What You Really Need to Achieve Your Goals

What You Really Need to Achieve Your Goals

A quick Google search today returned over seven million hits for ‘Personal Trainer Chicago.’ It gave me pause but also got me thinking; you’re probably wondering to whom exactly is your time, trust, and money going when you’re considering finding that little extra push at the gym from a personal trainer.

As a trainer at the West Loop and Wicker Park locations, I take great pride in what I do and the freedom I have to do it. To me a great coach should provide three simple (but crucial) things for a client: Support, Direction, and Accountability.

These key values are crucial to get you where you're going in a timely and realistic fashion. For a trainer, each client is slightly different; from lifestyles and health issues, to posture and past injuries, no client is the same. We all have a little, "magic" inside us that needs that special approach to get us to where we're trying to go. Today I'd like to talk a little about one specifically: direction.

The list of options goes on-and-on with tools and trends in fitness today. So what's the best tool for the job? The truth is there isn't. As trainers we cannot be biased toward one tool (treadmill, TRX, barbell, Bosu balls, P90X, Cross-fit, Brazilian butt lift etc.). Just like you wouldn't use a hammer to screw in light-bulb or use a crowbar to pry out a child's loose tooth, common sense rules the day in fitness too. We must be sensible and realistic.

When dealing with my clients, I believe a certain tool promotes progress in ones training. Sure, a person might know how to crunch several hundred reps at a time, but a TRX makes more sense from a functional standpoint as its a great stability tool for the core (example: try performing a set of flutters or fallouts for 12 reps or 30 seconds).

The value of training doesn't just stop at equipment knowledge. Many of my clients come to me strictly for aesthetic reasons. Some simply want nicer legs, sexier arms, slimmer waist or amazing abs. Allowing for a second opinion from a trainer can give perspective, information, and actually unravel exactly why you want these things on an emotional level. When we can attach an emotional drive to a valid goal that we want to achieve, then we've won half the battle.

Insanity, in a gym setting, could be defined as doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. Without a professional second opinion your work in the gym can be minimized by not attacking your goals and weaknesses in a timely and efficient manner. Former Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame coach Tom Landry said it best, “A coach is someone who tells you what you don’t want to hear, who has you see what you don’t want to see, so you can be who you have always known you could be.” It ignites our fire of passion to see you succeed with hard work, and dedication.

 

Matt Hongosh- trainerMatt Hongosh was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. From a young he's aspired to become a standard for health and fitness. He graduated from the National Personal Training Institute and his currently studying for his Precision Nutrition Coaching certification. His training style is a hybrid of the industy's most effective ways to improve your goals for optimal personalized results. He combines strength and mobility with nutrition and fun to ensure his clients reach success in a timely and realistic manner.