For those of us who need a good kick up the butt to get motivated to exercise, you can consider getting a personal trainer in Hong Kong. Getting in shape or maintaining your well-earned fitness levels can be tough when you’ve got happy hours and delicious imported cheese to tempt you. All. The. Time.
There’s nothing wrong with a bit of indulgence, but it’s a common complaint from people living in Hong Kong that it’s a struggle to maintain a healthy lifestyle in this vibrant city.
Whether you’re au fait with the local gym scene or aren’t sure where the closest parks are, hiring a personal trainer has many benefits.
To give you the inspiration you need to hire a personal training in Hong Kong, we’ll be looking at:
- What a personal trainer can do for you
- How a personal trainer in Hong Kong can help you
- Why a personal trainer is a great idea
Then we’ll answer some common questions people have about bringing a personal trainer into their life.
What is personal training?
A personal trainer is there to help you plan your exercise and fitness regime to help you get the level and type of fitness you want.
Generally, you’ll bring a person into your life once a week or a few times a week; they’ll motivate you and hold you accountable for your training. If you’ve ever struggled to get yourself into a positive exercise regime, you’ll recognize how useful this can be!
In a similar way that booking an exercise class ahead of time forces you to commit to the session, having a personal trainer waiting for you means you’ll be less likely to cancel your workout.
There are a few different ways that a personal trainer works, and you can choose one that fits your style:
- At-home personal trainer – your trainer can come to your home and use the gym and fitness gear you’ve already got and plan your exercise around it
- In-gym personal trainer – most, if not all gyms offer personal trainers on-site who will work one-on-one with you using the machines and other kit in the gym
- Online personal traIner – rather than having your trainer by your side, you can hire someone to be on the other end of the Zoom call to support your exercise
- Boot camp personal trainer – rather than a long-term relationship, this type of personal trainer will work with you for a fixed period to get you to a point you’re looking for
It’s also possible to have group sessions with a personal trainer in any of these settings. You can choose to buddy up with a friend and split the cost of a personal trainer – a super Savvy option – or join small groups of 3-4 people that the trainer puts together.
That’s what you can expect from a personal trainer, but why do you need one?
Benefits of personal training
A personal trainer might feel like an extravagance, especially if you already pay for gym or club memberships.
However, it’s a positive investment in your physical well-being, with the following great benefits to consider when making the decision to hire a personal trainer in Hong Kong.
1. A personal trainer will help you achieve your goals
Usually, before you even get into your first training session, your personal trainer will ask what your goals are.
You might want to start exercising or change gear from your regular routine for a range of reasons, such as:
- Endurance
- Fat loss
- Building muscle
- Preparing for a challenge
Or just to get fitter overall.
Having a qualified professional listen to what you want will ensure that you do the right balance of exercises to achieve your personal goals.
What’s more, they will keep you on track with following your gains. It can be scary to start measuring your centimeters lost or gained so having someone to track progress with you and praise your achievements is a great motivator.
2. A PT will design a well-balanced bespoke workout plan
Have you ever tried to start a whole-body workout regime? It’s tough to even know where to start!
There are hundreds of plans and systems out there that promise to help you hit your fitness targets. What you find online will be generic – targeted to meet the needs of as many people as possible.
If you’ve got a jankey knee or an old shoulder injury, you might not be able to do everything you find in an online or off-the-shelf plan.
A personal trainer will be able to listen to any issues with your body and health and figure out a workout plan that’s personalized to your needs. Exercises can be cut out, areas can be focused on – whatever your personal needs, your trainer will be able to work with them.
They will also make sure that you hit all the right muscle groups. There’s no skipping leg day when you’ve got a personal trainer! Your health and fitness is their business so they will make sure you do everything at a pace you can handle.
3. Help you exercise efficiently
It’s not uncommon to hit a wall when you start a new exercise plan.
First, you start to move towards your goals and the body and lifestyle you want is in reach. Then, the plateau happens and you don’t feel like anything is changing anymore.
There are lots of reasons why this happens, such as your body becoming used to a level of activity. You can end up doing hours in the gym or on the yoga mat and not be getting anywhere.
