Interested in hiring a personal trainer, but concerned about the cost of one-on-one training? Sharing the sessions and the cost with others is a growing trend. Small group personal training can help you reach your fitness goals without breaking your budget.

Where Can I Find Small-Group Personal Training?

Finding a certified personal trainer who offers group training may be easier than you think. According to a 2010 IDEA Health & Fitness Association survey, 84% of responding personal trainers currently offer semi-private training (at least 2 clients share) and 57% offer small group personal training (at least 3–5 clients share). If you’re not sure whether your gym or trainer offers small-group personal training, ask. Most trainers are willing to accommodate a shared session.

How Much Will it Cost?

One-on-one personal training fees range from $40-$100 per hour, sometimes more, based on the region and the trainer’s education, certifications, experience, and skills. In contrast, group personal training is usually offered at a much lower hourly rate, depending on the number of participants. In a small group of five, for example, each person might pay $15–45 for an hourly session. Most trainers offer advanced purchase packaging, which helps maximize savings and commitment.

What Are the Benefits of Sharing a Personal Training Session?

Most groups are formed according to fitness levels and such goals as weight loss and post-partum fitness, for example, so you’ll exercise alongside others who share your goals and interests. When you train with a small group, you’ll receive a level of social support you won’t get by working out alone or in a solo personal training session.
Many people prefer working out with a small group. It can be much more fun and motivating than exercising alone. Your group members will cheer you on, inspire you and encourage you to stick with the program. And because you’ve all gone through the trouble of coordinating your schedules, they’ll expect you to show up.

Are There Any Cons?

Sharing a personal training session means your trainer won’t be able to give you the one-on-one attention you can expect in an individual session. That may or may not matter to you, depending on your goals, the trainer, and the size of the group. Also, your trainer won’t be able to modify your workout every session, so you may not progress as fast as you would with one-on-one training. Some people prefer individual attention, and others prefer the camaraderie and encouragement they get from exercising with other people. Keep in mind that scheduling for small group personal training sessions is often less flexible than for individual sessions, because the needs of three or more people, including the trainer must be considered.

Give It a Try

If what you’re doing right now isn’t working, it’s time to take a different approach. Small group personal training can give you the accountability, group support, and professional expertise you need to take your fitness to the next level while keeping expenses down. If you don’t like it, talk with your trainer to determine if one-on-one training or a different group would be a better fit.

1) Don’t Overdo It As You Start Your Program

If you haven’t been active lately, start from square one — even if you were a high school athlete. Jumping into vigorous exercise without gradually building up to it puts you at risk for serious injury — and even death.

Do Increase Exercise Level Gradually

If it’s been a while since you busted a move, talk to your doctor first. At the very least, complete the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q), an easy way to determine your physical readiness for exercise.

To get started, go easy. Start with what you can do and steadily increase time, frequency, and intensity, in that order, increasing total weekly time by no more than 10% per week. As your fitness level improves, aim for 30 minutes, 5 days a week. Be patient —regular exercise pays off, but too much too soon can backfire quickly.

2) Don’t Go From 0 to 60 in 5 Seconds

Going straight to the cardio portion of your workout without a warm-up is a bad idea. To successfully meet the demands of cardiovascular training, your body needs a heads-up.

Do Perform a Warm-Up Before Your Workout

For most people, 5-10 minutes of low-to-moderate intensity cardio activity is enough. The warm-up helps you transition from rest to movement, gradually increasing body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure to support the physiologic challenge of the vigorous workout ahead. A proper warm-up also helps reduce post-exercise muscle stiffness and improves exercise performance.

3) Don’t Get Hung Up on Heart Rate

It’s just a number. Target heart rate training is a great way to boost your level of fitness, but it’s not the perfect method for everyone. If you can’t seem to get your heart rate into the right intensity “zone,” don’t fret.

Do Pace Yourself Based on How You Feel

If you can talk comfortably — or slightly uncomfortably — you’re exercising at the right intensity. If you can’t talk comfortably at all, slow down — regardless of heart rate.

