Working out at home? Here's how to choose a legit instructor

1. Do background checks

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When choosing a fitness instructor, be it virtually or not, you should read up on his or her background for past and present successes and/or failures as well as testimonials from existing or ex-clients. You would also want to choose someone who specialises in the goal of your choice. For instance, it may not be wise to choose a yoga master in backbends to coach you in handstands.

“I believe in leading by example. If I can’t do it or have never done it before and don’t know how it feels like, I won’t ask you to do it. If I can’t lose fat myself, who am I to teach you? That’s what I subscribe to,” says personal trainer Nian Kang (@dinokang), who recommends fitness instructors who are able to walk their talk.

2. Look for credentials

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No doubt, it is every fitness instructor’s social responsibility to present accurate information. Yet, as someone new to fitness, you wouldn’t know what you don’t know, would you? There is no guarantee, but trainers with solid fitness credentials would be deemed more credible than those without.

Certification boards strive for a reason. Aspiring fitness professionals have to study their craft – both theory and practical – to pass a rigorous exam that assesses not just their knowledge but the application of their programming and instructional skills. In short, the experts do the job for you – at least at the point of certification, these fitness professionals are credible and current. So the baseline is that they would do no harm with bad form or ill advice.

Some established fitness institutions and credentials are the American Council on Exercise’s (ACE) Personal Trainer Certification (CPT) and the National Strength and Conditioning Association’s (NSCA) Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS).

3. Watch out for the details

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There is no one-size-fits-all fitness workout; we are all unique individuals with different body types, metabolism, health conditions as well as fitness goals and needs. Moral of the story? Be wary of fitness influencers who make claims such as spot reductions. Obviously, that does not hold true for we are all at different starting points in our fitness endeavours.

Instead, look for videos that give details or descriptions of their difficulty (beginner, intermediate, advance) and intensity levels. On this note, you will need to be objective about where you are in terms of your fitness level. Your instructor may be legit but it could be a case of “too much, too soon” if you choose the wrong difficulty or intensity level.

You also want a variety of workouts that consist of compound movements – multi-joint movements that work several muscle groups at once – for they are more functional and cover a greater range of motion. This means you’ll get a full-body workout and burn more calories.

One gripe professional fitness trainers have is the bad form that some ill-qualified fitness influencers demonstrate in their videos. While the risk of injury is pretty low as most of these workouts require no equipment, it is crucial that we perform the exercises in proper form, for them to be effective and safe.

“HIIT is one of the best ways available to get results in a fraction of the time. But we know it’s equally important to help users develop good exercise habits so they can continue to progress, injury-free, in the long term,” said Ian Tan, co-founder of Ritual Gym. During the circuit breaker period, the popular HIIT studio launched the Ritual Anywhere app to offer customised 20-minute workouts. The app is free for Ritual members and costs $12.99/month for non-members.

Said Ian: “We included an introduction video, detailed cues and videos of how to do each exercise, custom recommendations depending on how you feel, and a strategy for each session.”

The Intro Session in the app features warm-up and fundamentals. All those new to the app are encouraged to go through this mini HIIT session first. Soon, Ritual Anywhere app will receive a major update that includes personalised audio coaching, so you’ll get technique tips and motivational messages as you’re doing the workout.

This brings us to our final point…

4. Find your muse

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While celebrity power may not translate to actual competency, you would want to choose someone who inspires you to get moving… and keep moving! One of the greatest challenges of working out at home is that there is absolutely no penalty for cancelling on your workouts – you are strictly accountable to yourself. Hence, motivation is key.

Need a drill sergeant to yell at you to keep moving? How about a trash talker who would shame you into not giving up? An encouraging cheerleader for the sophisticated folks? The mother figure who tells you what’s good for you? Or simply someone who has honed his or her craft so well that you aspire to be like him or her?

There’s no point in doing the most effective workout by the most credible instructor if you are not inspired to follow suit. Likewise, it would be foolhardy to follow in the footsteps of someone whom you aspire to be like, but dishes out dodgy advice that may cause you harm instead.

Make the most of your home workout by choosing wisely with the above tips. Have fun, stay safe and in shape!

This article was first published in Shape.