Seeking opinions on wether or not....

[whiteknight39]

a coach or trainer would be be a wise move for my next contest prep ( Aug 18 )

I am a bit torn on this subject.....

Last year I competed twice and did fairly well in the two comps . I was happy anyways.....

I trained and did the diet by myself ( with some great info from Sassy)....
I motivated myself and stuck to it

This year I'd like to compete again but it's the Canadian Nationals....
It'll mean more to me.....

"Everyone" tells me , I must have a trainer/coach.......

I have seen some of my friends hire trainers where they seem to depend on them so much..they look at them to make every move....and at the end become disapointed at the results and blame the trainer

I am stubborn and ask a lot of questions....I need to know the whys and I keep tweaking and adjusting things myself if I see results don't come through.....so I make mistakes but I learn about my body as I go along....
I am sure I would learn from a trainer but it would have to be the right person. I would really need to trust this person

So far, there is only one trainer that might appeal to me and charges $2000.00 for a pre contest prep ( over the internet - 20 weeks )

That's a LOT of money....

Do I bite the bullet or do I just flow with what I know and keep trying to learn as I go.....

My husband says I don't need anyone.....my friends say trying to prepare for a comp yourself is like trying to be your own lawyer and I must get a trainer ....

What are your experiences ...what has worked for you guys ???

Thanks for the feedback

 

[T-Cake]

a coach or trainer would be be a wise move for my next contest prep ( Aug 18 )

I am a bit torn on this subject.....

Last year I competed twice and did fairly well in the two comps . I was happy anyways.....

I trained and did the diet by myself ( with some great info from Sassy)....
I motivated myself and stuck to it

This year I'd like to compete again but it's the Canadian Nationals....
It'll mean more to me.....

"Everyone" tells me , I must have a trainer/coach.......

I have seen some of my friends hire trainers where they seem to depend on them so much..they look at them to make every move....and at the end become disapointed at the results and blame the trainer

I am stubborn and ask a lot of questions....I need to know the whys and I keep tweaking and adjusting things myself if I see results don't come through.....so I make mistakes but I learn about my body as I go along....
I am sure I would learn from a trainer but it would have to be the right person. I would really need to trust this person

So far, there is only one trainer that might appeal to me and charges $2000.00 for a pre contest prep ( over the internet - 20 weeks )

That's a LOT of money....

Do I bite the bullet or do I just flow with what I know and keep trying to learn as I go.....

My husband says I don't need anyone.....my friends say trying to prepare for a comp yourself is like trying to be your own lawyer and I must get a trainer ....

What are your experiences ...what has worked for you guys ???

Thanks for the feedback

I think you're going to get some great answers to this question from these ladies.

I've never competed before... but I've acheived a great deal on my own in terms of training and conditioning and I never paid anyone to train me, so I know what you're saying about being self-motivated and trusting yourself to hold yourself accountable.

Do I think you need a trainer? No. ESPECIALLY since you are determined to do so well, you HAVE done well in the past, and you are willing to accept assistance and advice via other means (e.g. Sassy's help).

I would see what the ladies here say... but I think you could do just as well pushing the envelope with getting online help from these women here at EF than you would should you choose to pay someone outside. Plus they would have to know you are self-motivated too and I almost think I personally would be stubborn as in "Yeah, I already know this... why am i paying you?"

Hope that helps somewhat...

 

[Sassy69]

That's a tough one. I've spent MUCHO DENEIRO on trainers. I like having a trainer to help keep me focused, and specifically one who is qualified at a level commensurate w/ the competition goal I have -- meaning someone who can actually prep you for a national level show and can offer the fine tuning that you need to dial in that one last step. Also helps for training feedback, maybe learn a few new tricks, help critique and bring you up a level as well, posing, etc etc.

That's one thing an online person can't do is 'be there' tho. From that standpoint I don't want to have to communicate via email of try to describe things to someone who can't actually see what's going on.

Is there absolutely no one near you that could help you? For ex, can you contact any of the judges at your past shows for a local recommendation? Granted just like most trainers at any level, you have to weed thru them and find one that will answer your questions and be able to build a rapport w/. I'm like you, I cannot friggen stand when the guy won't answer my questions because I'm happy to call bullshit on them, but I'm also more happy to learn something. When its a constructive partnership vs. a complete dependency on your part is when it works great. When its a complete dependency you could actually end up worse off than when you started if the person wasn't there for you when you needed them.

