Yo, gym rats, some advice, please. My PT wants me to ad a 3rd session every week.

[Denninmi]

Pros, cons? (Aside from the cost, of course).

Part of me says I'm already at the wall of what I can do in a week. The other part says it's time to push through the wall, I'll get where I want to go faster.

[Chan790]

1. Age? What does your doctor say?

PT: Physical therapist or personal trainer? (One has a level of training I trust more to know when exercise becomes too much exercise.)

What kinds of session do they want to add? More flexibility, pilates or light aerobics never hurt anybody. Endurance, cardio or strength training needs to be watched more closely.

At some point, more sessions per week with a trainer stops yielding positive results and just starts increasing the likelihood of injury because you have less recovery time between sessions.

[Denninmi]

2. Personal trainer.

Mostly strength, some cardio.

Which Dr? Pick one of the 8 who are currently treating me for something.

[Chan790]

3. Well...8?!

I'd say your GP. Probably also the one that saw you after your recent spill (It was you that recently took a spill on a bicycle or motorcycle, yes? I'm pretty sure but it's 6am and I'm a wide awake insomniac.) and I'm assuming one of them is seeing you for weight concerns since that's the reason most people go to the gym and how they orient their gym-related goals...so that one too.

The really fun part is that they'll all disagree. As a matter of course, they always do.

[Denninmi]

5. Actually, that was someone else.

No spills in a long time.

[Chan790]

6. I'm glad you didn't fall off your bike.

I did that years ago and never got around to getting back on the bike.

[Denninmi]

7. Ah, I've had a couple of epic spills.

Just not for about a year. My best one was last November, it was take the shoulder or be obliterated by an ass running a stop sign. I did well, it was a semi-controlled spill.

[AngryOldDem]

4. Two thoughts.

1) I've heard a lot of people say that their trainers took them way beyond where they thought they could physically go. And it's true, you get it set in your mind that you can only do so much, your body can only take so much. Breaking through the mental wall is huge with any kind of training. (I'm learning that with my running.) PT must be convinced that you have more in you than you think. That is a huge compliment and a testament to how far you've come in your sessions.

2) But...you know you best. If you have any concerns about your physical condition, talk with your PT to see exactly what he/she has in mind with this extra session, and talk to your doc.

Contradictory advice, I know, but I think you have to determine whether your concerns are about "the wall," or whether you truly aren't quite physically ready to add more work.

Good luck! Sounds like you're doing great.

[Denninmi]

8. I think it's the mental wall.

I have no real physical concerns - even my cardiologist gave the green light, my chiropractor just says don't overdo lower back strain.

It's the wall.

[R B Garr]

17. If it's just the mental wall for you, I would go ahead and add the session

There's some great advice already posted here about the physical concerns, but if it's mostly to push yourself mentally, I would say go ahead and add it. You can always stop if it doesn't suit you.

The reason I say that is I find that I have to change up my routines quite a bit. Even the classes, if I go to the same class at the same time with the same instructors, I tend to get relaxed after awhile. I don't mean to, but I do notice it happening. If I'm always changing things up, I'm more on my toes which challenges me more.

It sounds like you're ready for the extra challenge mentally. You'll see if the physical part of it is worth it after a short while.

If you have been working with a personal trainer for this long already, and you like it, that's another strong indicator to trust this person's judgment about increasing your efforts. Personally for me, I found I tended to be intimidated working with a personal trainer and I started not looking forward to my gym time as much. I think that's just because I wasn't as strong as I wanted to be, and I started worrying about it more than feeling challenged. That's just me, though, and that intimidation factor is going away as I'm becoming stronger and more fit.

As I look back at what I can do now compared to when I started, it's amazing. So if you're ready for the challenge, then go for it. If you never go, you'll never know!

Congratulations on your efforts!

[Denninmi]

18. Thank you.

I love, love, love working with the various trainers I've dealt with in the past year. This particular guy is amazing, and I really trust him. So yes, I texted him earlier and told him to rewrite my contract and add the sessions.

[eShirl]

9. I say... get a 2nd opinion from the other type of PT (Physical Therapist)

They can evaluate you better than we can, and they know their shit.

[Denninmi]

10. Ah, the old issue.

Among the million other things, my BCBS doesn't pay for physical therapy.

[winter is coming]

11. All the more reason to be careful about messing up your back. n/t

[Denninmi]

16. One of those 8 doctors is a chiropractor.

I used to scoff at it, but this guy is really good, he doesn't push the supplements and other stuff, doesn't even sell them, and doesn't push it as a philosophy. In 3 months, my neck and back feel amazingly restored to what they were like 20 years ago. Really glad I did it, even if it was yet another one of those little "non-covered services."

[Lars39]

14. There are sometimes personal trainers

at physical therapy places connected with teaching hospitals. Not cheap, maybe 75 bucks or more per hour, but you just might need only that one hour for a second opinion.

[mythology]

12. If you can afford it, I would add the third session at least for a while

I work out 6 days a week, including two sessions on Saturday and Sunday. And while I do sometimes accumulate some nagging issues, I've found that I can do more than I thought I could.

Plus I've found that when I get tired, I have to focus more on technique which helps in the long run.

But you might want to consider mixing it up rather than just going to a personal trainer. I say that as somebody who can't stand the thought of going to a gym to work out so your mileage may vary. I do a mixture of martial arts, parkour and gymnastics. They all have some overlap, but they are distinctly different at the same time. It pushes my mental ability to wrap my head around physical activities more because I'm not naturally good at that.

[handmade34]

13. find your strong...

(disclaimer... I don't endorse the shoes )

[DGeorge]

15. I'd go with slow and steady. You get there faster.

[benld74]

19. Back in the day I would,,,

work out 4-5 days per week
concentrating on different muscle groups each day
warming up stretching before with a jogging mile before each work out
cooling off with alternating dips in the whirlpool/lap pool

That back in the day was before marriage/kids/schedules etc