Target training zone charts offer a ballpark range at best. Target zone is influenced by fitness level, health status, certain medications, and genetic limitations. For best results, ask a certified fitness professional to help you calculate your target training zone.

4) Don’t Stop Immediately After a Vigorous Workout

Personal trainers see it all the time — someone going at full speed on a stair climber, and stopping suddenly to stand still. A sudden stop causes blood to pool in the feet and legs, reducing blood flow to the heart and other organs. As a result, you could get dizzy and fall — or experience a life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia.

Do Cool Down Gradually

Keep your feet moving! Performing 5-10 minutes of low-to-moderate intensity activity after moderate-to-vigorous exercise keeps blood from pooling, flushes metabolic waste from the muscles, and gradually returns circulation to pre-exercise levels.

5) Don’t Be a Weekend Warrior

Waiting until Saturday to break a sweat won’t help you reach your fitness goals — and could turn out to be the last thing you do. Sudden cardiac death with exercise is relatively rare at 1 case per 36.5 million hours of exercise. But studies suggest that infrequent exercise may increase momentary risk of exercise-related sudden cardiac death.

Do Exercise Regularly Throughout the Week

Make physical activity part of your everyday life — whether it’s walking on your lunch break or bicycling after dinner with your family. Regular exercise makes a difference, according to a study of nearly 70,000 women over 18 years. Compared to inactive subjects, those who exercised two hours a week had reduced risk, and those who exercised four or more hours a week had a 59% decreased risk of sudden cardiac death.

10 Fun Ways to Mix Up Your Cardio Training

1. Use Nordic walking poles.
2. Try a group fitness class like cycling, water exercise, or Zumba®.
3. Cross–train by swapping a new activity for 1–2 of your regular weekly workouts.
4. Train with a running, bicycling, or masters swimming club.
5. Get some “green” exercise — go for a day hike or learn to kayak.
6. Enjoy some retro recess fun with kickball, jump rope, or freeze tag.
7. Go skating — inline, roller, or ice.
8. Train for a multi-sport even like triathlon, biathlon, or duathlon.
9. Play an active video game for fun and variety.
10. Train with a fitness podcast or smartphone app.

When it comes to exercise, we each determine what we can or cannot do, and how hard we push ourselves. Some follow the all-or-nothing principle, believing that if exercise is going to be good for you it has to be hard, even painful. This is a myth and far from the truth. In the 1990s, a shift occurred with exercise recommendations, as experts began to recognize the benefits of “moderate-intensity” activity. So before you go out and break your back trying to get in some hardcore exercise, relax and develop a workout that you might actually stick with and enjoy. After all, if you enjoy an experience—such as exercise—you are more likely to want to repeat it.

You Don’t Have to Put Out a Lot to Gain a Lot

There are many methods used to measure the intensity of activity and all give some indication of how hard the body is working. While you might want to monitor your metabolic rate, few of us have the means to do so. There are some simple guidelines to follow when it comes to monitoring exercise intensity. Without requiring expensive and advanced testing, a good marker of moderate-intensity activity is the ability to elevate your heart rate and break a sweat while still being able to carry on a conversation, even if it is a bit of a challenge. Next time you are working out, try to talk continuously and out loud for 20 seconds. If it feels challenging, but not difficult, where you are not gasping for air between words, then you are working at an appropriate intensity.

Another way to measure your activity level is to estimate your effort on a scale from 0 to 10, based upon the perception of your effort. Activity levels between 4 and 6 would generally be accepted as moderate-intensity activity.

Limitless Options

There are few limitations on what types of activities you can do at a moderate intensity. The Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity and Health includes a recommendation that everyone accumulate 30 minutes or more of physical activity on most or all days of the week. You can do this in 30 consecutive minutes or break it up into 10-minute segments throughout the day. Thirty minutes a day is enough to maintain health and reduce your risk of chronic disease. If you want to lose weight, or gain additional benefits and further improve your health, you will need to exercise for a longer duration and at a higher intensity. Brisk walking is the most popular choice since it can easily be incorporated into a busy day, generally has low injury rates, doesn’t require special skills or equipment and can be done by anyone at any age.

