Long before poverty had driven most of us into the real world of car payments and domestic anguish and we had to replace four hour workouts with 40 minute body blasts and 40 hour work weeks, a guy named Jake Stienfield started a little business called Body by Jake. This was the first personal training service catering 
mostly to the odd physiques of Hollywood producers and their charges. Gradually, this notion sunk into the heads of hitherto gym rats, realizing that if they could manage to count to ten they could actually earn a handsome living while hanging at the gym. Low and behold the ubiquitous personal trainer was born.
At first I thought this personal training thing was just an excuse to legitimize hassling the gullible gym babes. I was even more sure after seeing a bald, chubby, dweeb creeping around behind the most hale and toned corpus I'd ever seen this side of The Arnold Fitness Expo on her way to the next exercise. Such a guy wouldn't even be allowed to dream of such a beauty, let alone get paid to be in her company for the better part of an hour. However, after a while, gyms started training their trainers and actually hiring them to take newcomers through their initial workouts, thus providing the much needed instruction for the beginning lifter. This simple fact was a key component in the fitness explosion of the 80s.
These days, especially if you live in New York or LA, personal trainers are a dime a dozen and carry certifications with enough letters after their names to play a good game of Scrabble. But are they capable of more than just standing behind you and counting to ten? Back in the day, the majority of gym members were bodybuilders or serious athletes - people not likely to take free advice from their own training partners, let alone pay for it from someone just like them. These gym rats were always 99 cents short of a buck and possessed all the lifting acumen they could afford. However, they would ultimately be the ones who became the personal trainers. And over the years, these guys had to do a lot more than stay in reasonably good shape to impress their clients. An evolution was afoot and there was big money to be made if you could make a name for yourself.
These days, even in a bad economy, the awareness of body image has everyone from top level executives to high school football players enlisting the help of personal trainers. Hiring a trainer for a even a short time - regardless of your fitness level - can be a very positive step because a personal trainer can help you exercise to your maximum potential without getting hurt, and can help you develop a fitness program for life - especially if you're just starting out or have hit a plateau. A personal trainer can help you stay on track and achieve realistic goals, even if you are a seasoned athlete. They can also motivate the procrastinators or the slightly lazy, i.e., those without training partners.
Evidently, this has become quite a profitable enterprise, fattening the coffers of thousands of personal trainers across the country. With that many people out there claiming to be the salvation of the fat and out of shape, the competition is as fierce as a pack of hungry wolverines. In just a few short years, personal trainers have gone from proclaiming their acumen only with their toned body, to having won championships in various sports such as bodybuilding, power lifting, track and field, etc. These qualities cannot be learned from a book or in a seminar. Today's personal trainers also have extensive training in exercise physiology, biochemistry, exercise testing, nutrition, and the scientific basis of adaptation to exercise, along with certifications from renowned organizations such as the American College of Sports Medicine, the National Strength and Conditioning association, or the American Council on Exercise.
You might think that hiring a personal trainer is like hiring a personal chef: An extravagance that suits the rich and famous but is out of bounds for the rest of us. But the nature of personal training is changing. Increasingly, trainers are selling their services on a short-term basis, teaching clients the fundamentals and then after two to six weeks, setting them free to exercise on their own. This new emphasis has made personal training far more accessible to the average person. Instead of paying $150 a week for life, you can pay a total of $300 to $500 for six to 10 sessions.
If you hire a trainer on a limited basis the trainer should tailor your program specifically to your fitness level and personal objectives. But, be careful; I see a lot of trainers out there who, because they are trying to be innovative, concoct the most ludicrous movements with all kinds of items from Swiss balls to Kettle Belles to power bands. Remember, if something looks stupid and seems impossible (not to mention dangerous) (and the trainer offering it looks like a hot dog salesman) then it's probably worthless. That's not to say that innovation can't be beneficial, but I see some trainers trying way too hard to be different. Having a client (unless they are a highly trained advanced athlete) stand on a Swiss ball and adding weights to the equation is just dangerous and stupid. With a good trainer, by the end of your sessions you should know several strength-training exercises for each muscle group and be able to do them yourself. At any level, you should come away knowing more than when you went in - even if that means knowing the Swiss ball balancing, kettle bell waving, power band flailing trainer is a douche.
In addition to mastering the proper technique for each exercise, you should understand why the trainer has chosen these particular moves for you. You also need to learn how to progress once you have mastered the basics and when it's appropriate to lift heavier weights and perform more sets of an exercise.
I know some of you are reading this and rolling your eyes because you are well past this stage in your bodybuilding pursuit. But even seasoned hardcore bodybuilders can benefit from an occasional session (or more) especially if they are preparing to compete. I know a lot of trainers who do quite a bit of this kind of work along with coaching beginners. I really don't think anyone is beyond the services of a good trainer.
Personal trainers used to look like they were just conning people out of their hard earned money; they were not really doing much more than counting and a little spotting. These days they can really put a beginner on the right track - one that will have them see results quickly with little chance of injury. And veteran trainers can find new ways of stimulating either muscle growth, their attitude or both. Once you get passed the ego problem or insecurities about training with a personal trainer, it could be the best money you spend on your lifting career.
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