Welcome to the Get Fit Guys' quick and dirty tips to get moving and shape up. My name is

Brock Armstrong and I am the Get Fit Guy. When it comes to choosing a personal coach or a fitness

trainer, the options, well, they can be overwhelming. So today, I asked some of my coach friends to come and

give us their advice on how to choose someone who will work best with and for you. For years,

I got all my training ideas and my programs out of books and magazines and websites, and I have

to say that it worked pretty darn well.

I actually trained for several reasonably successful marathons and a few triathlons

following and adapting programs that had actually been given to my cousin by his coach years prior.

Eventually, however, through a Canadian running magazine, I was awarded the opportunity to work

with two coaches, a nutritionist, and was then sent all the running gear that I could ever want.

Yeah, I was spoiled.

And that is when I truly began to understand the power of having someone knowledgeable in your corner.

Now, a personal trainer is, by definition, a certified professional who has trained for,

and hopefully passed, an examination on varied topics, such as anatomy, physiology,

nutrition, biomechanics, exercise, and of course, movement.

Occasionally, a personal trainer or coach also has a college or university degree in exercise

science or a related field. On the other side of the spectrum, some of them have been professional

athletes in the past, or are just people who simply love the sport and

understand it at a deeper level than most of us can comprehend. The purpose of having a personal

trainer or a coach is to have someone who will help you reach your fitness goals faster than

you could do by yourself. They may even help you identify what your fitness goals should be.

Now, either way, the idea is to outsource much of the thinking and the planning that's

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