HEATHER: Choosing the trainer who is right for you is critical to the success of your fitness goals. Your trainer must possess a high level of knowledge about such things as human anatomy, fitness or strength training principles, biomechanics and physiology. He or she should be degreed or nationally certified and have done an internship with a regarded professional in the field. Your trainer should be motivational, personable and able to listen to your needs. The training should revolve around you and he or she should not be engaged in conversations or activities outside the session. Basic professionalism is essential such as being on time and looking presentable. Switching trainers can be a sticky situation depending on the reasons behind the change. If it is due to a lack of professionalism, you should inform the trainer as to the specific reasons for your leaving him or her. If you aren't feeling challenged or motivated, again convey that to the current trainer and give him or her an opportunity to make the correction. If you simply want to try someone different communicate that as well. You are paying a significant amount of money for the highest quality experience. Don't be afraid to shop around for the best that your time, money and efforts can buy.

Question for the girlfriends: Has working with a personal trainer helped you reach your fitness goals? What is your routine when it comes to working with a trainer?

YVONNE: Working with a trainer has absolutely helped me with various fitness goals. My trainer, Derrick Howie, helped me prepare for my marathon with overall strengthening but with particular emphasis on chest development, cardiovascular endurance, posture and strengthening around the knees. Unless a person studies all the parts of the body that Heather speaks about, you can't know like a trainer knows how to focus on these things. And I find weight training with Derrick much more time efficient, productive and exhaustive.

LAURIE: Yeah. Sure. And it doesn't hurt that your trainer, in the immortal words of Salt-N-Pepa, "has an Arnold body and a Denzel face."

THERESA: Yeah, Yvonne always finds the best looking guys to work out with! On a tamer note, let me say that working with a trainer doesn't have to be expensive. Wendy and I got together and split the cost of having trainer Joe Ziegler from Lansdale meet us at our company gym. We met with him just once a month for several months. He helped us set goals, showed us weight routines, taught us about good nutrition and gave us fabulous encouragement. I know many people work out with a trainer a lot more often, one-on-one, but this worked for us and was an economical way to make good use of a trainer's expertise.

ELLEN: Aw, geez. Aren’t we going to talk about April’s sex life again. Or Yvonne and Denzel??

Ok. On to the benefits of trainers. I joined a club that has a floor on which two trainers are stationed to help the antiathletes like me. I had trepidations about joining this place because the joint has a reputation for being rather serious about athletics. So I wasn’t sure I’d last in the midst of all those buff bodies.

There were a couple of raw moments my first few times because the terribly fit clientele can intimidate me. (The other girlfriends will tell you that that I don’t scare easily.) So it’s great to have these two trainers, Linda and Mike, around in case I forget how to use a machine or have a question on how to increase the weight. I also really enjoy seeing them twice a week and that social aspect is important for folks like me.

One downside is that the part of the gym that I work out in is also used for physical therapy. So it’s called the Medical Floor. I feel like a nutcase every time I walk through the door that says, “Medical Floor.” It does make me laugh that I am so lame that I have to go do strength training in a medical setting. But it works for me!

And I’m still not going to talk about my sex life.