Even with the most natural boxing talent, you have to get a personal trainer when boxing. There are certain things about the combat sport that you need to know and a lot of assistance when training. Having a trainer that you get along with helps you horn your skills immensely.
Every great boxer that ever lived had to start somewhere. They didn’t just wake up one morning and boom they were world champions. They will be the first to admit the importance of having the right trainer by their side. It’s very important to locate someone who’ll help you unlock the potential that you have inside. That is the purpose of the right personal trainer.
If you do just a little research, you will discover some of your boxing idols have a team of personal trainers. This just emphasizes the importance of having one when you train. Your trainer is your support team to encourage and cheer you on as you learn and advance in the sport.
Having the right personal trainer is so crucial because it can make or break your potential boxing career of you want to go pro. It can also mean the difference between getting injured and preventing injuries. Even if your intensions are not to go pro, still select a trainer with good techniques and not one who will teach you bad habits. There are certain factors to keep in mind when choosing your trainer.
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Factors to Consider when Choosing a Boxing Trainer
Bravo! Now you’ve finally decided boxing is the path for you. It’s not time to get started. Who’ll train you? Like everything else in life, choosing the best personal trainer takes time. It’s not as simple as waking up and picking the first person you see when you enter the gym.
1. Personality
Look at your life and think of the type of people you connect with easily. How are their personalities? Think of your teachers and mentors too, what style of teaching best works for you? Do thrive when being motivated or criticized? Before settling on a trainer, observe the different ones available and see whose personality appeals best to you.
2. Personal Beliefs
What does your trainer’s personal beliefs? Do they match or differ with your beliefs? Does the program your potential trainer use go hand in hand with their beliefs and is it something you want to be involved in? Have a conversation with different trainers and see if their beliefs can rhyme with yours.
3. How Much do they Charge?
Different trainers charge different prices that are normally determined by several things. One is the years of experience the personal trainer has under their belt. The more experienced and sort after trainers can charge high prices than those that are less experienced. Two is the location of the gym. Where the gym is located can determine the price a trainer charges. Uptown gyms in affluent neighborhoods tend to charge higher than those in middle and low income neighborhoods.
4. Trainer’s Schedule
A highly sort after trainer may not be ideal for a beginner. There are working on a busy schedule and may lack the patience and dedication to take you through the basic steps. Basic steps of boxing require consistent repetition until you get every move and understand every lingo. Select a trainer that can be completely present when training and not easily distracted by their overwhelming schedule.
5. Customer Reviews
Just like you can locate a good gym online by reading reviews left by other customers, the same applies for personal boxing trainers too. They have profile on the gym websites and you can also access their social media pages. Some even have personal websites that you can visit. Comb through the comments left by people with experience training with the trainer you’re interested in. Are the reviews good or are you simply wasting your time?
6. Certifications and Credentials
Boxing is a sport that demands professionalism and credibility. You must research whether the trainer you have has the necessary certificates and credentials to be your trainer. This isn’t a sport to be trained by any Tom, Dick, and Harry who believes they know something about boxing. There are certain examination bodies like ACE (American Council for Exercise) that you should be familiar with. These bodies ensure trainers meet the required standards to train others.
7. Years of Experience
As a beginner, select a trainer who has more experience training beginners. A trainer whose experience is more with pro-boxers and advanced amateurs is not the ideal trainer for you. This is because they may lack the patience of taking you through the basics than a trainer who has more experience with beginners. An experienced trainer will also keep you safe around the gym knowing how best to use certain equipment to avoid injuries.
Different Training Styles in Boxing
Different trainers train in different ways and no two trainers are the same. You have to take your time and do some research to find the right one for you.
Trainer Skilled in Creativity
You need a trainer that is smart and creative to give you the very best training. You don’t want to keep stumbling around struggling to learn the basics. Your trainer has to be able to create different ways for you to learn once they see a certain method isn’t working out. Creative trainers are innovative, always coming up with new routines and techniques to make training interesting for you.
After sometime, doing the same thing every day can be boring. Get a trainer who can switch things up now and then just to keep you excited and on your toes.
