The Personal Training business is geared toward assisting individuals to achieve their health goals. You want your personal trainer, or PT, to be motivated and committed, and yet you need to be able to develop a good relationship with them also.
To train under the guidance and supervision of a PT, you first you need to choose one. As with any professional, there are Great Personal Trainers, and then those that are not very good at all. Relying on referrals from other peoples experience with a particular professional is a common approach, but even this is not always reliable. Be prepared to interview several Personal Trainers, and don't be scared about asking lots of questions. If you are about to become their employer you are totally within your rights to ask any relevant question. Check the following sites for really great information on how to select a PT:
* http://www.choice.com.au/viewArticleAsOnePage.aspx?id=105132
* http://www.weightloss.com.au/articles/exercise/choosing-a-personal-trainer.htm
* http://www.icaa.cc/FacilityLocator/icaapftguide.pdf
Beware when a Personal Trainer who has done very little study into Nutrition tries to give your Nutritional advice. There are many, many factors that affect Nutritional requirements amongst individuals, and many countries now legsilate against Personal Trainers giving any Nutritional Advice at all. Unfortunately, this is not yet the case in Australia, but it will certainly become that way in the future. To qualify as a PT is simply a few week course, whereas to qualify as a Nutritionist requires a 3 year full-time study for a Bachelor qualification. So you can see that there is indeed quite a bit of difference between the knowledge of the 2 professions.
Ensure that your PT is registered and qualified as a professional. A legitimate and qualified Personal Trainer will be registered with Fitness Australia: http://www.fitnessaustralia.com.au/ , including a Membership Card. They will have at least a Certificate 4 in Fitness Training. Most Personal Trainers charge between $30-$50 for a half hour session, and will suggest between 1 to 3 sessions per week. Of those, only 1 session per week should be intensive as after one heavy session it takes 7 to 9 days for the body to recover and rebuild. The CNS (central Nervous System) needs approx 7 days to recover after an intensive exercise session. This has been shown scientifically, so training different muscle groups on different days is not as effective as once thought.
The following sites list a number of personal trainers in locations both within Sydney and throughout Australia:
* http://www.goodgymguide.com.au/personal_trainers/index.htm
* http://healthfitness.com.au/directory/personal-fitness-trainers/
* http://www.usenature.com/personal_trainers.htm