Mojabeng Dorcas Senekal

SELF-MOTIVATION is the best quality anyone can possess; the ability to push oneself to work- out on what you would describe as “a bad day” is one of the hardest things in the world.

Several things can get in the way of our self-motivation, one being the fear of our own power; we tend to mistake this fear with laziness or fatigue. Sometimes we are just afraid of giving the best of ourselves to a journey because we are scared we might fail, or that we might disappoint ourselves, or that we are not conforming to society’s expectations.

I believe it is just the fear of unleashing our full potential, so right there, that is what slows us down, not just in the fitness journey but in life generally. This fear is why we all need a personal trainer. I am a trainer, but I have a personal trainer of my own, because everyone needs their own personal cheerleader.

Having a personal trainer beside you to demonstrate the correct posture and technique is invaluable. A trainer will ensure that you are performing exercises correctly and efficiently in order to maximise results, if your form when exercising is not correct, then you are at increased risk of injury as well as not achieving your goals.

A trainer will help you set realistic goals, it is the perfect tool to ensure that you commit and stick to your fitness goals. Choose a personal trainer who has undergone specific nutrition education though so you know that you can fully trust their nutritional advice too. Be careful not to end up having co- dependence issues though, you don’t want to be too dependent on your trainer because if she/he takes just one week off, that will be the beginning of a relapse for you, it gets really difficult to maintain consistency on your own. It’s not a crime to have someone coaching you but it becomes one if you end up not knowing how to do it on your own.