Getting a personal trainer from Anytime Fitness vs. Figuring out my workouts

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promise2

New member
Good day. Would like to kindly ask for opinion.

TLDR: Built with science (9k) vs personal trainer for 50 sessions; newbie gymgoer, for 8 - 9 months training session.

My long - term goal is to gain muscle, lose a lot of visceralfat. I am 29/M, current weight of 77.1 kg, height of 165 cm. No experience with going to gym (except the past 4 weeks of trying it out on my own), minimal experience with meal tracking. I am on the fence about getting a personal trainer, versus figuring things out on my own. I have a day job and am also planning for a personal event in 8 months' time. My main motivation for going to the gym is overall better health.

My main question is would it be practical to get a personal trainer? I like the idea that someone else will do the planning and program for me, until I can eventually learn the things on my own. The rate goes around 850 per session for 50 sessions (promo price). This is in Metro Manila. The offer includes the actual program per session, and meal planning and tracking for me.

My other option is to figure it out on my own. Was thinking of subscribing to the built with science program which only costs around 9,000 pesos I think, at the expense of doing everything on my own. I have a medical background, I can understand scientific literature alright, so taking the time to figure it out from youtube or some other programs will be also alright with me.

Any practical advice for a newbie gymgoer? I don't mind forking out the personal training fee, but at the same time I'd like to know if it'll be better in the long run to just figure it out. Again I have a day job (I work as a surgeon ongoing fellowship training), but have a little flexibility when it comes to choosing my hours. Thank you!
 
@promise2 Yes to getting a personal trainer. Mainly for someone to watch your form, give you advice on the muscles to target, guide you how to use the machines.

I’m M25 and this is what I actually did when I transitioned from my home gym to a proper gym.

I paid for a personal trainer who taught me how to use every single machine in our gym, watched my form like a hawk, made sure I feel the mind-muscle connection… Learned so much in the first two weeks of my transition to a gym. I care about time and productivity so I want to leave my gym, confident that I’ve hit the right muscles for that day.

Since I kinda already know the basics + i already have goals in my mind and a program already following, it’s mostly to orient me on the machines and the proper forms. For that alone made it all worth it! Plus I gained a gym bro friend who I can freely talk and consult to anytime. There are some guys in my gym awkwardly shuffling around, don’t know what to do etc.

I’m actually planning to buy another PT package from him 6 months from now when I want to change my program and do much more advanced exercises but we’ll see.

—

Btw There are soooo many free resources there that you can hit up, Jeff Nippard, Fraser Wilson, Athlean X, and Jeremy Ethier are the popular ones. Then there’s the subreddits which I love to visit once in a while /r/fitness, /r/bodybuilding, /r/Gregdoucette
 
@promise2 If you’re gonna get a training package from AF, I highly disagree going that route.

I’ve been going to 2 AF branches for the past 2 weeks and have been observing how coaches conduct their training sessions and I’m disgusted on how they treat their clients.
  1. Always on their phones while training clients.
  2. Not correcting form.
  3. Chatting with other members while training clients.
And the list goes on and on.

The personal training standard here on the Philippines in just pure garbage. Everyone can be called a “coach” nowadays. Invest your money wisely, into something wherein you can definitely get results.
 
@christian8668 Definitely worth it. There are other AF branches na hindi well maintained and may factor din ung mga tao na pumupunta sa particular AF branch (like for example mas madaming annoying rowdy teens sa isang branch pero sa ibang branch puro old titos)

Pero if we're just talking about facilities, sulit naman ang AF dahil it gives you flexibility to adjust yung workout time mo and adjust kung saan k magwworkout depende sa schedule and location mo.
 
@promise2 Nice! We have the same starting point :) I was at 78kg and 164cm. 28% body fat. I DID NOT get a personal trainer. Ang problem ay ang dami kong mistakes na nagawa. Even if you read and study or watch youtube vids, may mga concepts talaga na mamimiss interpret mo as a beginner. You always second guess yourself sa mga workout plan na ginagawa mo.

Example ng mistake ay significantly reducing my carb intake (no rice and bread). Pero madali ko naman na correct un.

Second mistake, dirty bulking during mg 4th-5th month. My weight went up to 80kg. Pero i got a really big tummy. People were telling me ako lang daw ung tumataba nakahit nag ggym. Hehe.

Madami pa akong mistakes na nagawa pero medyo mahaba na entry ko.

Im now at my 10th month. Im at 71kg, 23% body fat. I still dont know everything. Just know the very basics and still learning and making mistakes along the way.
 
@promise2 If you end up getting a coach, some will definitely be better than others. Talk with the manager and insist on getting the best trainer they have, with the option to change trainers after a few sessions.
 
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