Trainer that Trains to Succeed
You want to feel good and accomplished when you leave the gym and think fondly of your trainer. Most trainers push their trainees to the point where they are out of breath and even throwing up. This is not the kind of trainer to choose as a beginner. Nothing is ever good enough for them.
Choose a trainer that celebrates the wins with you daily. You look forward to your next training sessions. Some people believe that the drill sergeant routine is better but their results are short lived. You’ll wake up one day and decide not to go back. You have had enough of your trainer backing orders at you and never appreciating anything you do in the gym.
Personal Connection
It is important to visit the gym you want to attend and strike up a conversation with different trainers. See whose personality clicks with yours. Who do you have a personal connection with? Being able to open up and be comfortable around your trainer is important. It will determine whether you’ll truly learn while training of not. Don’t simply settle for someone because they have all this qualifications, settle for a trainer you click with!
Experienced Trainers
Experienced trainers will help you start on the right footing. They may not have trained boxers for decades, but the reviews on them show they know how to properly train boxers. Take advantage of the trial period offered by your gym to learn more about the different trainers they have on staff and their experience.
An experienced trainer has a clear strategy to help you gain as much as you can in training. They take their time and plan your daily routine. They simply do not throw you into the ring and make you do everything at once. If today is all about your jab technique, then that’s all you will do until you get it right. Now that is a top-notch trainer!
Strategy to Finding the Best Boxing Trainer
Come up with a plan on how to find the best boxing trainer for you. Think through what you need and even go as far as writing down your plan.
1. Determine your Goals
What are your intentions of joining a boxing gym? Is it just to keep fit or do you have an interest in professional boxing? Knowing your motivation to joining boxing is crucial because different trainers cater for different needs.
Talk to the customer service personnel and explain your needs to them. They will help you pinpoint which trainers meet your needs best. This is important because you don’t want to sign up for membership and then discover the trainer you have is not the one you want.
2. Pick a Boxing Gym
There are certain factors to consider before signing the membership in a certain boxing gym. Is it a good gym with a good reputation? Is it close to different important amenities? Where is it located? Does it have trained personnel? How much does it charge and can you afford their rates? Does it offer a trial period? What are the different customer reviews on this particular gym? Are the staff friendly and welcoming?
These factors will help you locate the best gym with the best trainer just for you!
3. Learn more About Different Trainers
As you do your round checking out the different boxing gyms available in your area, you need to get to know the different trainers too. Talk to them and even engage on social media. Most gyms have the bio of their trainers on their websites where you get to learn the basic info on them. But make an effort to have a face to face conversation too.
Get to know what the trainer enjoy teaching and what their best boxing technique entails. Does this match your own boxing goals or not? Your trainer has to understand what your goals are and be able to train you to reach them.
4. Make Use of the Trial Period
One strategy employed by boxing gyms to attract more clients in to offer them a trial period. You get to train for free for several days and test out a certain gym. This works to your advantage because you can take you time to get to know different trainers before signing any membership. During the trial period, to woo you, trainers will pay more attention to you so you can ask as many questions as you want.
5. Communication is Key
Finally you have found the right trainer for you. Now is the time to sit down and strategize on how best to reach your goals. Communicate openly about your expectations and fear too. Let them in to get the best training possible. Be ready to learn and be accepting of criticism too.
Types of Trainers to Steer Clear of
1. Trainers with no Boxing Experience
This is so important especially if you intend to become a professional Boxer. You must get a trainer with experience competing in a ring. There are certain things that only an experienced boxer can teach you because they have practiced them too. They know exactly what goes through the mind of a boxer while on the ring facing an opponent. They know the fears too and how to best overcome them.
Such a trainer will save you so much time unlearning what you thought you knew and learning what you need to know. It takes an experienced professional boxer to train another. Iron sharpens iron! A trainer who was a boxer knows exactly what you need to expect in your first and consecutive bouts on the ring. They know when your endurance is good enough or not and can communicate that to you effectively.
A trainer with boxing experience and different titles on their belt had a good trainer as well. That is why they had a successful professional career. Such a trainer is qualified to train you properly.
2. Experienced Fighters
Yes an experienced boxer is good for you, but they can also be bad for you. Some former boxers may not be the best as trainers. This all boils down to talent. Some people are born with natural boxing talent that helps them thrive on the ring. The others have to train very hard to get ahead.
