What's the difference between going to the gym and working with a trainer?
In a gym, people do "workouts" or "classes."
Training means you purposefully, scientifically and intentionally build muscle, lose fat, gain endurance and become more resistant to pain.
Working out is just doing a bunch of random stuff that makes you sweaty and tired.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Through education and experience, a good trainer knows the safest and most effective way for you to achieve the most important foundation of fitness: optimal relative strength. How strong you are relative to your body size.
Obviously, someone who weighs 200 pounds is going to be stronger than someone who weighs 130 pounds. But relatively speaking, they should be following the same principles.
THE PRINCIPLES OF TRAINING
Varying Rep Ranges. We follow detailed protocols for utilizing different rep ranges. Sets of 3 to 6 when we're focused on building strength. Sets of 8 to 12 when we're focused more on muscular endurance.
Controlling Effort. Sure, we're looking to lift a weight that's challenging within the rep range we've chosen. But we also need to leave something in the tank. Staying in the 7 to 8 range on a scale of 1 to 10 for perceived exertion will help you continue to build strength, add muscle, and burn fat. And do it safely. You should never train to absolute failure, or past the point where there's a significant breakdown in your form.
Checking Your Ego. Do you really need to lift heavy things to achieve all of these goals? Yes. You do. But remember, the weight needs to be heavy relative to you. Not your workout buddy who outweighs you by 50 pounds and has been lifting for five more years.
Working out makes you tired. Training makes you better. They're not the same thing, and the difference shows up in your results.
Hopefully that explains why training and working out are two entirely different things, and why you should choose training every time.