But don’t forget the things you do every day. Gardening provides a multitude of opportunities for improving muscle strength, as does waxing the car or vacuuming the carpet. One of the appealing aspects of this type of exercise program is that the amount of exercise you need to accumulate can be adapted according to the duration, intensity or frequency of your exercise.

The Road Ahead

Now that you know that physical activity does not need to be overly strenuous to be beneficial, it’s time to get started. To ensure that you’re able to stick with exercise, choose activities that you enjoy and that can easily become part of your routine.

Begin slowly, giving the body time to adjust, and work up to the desired amount and intensity. If you have any chronic health problems, or are at risk for any (e.g., heart disease, diabetes, obesity), consult with your physician before starting any activity.

Examples of Moderate Amounts of Activity

A moderate amount of physical activity is roughly equivalent to physical activity that uses approximately 150 Calories (kcal) of energy per day, or 1,000 Calories per week. Some activities can be performed at various intensities; the suggested durations correspond to expected intensity of effort.

Are you living the life you want to live? Is a decrease in your physical strength and energy getting in the way of enjoying your favorite activities? Regular cardiovascular exercise is a well-known way to preserve stamina and to prevent chronic disease that can slow you down. But an increasing number of older adults practice strength training (using resistance bands, weight machines, body weight, or lifting weights) as an effective health-boosting strategy.

Men and women of any age can benefit from strength training. Having a chronic medical condition doesn’t mean you can’t do strength exercises. If you’re living with heart disease, arthritis or diabetes, strength training may even help improve your condition.

Are You Losing Muscle Tissue?

Experts point out that many of the changes associated with getting older are actually due to becoming less active with age. Unless you regularly engage in activities to strengthen your muscles, you’ll lose about a half a pound of muscle a year in your 30s and 40s, and that rate can double once you turn 50. As you lose muscle, you lose strength, and that compromises your ability to do even simple things, such as carrying your groceries, getting up from a seated position or gardening. Your metabolism also slows down as you lose muscle, so your body will need fewer calories to maintain itself, and you’re likely to gain excess body fat, unless you eat less. And excess fat contributes to a multitude of health problems: heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

14 Good Reasons to Pump Iron

It doesn’t matter, if you’re 50 years old or 80, studies show that strength training can help:
1. Maintain your independence as you get older
2. Improve your quality of life, allowing you to do the things you enjoy with less effort
3. Strengthen and preserve your muscle tissue
4. Strengthen your bones
5. Reduce your risk of falling
6. Improve control of blood sugar
7. Increase your metabolism
8. Improve your body composition to less fat and more muscle
9. Reduce your resting blood pressure
10. Speed up the rate at which food moves through your digestive system, reducing risk of colon cancer
11. Reduce your risk of low back injury
12. Elevate your mood and your self-confidence
13. Relieve pain from osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis
14. Enhance recovery from stroke or heart attack

How to Get Started

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend strength training on two or more days a week with exercises that work all major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms).

Because everyone’s needs and limitations are different, talk to your health care provider before you begin strength training. Find out, if there are specific activities you should avoid, or any special precautions to follow. Next, decide if you’d like to do strength exercises at home, at a community center, or at a gym. For some beginners, the supervision and camaraderie found in a group fitness class is an ideal combination.
If you’d rather work out on your own, consider scheduling a few sessions with a certified personal trainer, ideally, someone specializing in older adult fitness. You’ll receive a program tailored to your needs and interests and supervision to make sure you’re performing the exercises correctly. While strength training offers serious health benefits, improper form or technique can lead to injuries.

Buddy Up

For best results, invite a friend or family member to do strength exercises with you. Besides being more fun, it’ll help keep you accountable or sticking with it. You’ll inspire one another as you get stronger, and push one another to reach goals. The importance of social support can’t be overemphasized when it comes to adopting new health behaviors.

