Maybe the big event isn’t an athletic event, but rather your 25^th high school class reunion. Or your wedding. Or even something as sublime as a two-week vacation in Curaçao.

Regardless the reason, you want to be in tip-top shape, which is why you’re thinking a personal trainer might be an excellent idea.

When the Clock is Ticking

Working out when working toward a date-driven event is different than working out to achieve long-term health and even goals. When the clock is ticking, what you do – and don’t do – every day determines whether your goals will be met – which makes it imperative that you hire a personal trainer sooner rather than later.

As Yoda said to Luke, “Do or do not. There is no try.”

There’s a reason professional cyclists, golfers, runners, and swimmers have personal trainers. Depending on your goals – and the time frame for achieving them – a personal trainer will walk you through proper warm-up routines, advise you on how to avoid injuries, and create a proper training schedule.

But there is another, even more important reason why a personal trainer is important.

A personal trainer can hold you accountable and will know how to motivate you to stay on schedule and keep you from slacking off. When the big event is just a few months away, that extra accountability and motivation can be the difference between success and failure.

How a Personal Trainer Can Help

Depending on what you are training for and the timing of your event, a personal trainer can suggest activities that work for your body, schedule, and available equipment. That’s not all. Your personal trainer can also help you figure out how hard to work during exercise and how to monitor your exercise intensity, while also showing you how to choose exercises, weights, reps, and sets.

When time is of the essence, your workout might benefit from various fitness tools, such as a heart rate monitor or activity tracker. If so, your personal trainer can demonstrate how to use these effectively, while also teaching you how to get the most out of your workout without overdoing it and putting yourself at risk for injury.

Creating Effective Schedules

Training is about more than working out. You also need to have the right amount of recovery time. A personal trainer can help you create a program that allows your body to maximize your workouts while also giving it time to heal and recover.

Such a schedule helps with fatigue management, too, which is crucial for avoiding overtraining and burnout. By incorporating rest and recovery techniques into your workout schedule, your personal trainer will help ensure that when the day of your big event arrives, so will you.