Having a personal trainer means there will always be fresh ideas for how to use your limited exercise time. They can ensure that you’re allocating your time between cardio, weights, and stretching to get you the type of results you’re looking for.
When you feel like your body isn’t adapting the way you want it, your trainer can help find ways to optimize everything you’re doing in your workouts to move in the direction you’re looking for.
4. You will learn how to exercise safely
Whilst aches and pains post-workout are to be expected, they can be minimized with the right activities, like a proper warm-up and cool down.
On your own, you might not be able to get the timing right to make sure you reduce the chances of pulling a muscle.
What’s more, if you’re working out in a gym, you need to have a buddy. Lifting weights safely requires you to have someone spotting you – a person who can help if a weight gets too heavy or remind you to keep your back straight as you squat.
Even if you only take on a personal trainer for a short time, like for a boot camp or to prepare you for a marathon, you will learn more about the concepts of exercising safely.
Preventing injury should be a massive focus, and these things can be personal to you. Things like having the right knee or lumbar support aren’t things you can easily learn from the internet, but a pro will know what to recommend for your needs.
5. A great personal trainer will inspire you and give you fresh ideas
Your Hong Kong personal trainer will work with lots of clients and will have spent years learning their trade.
These two factors mean that they will have a huge catalog of training ideas to keep you engaged. Having someone bring fresh ideas every session is a lot easier than cruising through YouTube channels trying to find a HIIT workout with a little something different.
This also feeds back into keeping you moving towards your goals. Giving your body fresh challenges and new ways to work on a muscle group should see your progress be steady.
Even once you reach your goals, you probably want to keep your personal trainer around. Having that inspiration of a new set of tasks every week or month can really keep you working towards maintaining your weight or fitness.
6. Improve your time management
“I’ll go to the gym tomorrow.”
“I’ll just do 20 minutes today.”
“I’ve been jogging for at least 10 minutes by now.”
Sound familiar? Whether it’s finding the time to get to the gym at all, having the discipline to stick to a full session, or just keeping track of how you split your workout time, being on your own is tough.
Your personal trainer in Hong Kong can manage all of these things for you.
Having an appointment set is going to give you that extra boost to not cancel your workout.
Knowing you’re paying for an hour should keep you moving for the full hour with your trainer.
It’s also your trainer’s job to time how long you do an exercise or routine for, so you can always be sure you’re splitting your time in the way you need to.
Whatever your time management challenge in the gym or at the park, your trainer can help you resolve it. It’s part of their role to be a motivator and accountability buddy, after all.
7. Hold you to account
Along with keeping you on schedule, your personal trainer can hold you to account in other ways.
Your personal trainer will likely be involved in more than just your training session – they’ll probably have a nutrition plan for you and encourage you to maintain your wellness.
These are things that can be difficult to maintain on our own; we all know how difficult it can be to find the time for self-care, for example.
Having a person check in on you, ask you about what you ate for lunch, whether you got a good sleep, if you went to your pilates class, makes it much more likely you’ll do these things. Even if you can’t manage it all the time, you’re more likely to succeed when someone is asking you about it.
That’s not to say that you’re going to get a telling off every time you get dessert at your favorite restaurant in Sheung Wan. However, just knowing that someone is rooting for you to make better choices and get to the gym can be a big mental boost.
8. Manage and combat boredom
What type of crazy person enjoys counting reps?
Ok, some might but it ain’t us, for sure!
Getting fit and maintaining your health can start to feel monotonous after a few months. Having the same gym session three times a week, doing the same activities, seeing the same faces can start to get boring.
However, your personal trainer can help you work through that.
It might be that they bring you a new workout playlist every week or give you an incentive to see the week through. Your trainer might incentivize you in a range of ways so that your workout isn’t boring anymore.
Just like when we talked about how they can help you mix up your activities, they can keep you entertained in other ways. Lots of people find that they build a friendship within the professional relationship that makes the training sessions more interesting and enjoyable.
9. Plan your nutrition
Getting fit wouldn’t be so hard if it was only about exercise or only eating properly.
Sadly, as any expert will tell you, you need to have a good fitness routine combined with a healthy diet to really achieve your goals.
Your personal trainer in Hong Kong should be trained in nutrition and be able to create a healthy meal plan for you.