Exercise is really just human movement performed at an intensity that is sufficient to bring a challenge, which elicits change in the body.

To pull the perspective back even further, in life, we move things. We lift and carry them; push and pull them; throw them and catch them. And to do these, we are always dealing with gravity and momentum.

Most weightlifting exercises involve lifting, directly opposing gravity (e.g., squat, dead lift, shoulder press, pull-up, etc.). But in life, we lift, shift, and twist things we hold, even if it’s just ourselves. We move through gravity and so, have to deal with momentum.

Moving vertically against gravity is only one part of movement. For example, you won’t win many dance competitions by simply lifting your partner off the floor. You also need to glide elegantly across the dance floor and also spin your partner and/or yourself.

If you add some shifting and twisting, your “lifting” program can now provide a more complete movement experience.

We’ve done a great job of spreading the message that resistance training (“lifting”) is essential for fitness. Now we need to expand the definition of lifting to include shifting and twisting.
Remember, exercise is frequently dominated by just lifting with some occasional shifting and lifting done by accident. By including a mix of shifting, lifting, and twisting, your programs will provide a movement experience that is more complete.

After all, in life we move stuff around. Everything we move has weight to it, and life is a lot more than just lifting!

Looking for a way to infuse your fitness routine with some new energy and excitement? Whether you’re a seasoned athlete or just getting started with physical activity, circuit training is a great way to challenge your body in a variety of ways while boosting the fun factor.

What Is Circuit Training?

A typical circuit training workout includes about 8-10 exercise stations. After completing a station, instead of resting, you move quickly to the next station. A muscular strength and endurance circuit alternates muscle groups, such as upper body, lower body and core, so little or no rest is needed in between stations. This article focuses on another form of circuit training: aerobic + strength. This type of circuit alternates 1-2 sets of resistance exercise (body weight, free weights, dumbbells, kettle bells, bands, etc.), with brief bouts of cardiovascular exercise (jogging in place, stationary cycling, rowing, etc.) lasting anywhere from 30 seconds to 3 minutes. Depending on your goals and the number of circuit stations, you can complete 1 or more circuits in a 30-60 minute session.

Advantages of Circuit Training

Boredom and time constraints are frequently cited reasons for giving up on a fitness routine. Sound familiar? Circuit training offers a practical solution for both. It’s a creative and flexible way to keep exercise interesting and saves time while boosting cardiovascular and muscular fitness. You’ll burn a decent amount of calories too—in a 1-hour circuit training session, a 150-pound person burns about 308 calories at a moderate intensity; and 573 calories at a vigorous intensity. Because the exercises can be performed in any sequence, you can create an endless number of combinations and design every workout to match your mood or specific training goal. Participating in a group circuit-training class is a great way to discover new exercises you might not have tried on your own.

At Home

Set up strength and cardio stations indoors or outdoors. Cardio could include going up and down stairs, marching or jogging in place, running up and down the driveway, using home exercise equipment and jumping rope. For strength stations, do push-ups, planks and lunges, using your own body weight. You can also use dumbbells, bands and Kettlebells. For more ideas, look for a fitness DVD featuring circuit-training workouts.

At the Gym

Check to see, if your gym offers circuit training classes. You’ll need to move quickly from station to station, so it’s tough to do on your own during regular gym hours when others are using equipment. If you’re working with a certified personal trainer, ask for help in building a custom circuit training workout using a variety of equipment.

At the Park

The fitness trail, or parcourse are popular features at many parks across the United States and around the world. This can be considered a form of aerobic + strength circuit training. The parcourse consists of walking trails with exercise stations located along the way. But even if your local park doesn’t have a circuit set-up, you can create your own aerobic + strength circuit by alternating brisk walking, bicycling or running on a trail with push-ups, dips, and squats, incorporating things found in nature, such as a tree, a boulder, or even a park bench.

