Exercise plays a significant role in our well-being. Besides keeping us fit, it helps relieve built-up stress and tension. It can even improve mental health (which is crucial for both caregivers and seniors).
It also facilitates the smooth functioning of different bodily systems. But, exercising can be slightly challenging for some. The primary cause of this is inadequate knowledge and experience. Other times, health conditions mean that some types of exercise are more appropriate than others. For such people, seeking professional help seems like a viable option.
This brings us to the discussion of comparing personal trainer vs exercise physiologist roles.
Both types of professionals are specialists in the field of exercise, helping people to find the right exercises and be more active, while encouraging them along the way.
However, there are also differences, as personal trainers and exercise physiologists have different types of training and qualifications. Their responsibilities are different too.
To choose the right one for your situation, you first need to understand the difference these two fields. So, compare the roles of personal trainer vs exercise physiologist.
Why This Matters for Seniors (and Caregivers!)
Exercise is crucial. There’s no denying this.
However, it often becomes more difficult as people age.
For example, seniors with arthritis need to exercise regularly. This helps to strengthen their body and decrease pain. However, exercising with arthritis can also be difficult and painful. Some types of exercise also need to be avoided to protect the joints from harm or modifications need to be made to optimize them.
Other health conditions may require different considerations, such as relying on low impact exercise, like swimming or turning to chair yoga rather than traditional yoga.
You can probably work out some modifications yourself. However, they won’t all be obvious.
Seniors with multiple health conditions are also at higher risk, so it’s truly important to know which exercises they can do safely and which ones they should be cautious with.
Turning to a professional is a powerful way to do this.
Doing so can help you support your loved one too, as you know which exercises to encourage them to do. An exercise physiologist may even be able to teach you how to support your loved one throughout the process.
Or, perhaps you need an exercise professional for yourself.
After all, seniors aren’t the only ones who face health challenges. Many caregivers have chronic conditions of their own, ones they’re contending with while also supporting someone else. The right professional might even be able to help you find exercises that don’t take much time or ways to decrease any pain associated with daily tasks.
A Personal Trainer vs Exercise Physiologist: What’s the Difference?
1. Exercise Physiologist
Exercise physiologists work primarily with those who suffer from health conditions. They help patients develop a physical regime to enhance their overall health. Such professionals hold extensive knowledge of kinesiology, along with other health-related fields.
Hence, they usually conduct their practices in hospitals or clinics. However, you can sometimes find them in other environments as well. Their skills make exercise physiologists particularly relevant for seniors with multiple chronic conditions or who are in regular pain.
The fact that these professionals often work in clinics and hospitals also makes it easier to link their work to the rest of the senior’s care team.
Duties
- Discuss your health and fitness concerns
- Evaluate your medical condition through reports
- Identify realistic goals based on your ailment
- Demonstrate exercises to let you perform them safely
- Monitor your fitness and health progress
- Conduct tests to assess your fitness levels
Benefits of Seeking an Exercise Physiologist
Consulting an exercise therapist benefits you in the following ways:
- Improves overall health and fitness by helping to better your ailment and increasing your fitness level significantly.
- Effective pain management. Allows you to perform exercises while enduring the least amount of pain. Some exercises may even decrease your pain over time.
- Customized exercises. Provides access to a personalized workout and diet plan.
2. Personal Trainer
Personal trainers generally work with individual clients or small groups. They assist in improving your physical fitness effectively. Unlike exercise physiologists, personal trainers do not necessarily possess formal postsecondary training.
However, they do hold immense knowledge of exercise science and human anatomy.
A personal trainer is particularly relevant for seniors and caregivers who don’t have serious medical conditions and want to improve their fitness.
Duties
- Discusses your fitness goals
- Analyses your fitness levels
- Develops a training program based on your needs
- Demonstrates the proper way to perform exercises
- Conduct one-on-one sessions
Besides these duties, a gym trainer may provide nutritional information and offer related services like helping to create diet plans that correspond to your fitness plan. This way, you achieve your goals faster and more efficiently.
Benefits of Seeking a Personal Trainer
Hiring a personal trainer offers benefits like:
- Increased accountability. The trainer helps to keep you accountable and hence, more consistent with your workout plan.
- Supporting a flexible schedule. Allows you to build a plan based on time constraints and other limitations.
- Achieve goals faster. Provides access to the most suitable and practical exercises, plus encouragement, which helps to improve your success.
Conclusion
The right professional depends entirely on your situation and needs. This is why it’s best to assess them before selecting one.
If you’re not sure which type matches your needs, try talking to your doctor. They’ll be able to advise you on which approach is best.
Many seniors will be just fine using a personal trainer rather than an exercise physiologist, which is helpful, as personal trainers tend to be less expensive. They could also start with a personal trainer and switch to an exercise physiologist later on, if the trainer isn’t giving them everything that they hoped for.
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