Do Professional Athletes Have Personal Trainers?

When people head to the gym for the first time, it can be challenging to understand the best way of getting into shape. It’s not quite as simple as just heading onto the treadmill for 30 minutes per session. Therfore, many people sometimes employ a personal trainer to get the best out of the exercise. These experts in fitness and conditioning have the skills and ability to design a training program to help you meet your goals. It doesn’t matter if your goal is to get into the best shape or just to find out which exercises will help you tone up. Normal people use personal trainers, but do professional athletes have personal trainers also?

Personal Trainers Help Some of the Most Successful Athletes

It’s not only every day people looking to get fit or lose weight that utilizes personal trainer services; there are many people you would never imagine have a trainer with them. Take Emma Raducanu, for example; the 19-year-old had a meteoric rise to fame in 2021. Raducanu shocked the world early this year when she won the US Open. Subsequently, she produced another shock days later when she sacked her personal coach. The Brit is currently working with new coach Torben Beltz, according to Tennis World USA, something Raducanu is hoping will spur her on to further glory. Pundits and tennis observers think it is a good move. That’s reflected in her being ranked as the fourth favorite for the Australian Open in the latest odds with bookmakers Coral.

Whilst a personal trainer in tennis helps as much with technique as fitness, many other athletes consider a personal trainer essential to their success. Tom Brady has consistently been one of the top performers in the NFL in his 20+ years as a quarterback. Large parts of his longevity in the game are down to his work with a personal trainer, Alex Guerrero. The partnership between the pair demonstrates just how important this bespoke training regime can help even the best in the world. What do personal trainers bring to athletes, outside of the technique of the game which Raducanu is searching for?

Personal Fitness Goals For Professional Athletes

These sports stars are fit and have their own ways of staying in shape. However, personal trainers advise these athletes with insights specifically suited to their sport. What Raducanu needs from her regime is totally different from that of Brady. Whilst both need strong baseline fitness, their sports require different strengths in order to be successful. The strength and physique required in short bursts by Brady are on the opposite side of the spectrum of tennis. The burgeoning British tennis star will rely much more on speed and fitness over long spells on the court. This is one of the key reasons why the answer to ‘do professional athletes have personal trainers’ is a resounding yes!

The personal trainer can help the athlete understand their physical weaknesses and strengths and then set goals around that. They work with the athletes to set strength and fitness goals that will have the biggest impact on athlete success. Once they have these goals set, the personal trainer will develop a plan to meet those goals with the athlete. They will then work daily to execute that plan in order to hit those goals. The athlete could obviously do some of this on their own. However, the trainer’s expertise and ability to take all of this off the athletes plate is invaluable. That is why professional athletes have personal trainers.

Personal Trainers Can Highlight Benefits of Proper Technique for Athletes

The best trainers will be able to teach proper technique and form. It’s about finding the right way to swing the baseball bat, racquet, or throw the football. The trainer finds ways to maximize natural strength and minimize risk of injury while doing so. The experts are fully aware of how the body works, which muscle groups fire, and in which order. Utilizing their expertise can help develop an athlete’s style of training and play that suits their body, young or old.

Like Brady, LeBron James is another elite-level athlete who believes in the benefits that a trainer can bring. He’s still recognized as one of the best players in the NBA at almost 37 years of age. Basketball is one of the most physical of disciplines, yet through consistency and specific training, James has been extremely successful. He is proof that age is just a number if the body is prepared right.

Personal Trainers Know that Relationships and Trust Build Extra Motivation

The best personal trainers can build a trust that is unlike any other relationship athletes will have their peers or teammates in their field. Quite often, top-level players such as Raducanu will have small circles of advisors. Professional athletes keep their allies close to maintain focus and avoid distractions. Meaning there’s no one better to know the person behind the athlete. There’s no greater highlight of this than when Brady recovered from an ACL and MCL injury in 2008 in record time thanks to the motivational techniques of Guerrero. Since then, Brady has trusted the trainer to help him become one of the best player in the NFL. Such is the relationship between the pair; the trainer is now godfather to one of Brady’s children.

All in all, the best trainers don’t just know how to maintain or gain fitness, they’re able to push the right buttons of the greats of sport. To take them beyond their peers to get that extra yard, set winner, or buzzer-beating three-pointer.