Turn Up the Heat

If you’ve been doing circuit training for a while and are ready to push harder, try these ideas:

• Shorten your time intervals. If you’re currently doing 2-minute cardio intervals, shorten them by 30 seconds. This will keep you moving faster through the circuit, allowing you to complete more stations in the same amount of time.

• Boost your intensity. If your strength sets are feeling too easy, increase the resistance or choose a different exercise that works the same muscle group. Take your cardio intervals up a notch by accelerating or adding another cardio exercise.

• Do a backward circuit. If you always complete your circuit in the same direction, start at the opposite end to challenge your body and your brain in a new way.

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It’s kind of like running into a wall—that feeling you get when, after a few months on a weight-loss program, you suddenly stop seeing results.
This is called hitting a plateau and it is not uncommon. In fact, unless you continually update your program to reflect the changes your body has already experienced, you can almost be guaranteed to plateau at some point along your journey toward reaching your goal weight.

Weight-loss Woes

The first thing you should do upon hitting a plateau is try to determine the cause. Could you be eating more calories than you think? Research shows that most people under-report the number of calories they eat—it’s not that they’re lying; they just don’t know how to make an accurate assessment of how much they’re eating. And even if you’re eating fewer calories than before you lost the weight, you could be eating just enough to maintain your current weight at your current activity level.

Unfortunately, people’s bodies adjust their metabolism to resist weight change. This means that you burn fewer calories when you start consuming fewer calories. So, while a diet of 1,800 calories per day helped you lose a certain amount of weight, if you’ve hit a plateau, it could be that 1,800 calories is the exact amount you need to stay at your current weight.

Exercise Your Options

This leaves you with two options: Lower your caloric intake further or increase the amount of time you spend being physically active.

The first option is less desirable because you may not be able to get sufficient nutrients from a diet that is very low in calories (e.g., below 1,200 kcal in women and 1,500 kcal in men) and it is difficult to stick with it for very long. It is much better to moderately reduce calories to a level that you can sustain when you reach your goal weight.

The same is true for exercise. Trying to exercise for several hours per day to burn more calories is a good way to set yourself up for failure. Not only does this type of regimen require an enormous time commitment, it is hard on the body, making you more susceptible to injury and overuse syndromes.

Instead, aim for 30 minutes of moderate activity most of the days of the week and, as you become more fit, gradually increase the intensity and duration of your exercise sessions. Choose activities that you find enjoyable, whether that be in-line skating, step classes or even mall walking. The most effective exercise is the one you will do consistently.

Another means for getting you off the plateau is strength training, which has been shown to be very effective in helping people manage their weight because the added muscle helps to offset the metabolism-lowering effect of dieting and losing weight. Muscle is much more metabolically active than fat; therefore, the more muscle you can add, the higher your metabolism will be.

To help balance the intake with the expenditure, a good rule of thumb is to multiply your goal weight by 10 calories per pound, and add more calories according to how active you are. For example, if your goal weight is 145 pounds, then multiple it by 10 to reach 1,450 kcal as a baseline, adding calories as needed to account for increased activity. Check out the ACE Fit Fact titled “Calories Burners: Activities That Turn Up the Heat” to estimate the caloric demand of your workout. Again, be realistic. Don’t attempt too much in an effort to burn more calories.

Get Off the Plateau

If you’ve stopped losing weight, the key to getting off the plateau is to vary your program. The human body is an amazing piece of machinery, capable of adapting to just about any circumstance or stimulus. By shaking things up a bit and varying your program by introducing some new elements, you’ll likely find yourself off the plateau and back on the road to progress in no time.

Additional Resources

Prior Post Below, ACE Fit Fact: “Calorie Burners: Activities That Turn Up the Heat”

When it comes to burning calories, most people want to get as much mileage out of their exercise as possible. For many, the more calories they burn, the better they feel about their workouts. While energy expenditure should not be the only measure of a good workout (remember, it’s good for you and makes you feel pretty good, too), it is helpful to know what a given activity might be costing you in terms of calories.

