Where do you begin?

What's a fair rate to pay and what should you expect in return?

Do you want a private trainer or a group trainer?

Should you work with someone who owns their own business or is the trainer at your local gym good enough?

How do you know if you're hired a qualified trainer?

You probably have more questions, but these will get us started.

There are several places you can find personal trainers listed including; internet search engines like Google.com, Yahoo.com and MSNLive.com, the yellow pages, your local gym, most YMCAs and you can find them on websites like craigslist.org. Needless to say just about anywhere you look you can find a personal trainer.

What makes them the right trainer for you depends on a lot of factors.

At your local gym you probably have a few different types of trainers and you will need to decide which is best for you.

Club Trainers - these are usually employees who have undergone training by the club itself on the basic principles of fitness training. While some of them may have certification by one of the major players in the fitness game, most do not. Many clubs do pay their employees to get their certification and as such they may be working on it while working at the gym. If you just need someone to push you a little and run you through the basics of the different exercises and equipment, the fees they charge may well be worth what you get. Note: It is very likely the club will be looking to sell you a training package to lock you into a longer term commitment, something I don't recommend until you've had a chance to evaluate the trainer yourself with a few sessions. I don't care how big of a discount they offer you for a long term deal, thirty days worth of training sessions you'll never use are not worth much of anything!

Group Trainers - maybe you're just looking to get back into some form of exercise without having to work one on one with a trainer. Many gyms offer group forms of all kinds of aerobic exercise. You might even be able to convince your friends to join which gives you that whole security in numbers thing. Most of these trainers are certified to teach their classes and although they won't single you out, they will pay attention to whether or not you might injure yourself by what you're doing in class. You might even be able to snag a couple of minutes of their time after class to get suggestions on what else you should be doing.

Certified Personal Trainers - If you find them at the gym, these are the real experts. There are several reputable organizations offering certification for personal trainers and the gyms know which ones they are. These organizations hold trainers to a pretty high standard and they run them through a comprehensive understanding of everything from human anatomy to exercise physiology to fitness assessment and much more. The key here is to know what your goals are. If you are looking to prepare for and run your first marathon, working with someone who wants you to spend five days a week in the gym weight training is probably not a good match. Find a trainer that understands what your fitness goals are and who can design a program that will actually help you achieve them.

Outside of the gym it's not really that much different when it comes to trainers. You will find people who have just been doing training for a long time without any certification. These people are not always a "no go"; if they have a proven expertise in an area you are looking to improve on such as running. You just need to do your homework and ask them enough questions to build a level of trust and comfort with them.

There are a lot of Personal Trainers who choose to work for themselves. They simply like the level of independence this offers them. If you find someone who you think can help you reach your fitness goals, give them a shot! Just avoid the long term contracts. Check out their certification. If a personal trainer says they are certified, get the name of the certifying organization and look them up. This simple step will go a long ways towards avoiding the sham artists out there and they do exist. You want to also make certain they are insured. If they make recommendations that aren't right for you, there has to be some form of recourse especially if you end up injured as a result.

By the way, when I say injured, I don't mean sore. Being sore in the first few days of a new exercise program is natural, in most cases it simply means your body is being pushed beyond its normal sedentary activity level.

If your personal trainer doesn't offer any type of fitness assessment before beginning your new program; be very wary. One of the first things all of the Certifying bodies teach trainers is to do an assessment of their client prior to designing a program.

In other words, the fact that you say you can run ten miles doesn't mean as a trainer I should take your word for and then end up with an injured client who I pushed too hard.

So, the bottom-line here;

1.Certification is a good thing

2.Trust is a must

3.Pre-training assessment is an absolute

4.No long term contracts (they are not designed for your benefit)

5.Groups are a good way to get started

6.Have fun and reach your goals

I did not include the names of the organizations that provide certification here because I did not want to leave anyone out. Just go to the internet and type in "personal trainer" on any search engine and you'll find them easy enough.

Follow these suggestions and there's a pretty good chance you're going to end up with a quality personal trainer and more importantly you'll find yourself reaching new levels of fitness!