Benefits of Personal Training on Health.

[MikeRing]

Hey guys, great Community here. I've been suffering from arthritis for the last 10 years. It's hard for me to sustain a job for a long. I've been looking to change up the line of work. And I was looking into personal training. Just wondering if any of you guys have experience working as a personal trainer or working with personal trainers while suffering from tinnitus. It would be great to hear from any of you. Thank you so much for all of the awesome threads. That has helped me a lot!

[Paxiled]

Not sure why tinnitus would have any effect at all on your exercise routine.  The arthritis would seem to be a more serious concern.  Maybe if you explain why having tinnitus concerns you would be helpful.  As for personal trainers, there is no way for anyone to give a generalized answer.  They don't really have a whole lot of training, it's very easy to become one, so the one you have is more important than the state of the "profession" generally.  They don't know a lot about anything physiological unless they went out and got additional training.  If you hang around in gyms, which I used to do, you watch them work and work with them eventually at least a little, and the truth is, a lot of what you see them showing folks can be very harmful to most people, so my own view of them isn't high.  On the other hand, some of them add a lot of extra study to that and so learn more that might be more pertinent to you personally.  The folks who spend a lot of time learning about physiology are physical therapists.  They also won't have anything to do with your health.  What they can show you if they're good is how to properly do the exercises they show you how to do, but that's not to say they usually do that.  It also depends on where you see them.  Some work independently with teams and athletes, but most just work at gyms.  The important thing if you do get one is, if they show you a routine that you think doesn't look like something your particular body would find helpful, don't just do it because they show it to you.  Again, they are not in the medical profession in any way, they are jocks who like exercise and showing others what they do.  But what they do might not in fact be healthy, though it might give you bigger muscles.  The main thing with arthritis is, movement is better than no movement.  But movement that causes pain will increase pain.  A lot of it will be you figuring out something you like to do that doesn't add to your problems.  Any steady exercise will be good for your health, but if your arthritis is severe, you might consider a physical therapist or occupational therapist to get you started in a way that won't hurt you.  Just a thought.  All depends on how much you hurt and how nimble you are and how young you are etc.  If you're just starting an exercise routine, start out slowly.  

[MikeRing]

Thank you for your response, about the tinnitus I'll go see a doctor.

What would you suggest I go for? a physical therapists or a personal trainers.

[Paxiled]

Don't know enough about you to say.  If your pain and limitations are your main problem, a physical therapist.  If you're doing well and you can do what you want to do without pain, either do whatever you want to do for exercise or if you really want to see a personal trainer.  Again, the only reason to see a personal trainer is if you don't know how to exercise or want to take up something like weight training and don't know how to do it properly or you're not highly motivated and would benefit from having someone pushing you to establish a routine.  

[MikeRing]

This has been really helpful, your insight on personal trainers is broad and they might not be what I need. About the tinnitus is the loud ringing in my ear that I was thinking might be associated with my condition. I do want to ask about certification. I read somewhere that there are certifications that are usually given to personal trainers. Is this something you can share insights on? Looking forward to hearing and learning more.

[Paxiled]

I'm not an expert on them.  Yes, they do require certification.  At a gym every personal trainer who works there will usually have a short bio on the wall somewhere.  If you get a private personal trainer, they will probably be better at tailoring routines to a particular individual.  The main reason to get one is if you don't exercise, have certain goals, such as toning certain parts of your body, and want to learn how to properly, say, do a curl.  You tell them what you're looking for and then they'll give you a bunch of exercises to do and watch you do them to make sure you're doing them the way they think is the proper way to do them.  They are also useful for people who aren't good at self-motivation, as if you keep your appointment you'll do the routine.  You haven't said what it is you're looking to do or what you have done in the past.  I mean, obviously, if you want to ride a bike or walk or run or do an elliptical machine, you don't need a personal trainer.  You only need them if you're looking for an exercise routine specific for your purposes and want to do things you don't know how to do and don't come naturally.  But again, if you're looking for someone to tell you what's best to do because of your medical condition, again, that's what physical therapists study, not personal trainers.  Doesn't mean they don't pick up some stuff along the way, but it only takes a short time to get the certificate and physiology takes a long time to learn.  I don't see how tinnitus would be related to arthritis.  It's usually something going on with the inner ear, such as Miniere's Disease or some damage up there and it's also often a psychological thing.  Arthritis is something you can see on an X-ray, but just because you have it doesn't mean it's responsible for pain you're feeling.