Personally I'd go the route of getting a local recommendation or even someone you could travel to / meet w/ once / month or something.

If no luck or no match there, then check out this person online -- any references? recommendations? (not from the person themselves, but from one of their athletes, and then check how those athletes peformed in competition). And then ask what sort of interface you can expect w/ this person - how often do they ask for measurements / stats, do they do the whole diet / training program or just diet? How often do they change the routine and based on what critieria? Just a canned program or in response to weight / bodyfat / how you look ? How available are they? (Sometimes this means u call them at 3 am when you crash on carbs) Will they give posing feedback or presentation detail at all?

I'm sure you can kill it if you choose to do it on your own, but then you also have to look to yourself for the dedication to stay w/ it. Obviously here is a great place for comment, mood boost, sanity check, etc. but its hard to beat even just how nice it is to have someone there at the gym w/ you or you can go talk to face-to-face, get critiqued in person, get questions answered more in a conversation / inquiry mode than in a student / teacher setting or just no answer at all, or now discussion of other options or "why" or any of that.

 

[whiteknight39]

Thanks for the responses

It's good to hear you've used trainers

I wish I could find a local guy......A lot of the local trainers are sad....I'm sorry to say.... one look and you ask yourself ..how dare pretend to teach someone when you can;t even take care of yourself.....

The on line trainer I was considering was Scott Abel.... There is a local trainer he trained but the feedback I received from one person that used him wasn't outstanding but that might just be one person's opinion...and then you think...why go to the student when you can get the teacher.......

Here;s a list of some of scotts clients

http://www.scottabel.com/clients.html

I have purchased a couple of his training DVDs....I figure I'll start with that

If you check out his blog , he has some good articles he wrote

It's almost sad but with my attempt at bulking ( which I didn't like ) I have gained considerable weight... now weighing in at 136 lbs...... I am almost embarassed to go to a trainer.... you know...it's like you clean your house before you hire a cleaning lady..... lol.... I know... a bit quirky

I'll try his training DVD.....give it a month or so and see how I feel.

I still can;t make up my mind.....geez.....I'm usally good at this

I have exactly 33 weeks before the comp which stil gives me an opportunity to try and gain more muscle.....



Thanks for the feedback

 

[Sassy69]

QT has posted up some stuff from Scott Abel - good guy I understand Do you feel like you got anything from your bulker? LOL Have you seen those pictures of Lee Priest off season? I wouldn't sweat it - that's why they call it OFF season. What's your bodyfat? Did your strength go up or any other positive measures from the bulking? 33 weeks is more than 1/2 a yr so you have plenty of time...

 

[whiteknight39]

Bodyfat?????
I haven;t even attempted at going there

Figure after the cleanse( on day 5 now ) - I'll measure up and take it as my starting point

I have hit some new PB's....

it's a mindset thing......

 

[Sassy69]

Completely understand.

When I've found a trainer the best is when they are working w/ me as a partner (as opposed to someone fucking counting reps for me... you can see i DETEST being told what to do....) and can add some additional info and give you the specific attention that introduces those extremely fine tuned tweaks and also that feelling that you're truly an elite athlete, you belong there and you are so focused & "in the zone" that the passion just oozes out.

If they just treat you as an income, then I really just want to tell them to go fuck themselves.

 

[jenscats5]

Completely understand.

When I've found a trainer the best is when they are working w/ me as a partner (as opposed to someone fucking counting reps for me... you can see i DETEST being told what to do....) and can add some additional info and give you the specific attention that introduces those extremely fine tuned tweaks and also that feelling that you're truly an elite athlete, you belong there and you are so focused & "in the zone" that the passion just oozes out.

If they just treat you as an income, then I really just want to tell them to go fuck themselves.

I agree on the last sentence.....I've had issues with trainers who don't/won't take the time to explain WHY they are doing what they are doing, etc.....unfortunately, I've had bad luck with the only 2 local trainers here - thus I'm out of options unless I go online and I know peeps who've had luck with that method....

 

[Sassy69]

For a national level show I would seriously stick w/ people who have trained & produced at that level. The guy you are talking about I recall from QT has a killer reputation. YOu might PM her about it.