Rather than taking generic advice off the internet, your local personal trainer will know exactly what foods are available and how to order healthy at your favorite dim sum place, for example.
They will be able to help you get the right balance of carbs and protein to achieve your goals, and even advise on whether you should be using protein powders.
You’ll also have someone to pick their brains about what is and isn’t good for you. Check with the trainer you hire, but you should be able to make reasonable contact outside of your workouts to check out whether certain foods or drinks are going to help or hinder you.
FAQs about hiring a personal trainer in Hong Kong
To hire a personal trainer in Hong Kong might feel like a big step, but if you can hire a helper and a virtual assistant, a personal trainer shouldn’t cause a mental block!
It can feel like a big step, though. Your fitness reaches into lots of parts of your life that you may struggle with, like your diet and other habits that you’re not proud of.
There’s definite value in having a personal trainer, especially for life in Hong Kong. From our experience, we’re going to answer some of the most common questions that come up about personal trainers.
Is paying for a personal trainer worth it?
A personal trainer can be of great value when you need extra motivation to get to the gym or if you have a specific goal in mind, like fat loss or to complete a marathon.
If you’re one of those lucky people who are able to stay completely driven and motivated no matter the workout challenge, a personal trainer may not bring a lot of advantages.
However, if you’re constantly trying to talk yourself into picking up the gym bag, or starting a new regime and dropping it after a couple of months, a trainer will be well worth it.
You should always do your best to look after your health – it can be much more costly to your wallet and your mind if you get sick from not exercising and eating right. See a personal trainer as an investment in your future health.
How important is a personal trainer?
A personal trainer can be an important and valuable part of your workout.
There are huge benefits to having a personal trainer on hand to help with motivation, accountability, nutrition, and keeping your workout fresh.
You get access to their expertise and years of experience which can be really valuable when you want to build a fresh routine.
There will be people who don’t see the value of a personal trainer, whilst others will credit their personal trainer as being the reason they were able to reach their goals.
How much is a personal trainer in Hong Kong?
The price of a personal trainer in Hong Kong will depend on the type of trainer you want to work with.
A personal trainer through a gym in Hong Kong is likely to be somewhere around $600-$1,000 per hour, on top of your membership fee. If that feels steep, it’s worth seeing if a friend wants to split the cost with you – they might charge extra for two people in a session, but it’s unlikely to be double.
For a Hong Kong-based online personal trainer, you’re looking at spending roughly $500-$600 per hour.
Is a 30-minute personal training session enough?
It can be, depending on your goals and what you need a personal trainer for.
It can be better for your health and fitness doing two 30-minute sessions in a week rather than one, hour-long workout.
Further, if you’re on a budget but still want access to their knowledge and ideas, you can hire a personal trainer for a 30-minute session and carry their plan over an hour session.
You may also value your own space and time with your thoughts when at the gym. Having a 30-minute session will get you all the benefits of a personal trainer whilst also allowing you time with your own thoughts as you exercise.
Can I get in shape in 3 months?
After three months of steady, regular exercise, you should see noticeable results in how your body feels and looks.
How dramatic those changes will depend on where you started from and how strict you are with your routine.
Your first session with your new personal trainer in Hong Kong should be all about your goals and what you want to get out of your training.
If you’ve got a special event in three months, like a wedding or a holiday you want to be in shape for, explain this to your trainer and they’ll work through a realistic set of goals and plan for you to get there.
How long should I stay with a personal trainer?
A good personal trainer could be with you for years! It’s about what you’re looking to achieve. Some people take on a personal trainer as a way to build habits and learn what they need to do. Others hire a personal trainer in Hong Kong to keep them motivated and working for their entire time in the city.
Hire a personal trainer for as long as you feel you need one. Don’t stop exercising, even if you stop using your personal trainer, though. It’s always important to have exercise as part of your healthy lifestyle!
Finally
Taking on a personal trainer in Hong Kong can really help you change your life around.
A personal trainer in Hong Kong can be a great way to actually get you into the gym and away from the Italian grocery or avoiding the cocktails – at least a couple of evenings a week.
Whatever your fitness goals, a personal trainer can add value to your life and your fitness routine and is definitely a Savvy move!
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