“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going,” Jim Ryun, a professional track and field athlete, once said. At Keene State College personal training creates opportunities for employees, part-time or full-time students to develop positive workout habits.
According to the Body Works Manager at KSC Christine Miles, exercise science majors work with personal training clients.
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Body Works is the department that runs the fitness center. Miles said the cost is $40 per semester for clients, which are members of the KSC community only, to hire one of these personal trainers.
She continued, saying that trainers don’t get any of the money because it is a part of the exercise science major’s curriculum, so this money goes to the maintenance of the facility.
“A lot of them take that before their senior year so they can stay on at a paid position,” Miles said.
In addition to that, Miles said, “These students have had three or more years’ experience in the classroom to be able to do program design and fitness testing, so we feel very comfortable that it’s a good situation, and it’s a win-win because out in the real world you’re going to pay forty dollars an hour per session, while it’s forty dollars per semester.”
Sara Bracken, a senior exercise science major at KSC who also works as a personal trainer, said, “We get assigned clients, we do assessments with them and so I assess their strength, endurance and everything. Then we’ll make programs for them and we meet with them two times a week.”
Last semester, Bracken said she took the class required by the exercise science curriculum. She then explained she stayed on after taking the class so she does get paid this semester.
Bracken said when she creates a work-out plan for a student she draws from the experience of her classes to plan the workouts and know what type of exercise to do for the correct muscle groups.
In regard to how long planning takes her, Bracken said, “Probably like a half hour, it doesn’t take me that long because I already have an idea of what to do, so I am always thinking about it.” She explained she likes to be “two steps ahead” since the program is constantly changing.
Along with that, Miles said, “Initially, it is easily an hour because the trainer has to look at what you want to do. We have to do a fit assessment on you to find out what you’re able to do and then we have to build the program based on that.”
Miles described this process by saying, “It’s a puzzle” and that, “programs are always changing.”
Miles explained this is frustrating for the trainers because they have to figure what works for that individual and they have to note when people are struggling with certain workouts, which means the trainers have to change the work-out plan.
In order to be comfortable with change, it is important to be comfortable with the trainer. Nicole Montano, a sophomore at KSC and one of Bracken’s clients, said their relationship is good because they are also friends. She explained, “She is not afraid to push me and I am not afraid to listen to her criticism.”
As to why she uses the program, Montano explained, “I like having a schedule and a routine, and I like having a schedule to workout and plan.”
She said that Bracken teaches her new workouts she’s never done before that are mostly full-body workouts, lifting and box pushes.
Montano explained, “The program is really good. It’s good because she switches it up and pushes me to do heavier weights and stuff I wouldn’t do on my own. I like working out with her because on my own I wouldn’t try as hard and she’s there to push me.”
For the benefits of the program, Montano said, “You learn so much. Before I started training I never knew which workout worked which muscle. Not saying this is true for everyone, but a lot of people don’t know what they are working out.” She explained she takes the knowledge from the workouts and uses them on her own as well. She also stated she plans to continue to use this service at KSC. She said she has a trainer at home so she has had experience with a trainer before.
When it comes to training results, Bracken said, “I have seen weight loss, strength improvement and overall better physical feeling.” She explained that she likes hearing clients say that they feel better after a good workout the next time she sees them.
When asked what the trainer gets out of the experience, Bracken said, “Definitely a lot of confidence and organization because you have to be able to change things around, verbal communication with clients, and it’s fun.”
As times change, so do training techniques. Miles said it becomes, “More [of a] trend toward having fun and making it a game.” Miles explained a lot of people are training for events, so their workout plans all have variety for what the clients desire.
Jeff Lunn can be contacted at jlunn@keene-equinox.com
