Aside from compiling bespoke workouts for clients, I believe a personal trainer's most important role is that of motivator.

Let's face it, getting yourself to the gym (or your chosen place of exercise) on any sort of regular basis can be a challenge and, once you're there, working as hard as you can is tough. It makes sense, therefore to have someone or something that ensures you a) turn up and b) work to the best of your ability.

It stands to reason that if you've pre-paid for PT sessions (as most people do to get a discount) the chances are you WILL turn up; and  then, when you've got a professional watching you, correcting you, encourgaing you, pushing you and maybe even shouting at you, then you're more likely to fuflfill your workout potential than if you were doing it alone. 

Unfortunately, motivation doesn't just miracuoulsy happen. Motivation is borne out of desire - if you want something in life, you generally have to do certain things to obtain it. Most people need a reason to exercise; they need a goal or an aim or at least an idea of a place they want to be in time.

So, when I first sit down with a new client, one of the first things I establish is why they want a personal trainer. What I find though is that most people have a vague notion of what they're trying to achieve but they haven't thought it through in detail.

So, my advice for anyone about to embark on an exercise plan is to set SMART goals. The acronym stands for: specific, measureable, achieveable, relevant and time-bound. If you actually write down how each of these factors relates to your particular goal, you will almost certainly have a clearer view of what you're trying to do and what you need to do in order to achieve it.

For example, with regards the goal of weight loss:

SPECIFIC. How much weight do you want to lose/what dress size do you want to get down to etc?

MRASUREABLE: Plan to weigh yourself on a regular basis (say once a week)  and log down the results.

ACHIEVABLE: Be sensible. If you're 30 stone, don't set a 10 stone goal. Set one that's more likely in the first instance - say 20 stone. Then, when you achieve that, set another one and another one until you're there.

RELEVANT: Good goals are meaningful and significant. They can be life-changeing. So, for example, an overweight dad might want to lose weight so that he can play football with his children.

TIME BOUND: Set a number of different dates by which you want to achieve different things - for example, getting into that little black dress you used to wear before giving birth on your next birthday.

NOW, stick these goals up on your fridge, look at them every day and if you're in need of further motivation, you might wish to hire yourself a personal trainer.