Is 1-on-1 Personal Training for You?

What’s your preferred form of exercise? While some swear by self directed activities like walking, running or swimming, others play racquet sports, golf, spin, practice yoga or Pilates, attend boot camp or do some combination of several of these activities.

Still others opt for 1-on-1 sessions with personal trainers, customized for their abilities and tailored to avoid injury and strengthen areas that need work.

One popular venue for one-on-one training is Total Form Fitness, just over the bridge in Hartsdale. They have been working with adults and teens since 2007 and have a loyal following among those who have found that they get results from individualized programs.

I met with personal trainer John Marsh at Total Form Fitness, who put me through the paces and answered some questions about Total Form Fitness’ carefully designed routine.

Here is what we learned:

What is the difference between one-on-one training at Total Form Fitness and group exercise classes like Spin or Pilates?

The major differences you will find between group classes and training 1-on-1 is the client to trainer ratio and how the workout is focused on a group or the individual. Personal Training, here at Total Form Fitness, is catered towards our clients. We put together a unique workout routine for each client’s specific needs. We make sure all of our clients have perfect form for each exercise in order to prevent injuries, increase strength, and improve current fitness level.

Group classes are focused certain style workout that a group of people, ranging in experience and fitness level, take for exercise. The classes tend to be fast, interval, circuit style training, or something specific like yoga, Pilates, or spinning. It is more difficult in that setting to get same level of individual attention you will receive training 1-on-1.

Why do clients choose 1-on-1 training?

There are so many reasons why a Personal Trainer is essential to achieving your fitness goals, whether they be weight loss based, or sports driving for athletic purposes. Here, we’ve put together the most critical reason why you should have a Personal Trainer, as well as the benefits that you are likely to achieve.

How Trainers Help
-Most important, it’s educational.
-Perfect exercise form.
-Program workouts to maximize the training towards your specific goals.
-Work with your unique requirements.
-Set realistic goals
-Hold you accountable.
-Motivate you.

How is the work out customized to each client?

To customize a workout for client we must first to get know the client and for this reason the first session is free. That allows a client to try us and see if this is the place for them and for us to assess their current fitness level and their goals.

1-on-1 training allows the trainer to look at each aspect of a client’s fitness … things like coordination, balance, strength, endurance, conditioning, flexibility, range of motion, and posture are important to everyone regardless of fitness level. At Total Form Fitness, many of our trainers played different sports at collegiate, national, and international levels so we also focus on athletic style training with speed, agility, acceleration, and sport specific exercise and drills. We help clients with functional movements and exercises, weight loss, and preventive exercise so that they are less likely to get injured during any of their daily activities, or sport activities. If a client is in rehab for an injury, we work with their doctors to help with the recovery and help them get back to their normal activities as soon as possible with post-rehab style training.

What are some of the exercises and routines that are frequently incorporated into the workouts?

Think of your body like a house, if built on a poor foundation, no mater how nice, it will eventually fall. We focus on your foundation ... posture, muscle imbalances, stability, muscle endurance and coordination.

With the right exercise selection to improve posture you will create a great foundation of stability, which will allow you to exercise and go about your daily life pain free.

Connected to your hips is your spine and spinal cord with many nerves that stem out and play a vital role in hip stability and posture. Your core is used to transfer movement from lower to upper body and to stabilize you and allow the lower and upper body to move. Posture is also affected by the spine.

Exercises like the ones below work on stabilizing the shoulder by focusing on the scapula. These improve upper back posture and protect the shoulder, a prime mover, assistor, and/or stabilizer in pretty much every upper body exercise.

Scapula exercises for stability/posture
-Reverse flyes
-T’ Y’ I’s
-Rows
-External Rotation
-Straight Arm Pull Downs
-Push Ups with Protraction

The following exercises work on stabilizing the hips which connect many muscles. Hip imbalance leads to injuries or pain. To improve hip stability we recommend the following:

Leg exercises for the hips
-Leg Raises
-Side Leg Raises
-Dead Bugs
-Single Leg RDL’s
-Bridges
-Band Walks

Spine/Core Stability Exercises for the Hips
-Bird Dogs
-Superman’s
-Russian Twist
-Hyperextensions
-Planks
-Side Planks
-Crunch and Sit Up variations

Multi-Joint Exercises for Overall Hip/Core Stability
-Dead Lift variations
-Squats variations
-Step Up variations
-Lunge variations

What can the workouts help clients to achieve?

Increases
-Health and Wellness
-Flexibility and Range of Motion
-Strength, Endurance, and Conditioning
-Speed, Agility, and Acceleration
-Coordination and Balance
-Sports Performance
-Bone Density

Decreases
-Stress
-Lower Back Pain (#1 reason why most people miss work)
-Major Joint Pain (neck, shoulders, elbows, wrist, hips, knees, ankles, and spine)
-Risks of Heart Attack and Stroke
-Prevents and/or Helps Diabetes
-Hypertension

How often do your clients usually come to Total Form Fitness?

Depends on clients needs and goals, this may range from 1-3 times per week.

Are there classes for high school athletes and teens?

Though we do not run classes, we do offer group training for 2 or 3 clients at a time.

What is the price range for the sessions?

We have no membership and initiation fee and the packages we offer range from $73-$115.

The first session is free. Give Total Form Fitness a try and see if 1-to-1 training is for you.

Total Form Fitness
250 East Hartsdale Avenue
Hartsdale, NY 10530
914-874-5451
totalformfitness.com