Impact of Trainer Guidance on Health & Fitness Goals
I came across a fascinating brand new randomized control trial (those are high value studies) comparing the impact of exercising under the guidance of a personal trainer vs exercising with a buddy vs working out individually.
For this 2024 study, there were 66 participants in total, all male ages between 21 to 40 years. The study lasted 12 weeks.
The 66 men were split into three groups:
workout alone group
workout with a buddy group
workout with a personal trainer group
RECAP OF RESULTS:
The group that worked out on their own definitely got stronger, but they didn’t have any change in body composition, meaning they didn’t gain muscle or lose body fat.
The group that worked out with a buddy became stronger and they did gain more lean muscle but they didn’t lose any body fat. This group had the highest rate of injuries.
The group that worked out under the guidance of a personal trainer became the strongest, gained the most lean muscle, and lost a significant amount of body fat. Plus, they had the lowest rate of injuries.
REASONS:
One major contributor to increasing strength and lean muscle is intensity. Working under the supervision of a trainer pushes participants to work harder. Looking at the data, the group working out with the trainer used 9% heavier resistance than the individual training group, thus increasing much needed intensity.
Aerobic exercise plus a reasonable nutrition plan are keys to success for fat loss. The personal training group did better because the participants’ eating habits and aerobic activities were under the trainer’s guidance. This is exactly why I am so passionate about leading physical activity challenges twice a year to motivate my awesome clients to strengthen their hearts and lungs as well as get an amazing mood boast from reaching their weekly targets of cardiovascular activity. If reducing body fat is a goal, getting enough aerobic exercise weekly will also contribute to improved body composition (important to also have a solid and evidenced-based nutritional plan).
Another cool finding with this study was concerning injuries. Injuries were significantly lower with the personal training group compared with the individual and buddy groups. The workout buddy groups had the highest rate of injury, followed closely by the individual training group. The personal training group had 50% less injuries reported, which is huge! The skilled expertise of the trainer guiding the participants to proper form was definitely an important factor to consider.
Here at the studio, we only have five clients per class so each and every client is guided by a fully certified instructor to ensure safe form and perform exercises to complete effectiveness.
Resources:
Lu, Y., Leng, X., Yuan, H., Jin, C., Wang, Q., & Song, Z. (2024). Comparing the impact of personal trainer guidance to exercising with others: Determining the optimal approach. Heliyon, 10(2), e24625. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e24625