A trainer who glided through their career because of their natural talent if the wring trainer for you. He/she didn’t learn all that is required to be a pro-boxer. They won’t be able to give you the full specialized training you need.
3. The Over-booked Trainer
He/she if everyone’s favorite trainer and their schedule is always full. You may be able to squeeze in training time with them but it won’t be effective especially as a beginner. Get a trainer who is dedicated and has enough time to train you well. The over-booked trainer won’t pay the required attention to you.
This is why the trial period at a certain gym is important. Take advantage of it to know the different trainer. You get a chance to sift through and decide on who meets your needs better. In case your trainer becomes the over-booked trainer with time, be ready to move on and search for a new trainer to keep your progress rising. The trainer may not have the time and dedication they once had which can be a set-back for you if you stick with them.
4. The Sideline Trainer
These are trainers who stand on the sidelines and back orders. They never get engaged to show you how to do a certain move or combinations. They simply yell how it’s done and expect you to understand. They tend to be impatient and just want to rush through the scheduled time. Run from such a trainer!
Tips to Finding the Best Boxing Trainer
1. Talk to other Boxers
Word goes round the boxing community about the very best trainers available in your local. There will be a number of them to choose from. Talk to your fellow boxers at the local gyms or online in chat forums. This is the best and easiest way to sift through all the trainers available and pin point the one for you. After doing your research, make contact with the trainer and see if you click.
2. Interview Different trainers
You may want a personal trainer to come to your home gym instead of having to go to a gym. You can set up an advert for a personal trainer and hold interviews with the ones who respond. They can come over and offer training for a session and you get to evaluate them. Do you have chemistry? Do they know what they are doing? Are they certified? Have they trained other successful boxers before? This is can help you make the best choice.
3. Make Some Inquiries at your Chosen Gym
When you finally narrow down your search for the best gym and have finally picked one, the next step is to get to know the personal trainers available. Head to the gym and make inquiries on who they are and how they operate. Talk to the manager about the different trainers and their experience. He/she is well versed with the trainers and will be in a position to advise you on the trainer that meets your goals.
4. Go for Prowess and not Gender
You may be tempted to gravitate towards a male trainer because boxing is a male-dominated sport. Point blank that is bias and a huge mistake! There are professional certified female trainers who are very qualified too. Select a trainer based on their track record and how they relate with their clients. Basing it on gender will make you miss out on a great trainer just because you are biased. You have to be willing to train with both genders because they have skills that you need to learn.
5. Enlist Referrals
This is one of the easiest ways to select the best trainer for you. Your friend of colleague can recommend their trainer. You do not have to vet hundreds of candidates to get one that works. Your friend may share some of your goals and that makes their trainer the one for you if they meet any of those goals.
6. Prepare a Checklist
You can print out a checklist of all the qualifications you are looking for in a trainer. This shows how serious you are especially if your goals are to be a professional boxer. Ask the required questions and check whether a trainer meets the criteria or not. When you are done, evaluate each and vet who is the best candidate.
7. Organize a Test Session
Your local gym may not offer a free-trial period but you can negotiate for a trial session with different trainers in a bid to get the best for you. Talk with the manager before signing the membership. This is the best time because they are inclined to accept to get your business. Use the test sessions to see who you click with best and genuinely enjoy training with.
Conclusion
Know what you want! Having clear goals in mind is doing half the work when it comes to seeking a personal boxing trainer. Your goals will help you see who best meets your standards. Do you want to train for fitness or become a professional boxer? A trainer who trains for fitness has a different strategy that is different from one who trains professional boxers. You don’t want to mix the two up because you’ll just end up wasting time and not meeting your goals.
A good trainer will find you. You don’t have to rush the process of getting one. Take your time and do ample research. This shows how important the next chapter of your life is. Your trainer will become part of your life and you don’t want just anyone in your life. They must add value to it. You need a trainer who will stroke the flames of your fighting spirit. You’ll end up excited every time you think of training with them.
A good trainer spots your potential and helps awaken the best within. With every training and conversation you share, they aim to lift your mood and keep you going even when you want to quit. They will hold you up when you’re down. Now that is a great personal boxing trainer!