Amanda Rode had been heavy into exercising and weight training for many years, and had experienced many injuries, when she decided to begin working with a personal trainer.
“My ego was dashed down when I went to a trainer and I had to start from ground zero because he had to fix all the problems that I had,” she says. “So I couldn’t go and do a heavy workout with him because he had to retrain everything that I had been doing wrong for so long.”
Years later, Rode is now a personal trainer herself and still sees her own trainer to ensure that she maintains good form and avoids injury.
“A trainer will push you just that much more and make sure you’re doing everything correctly, and hopefully injury-free,” Rode says. “It doesn’t mean you’ll never get injured with a trainer, but you shouldn’t, there’s way less of a chance of that.”
Rode is a full-time personal trainer at Divine Health and her qualifications also include group fitness instructor and nutritional wellness specialist.
When creating training programs for clients, Rode says she begins by gathering information about injuries, surgeries, health conditions and training goals as well as a full body assessment looking at the client’s physical mobility. But she addresses more than just the physical body.
“I like to really tailor (the program) to not just their physical needs, but also their emotional and spiritual needs almost,” Rode says. “Because even people’s personalities and stress levels and sleep patterns will determine what workouts they should be doing.”
Rode says one of the roles of a personal trainer is to motivate clients and push them out of their comfort zone, which can help clients build confidence in their abilities.
“Some people need to be coaxed quite hard, especially when they’re not used to pushing themselves, and it’s an uncomfortable feeling for people who are new to exercise. Our goal is to increase their confidence and boost their self-esteem,” says Rode.
Trainers can be a positive influence on clients and Rode says they are often motivator, coach and guide for people.
“Especially women are very nervous when they first start to lift weights,” Rode says. “And people have no idea how many sets to do, how many reps, what weight should they be doing. My job is to make it fun, but still effective.”
When talking with potential trainers, Rode suggests women ask what their training philosophy is, what a sample workout would look like, and what they are doing to grow as a trainer and keep up their knowledge.
“Any trainer can exhaust you, but not every trainer can make you better, like stronger and healthier,” Rode says. “You want to have a good training effect, so that you get a good workout in, but not to the point that you’re drained and exhausted and injured. Finding a good trainer is kind of like health insurance.”
