The abundance may confuse anyone: what is the difference between the individual training, group sessions and the personal training? Which one is recommended and when? What are the advantages and disadvantages which are good to know? You find all the answers to your questions in this article.
Let’s invert the logic: the first step should be to set the goal
Before ticking any of the options, first answer the question that what is your real goal with your fitness activities? Do you want to lose 15 kg? Would you neutralize the effect of office work and sedentary work? Do you wish to have a more attractive look, this is why muscle building came into view?
Depending on:
- what is your motivation,
- how much do you know about the world of sports and gym,
- how much do you know your own physical capabilities and possibilities…
… different and different forms of movements will be useful to you.
What we recommend to beginners and those coming with specific goal: the personal training
Either weight loss or muscle building or rehabilitation is your goal, to achieve it you’ll need personally tailored support, the maintenance of your motivation and that you do not see movement as a burden but as an entertaining activity.
For the personal trainer to be able to make the most out of you, the appropriate training program for your body is to be compiled, to adjust it gradually to your level of development. To do this, however, we have to know the fundamentals, what we are working with. With your health condition and earlier injuries.
But this is still not enough, so we use a functional movement pattern screening to analyse your movements, posture, the existing risks, and using the Tanita body analysis we will have sufficient information on your body fat percentage, muscle mass, water balance, daily calorie requirement and your basal metabolism.
You cannot request this complete assessment either during the individual training or the group sessions. But this would be the point because the personal trainer develops the personally tailored training plan according to these information, but also gives advice for nutrition, motivates to continue. Most lifestyle changing, muscle building or weight loss fails just for the reason that there is no one maintaining your motivation.
In addition, it is a huge help as a beginner that you’ll have a support who shows how to use the machines correctly, how to complete the tasks correctly, warns you not to overstrain yourself. It is true, however, that he/she will not do the tasks for you. You have to put in the strength and energy. But the personal training is the most efficient and most versatile form of reaching your fitness goals. Even together with 2-3 friend-family member of yours.
The group sessions and the individual trainings
We recommend these two forms of training chiefly if you want to do something for your health not after an inactive lifestyle of 5-10 years, without experience and preparation. A great advantage of the group sessions that they are led by professionally qualified trainer and you can do the exercises jointly with fellow trainers having similar goals.
In addition to this, a group training offers a genuine community experience since you can relieve the accumulated tension and relieve stress in a group, with a mainly joyful music. Besides that the group sessions will have a great effect on your stamina, the number of kilograms will also decrease.
However, since several of you are participating in the session – up to 30+ persons – there is no such personalized attention as during personal training. And although the trainer circulates in the room, it is not sure that he/she will be able to spot if you do the exercises wrong, or, due to the character of the training you may even have some slack during the session and it will not yield as quick and spectacular result as the personal training.
The situation is even more complicated if you decide on individual training without being aware of the capabilities of your body, the processes taking place within, that what, why and how you should do to lose 20 kg or gain 10 kg of muscle. Our experience shows that the individual training – without proper preparation and expertise – will yield unexpected results.
In addition to this, if you go your own way, the wrongly executed exercises will be fixed much more easily, you will be at risk of overtraining or that you choose such form of movement which may be disadvantageous according to your actual state or does not promote your goals. If you prefer training on your own, focusing on yourself, it is worth in the beginning and for the sake of your development and safety to insert also a personal training per 1-2 months.
