who can look at your case specifically and provide a treatment plan.
But don’t fire your personal trainer. (Unless, of course, you don’t like him or her, or they have you doing exercises that feel unsafe.) While you may take some comfort in the fact that it’s “not your fault” you haven’t lose weight–it’s not me, it’s my hormones–there is no pill, herb, or treatment that is going to eliminate your need to exercise. Exercise is a necessary but not sufficient condition to weight loss.
And, of course, weight loss is not the only benefit of exercise. Even if you have been exercising for months and haven’t lost a pound, you’ve still scored a healthier bod. You’re improving your heart health, circulation, muscle mass, joint health, mobility, mental outlook, confidence, and even your work productivity (hello, overworked entrepreneurs!)
So…bottom line…you gotta exercise. But ultimately, your body and your weight-loss efforts are your responsibility, not your personal trainer’s. Talk to your doctor if you suspect you may have underlying metabolic causes that are preventing you from losing weight.
You may also benefit from meeting with a registered dietician or a naturopath to consider whether food allergies or sensitivities are at play.
If you want to dive deeper into these issues, I recommend Mark Hyman, M.D.’s book UltraMetabolism. He also provides a database of practitioners versed in the science of functional medicine .
But remember, too, that weight loss–even the garden variety kind that’s due to inactivity and overeating–takes time. A weight-loss rate of 1 to 2 pounds a week is a normal, healthy rate. So you may just need to tighten up your plan and stay the course.
Multitask your workout with my free Yoga + Cardio Circuit workout video, which includes major metabolism-boosting strength training with HITT-style cardio–all while giving your brain a break too!