A word of caution, though, about counting calories. Simply burning more calories will take you only so far down the road to better health. A well-balanced, low-fat diet, plenty of rest and a healthy attitude are also essential. And, of course, all things in moderation—even exercise.

Reading the Chart

The numbers on this chart correspond to how many calories individuals of various weights burn per minute during different activities. Simply multiply this number by how many minutes you perform a given activity. For example, a 160-pound man jogging will burn about 12.4 calories per minute, or 372 calories during a 30-minute jog.

There are a few things that you should keep in mind as you review this chart. With exercise, it really is true that you get out of it what you put into it. Simply showing up for class and going through the motions isn’t going to do you much good. To get the most out of your exercise session, give it your all, even if your all is less than what others might be doing.

And don’t forget to look for little ways to increase the number of calories you burn each day. You might be surprised to learn that it is possible to burn more calories simply by becoming more active in your daily life. Doing things like taking the stairs, parking farther from your destination and doing chores around the house are great ways to burn additional calories.

Two thousand steps equals approximately one mile of walking. By walking 10,000 steps a day, the average person will burn up to 3500 calories per week—roughly the caloric equivalent of 1 pound of fat.

Looking for a way to add variety to your exercise plan while taking your fitness to the next level? High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a cardiorespiratory training technique that alternates brief speed and recovery intervals to increase the overall intensity of your workout. HIIT is used by athletes and everyday exercise enthusiasts to reach performance goals and enhance fitness and well-being.

How does it work?
Most endurance workouts, such as walking, running, or stair-climbing—are performed at a moderate intensity, or an exertion level of 5-6 on a scale of 0-10. High-intensity intervals are done at an exertion level of 7 or higher, and are typically sustained for 30 seconds to 3 minutes, although they can be as short as 8-10 seconds or as long as 5 minutes; the higher the intensity, the shorter the speed interval. Recovery intervals are equal to or longer than the speed intervals.

High-intensity interval training is done at a submaximal level; around 80-95% of maximal aerobic capacity. Sprint interval training (SIT) is a type of high-intensity interval training that pushes beyond this level to 100% or more of maximal aerobic capacity, or an exertion level of 10.

What are the benefits of HIIT?
The payoffs of pushing yourself with HIIT are plentiful, and include:

• Significantly increased aerobic and anaerobic fitness
• Decreased fasting insulin and increased insulin sensitivity
• Reduced abdominal and subcutaneous (just under the skin) fat

The surprising thing about HIIT is that it involves such a small total amount of exercise. By including HIIT in your exercise plan, you can realize remarkable results in a short amount of time, which is good news for busy people.

Is HIIT safe?
High-intensity exercise of any type brings with it a higher risk of musculoskeletal injury and cardiac events. But along with healthy subjects, HIIT has been studied as a training method for people with heart disease and congestive heart failure. Under clinical supervision, subjects were able to tolerate high-intensity intervals without negative effects. Most importantly, they experienced bigger improvements in cardiovascular function compared to those undergoing continuous moderate-intensity training.

The bottom line? HIIT may or may not be safe for you. Check with your health care provider before adding it to your exercise plan.

How can I get started with HIIT?
Choose an aerobic exercise—like stationary bicycling. Warm up for 5 minutes, and perform just a few alternating speed and recovery intervals; 3-4 of each should be plenty and will give you a feel for it; finish with an easy cool down. Here’s an example:

HIIT protocols vary widely. There’s no one best single way to structure them. Experiment with shorter and longer speed and recovery intervals to find what works best for you.

Gradually work up to 8-10 or more speed intervals, depending on your fitness goals. Keep in mind that the most common mistake made with interval training is making the recovery intervals too short.

Perform HIIT workouts 1-2 times a week at most to reduce your risk of injury. This high-intensity training method is best used periodically for up to 6 weeks or so to enhance regular training rather than as a year-round fitness strategy.

For best results, work with a certified fitness professional to create a personalized HIIT training plan. HIIT requires a big, sweaty effort, but if you stick with it, chances are you’ll be rewarded with impressive results.