Even if you have the best intentions for building your muscles and living a generally fitter life, these aren’t always easy goals to pursue.

After all, as a dad, you’re already dealing with limited timeframes. Plus, let’s call a spade a spade – a regular muscle-building routine can be tough. As well as requiring ongoing dedication, the early stages of your efforts, at least, will be littered with muscle aches, recovery times, and a whole load of other reasons why you might want to just jack it all in after a few sessions.

Difficulties like these leave countless people struggling on their muscle-building journeys, especially when they’re attempting to do things alone. After all, with no one to hold you accountable, or help you towards the right workouts for your stage and muscle development, the incentive to keep going can be low.

In reality, though, giving up at the first hurdle means that you’ll never build the muscles you’re aiming towards. Instead of throwing in the towel, you would be far better off seeking professional help from a personal trainer or another coaching professional who can ease the start of your muscle-building journey, and the challenges you face along the way.

In this article, we’re going to consider just a few of the benefits you could enjoy from entrusting a professional to lift those barbells right along with you.

1. Less risk of injury

It’s easy to injure yourself when lifting heavy weights and barbells, especially if you don’t know what you’re doing. Pushing yourself too far before you’re ready can result in a range of sometimes serious injuries, including:

• Fractures
• Dislocations
• Disk herniation
• Muscular knee injuries
• And more

With a far more measured and informed approach regarding how to build muscle, a professional will be able to guide you towards the right weights to lift depending on where you’re at, rather than where you want to be. A tailor-made muscle-building plan, which should be offered as standard by any reputable trainer, will also provide you with plenty of rest days, as well as an understanding of the need for careful diets during recovery. As well as making it easier to build muscle as desired over time, this professional oversight leaves you at way less risk of injuries that could otherwise put an end to your muscle-building journey before it begins.

2. A tailored workout plan

As mentioned briefly above, a dedicated plan for muscle building can make a huge difference to your levels of success, especially when that plan is written and overseen by a professional. While there are now plenty of blanket weight-lifting template plans online, these are unlikely to serve you as well due to issues including your limited knowledge and a general lack of accountability. You’re certainly unlikely to factor in every element of a successful muscle-building journey in a plan that you’ve written yourself.

By comparison, a trainer is far more likely to oversee a comprehensive, well-thought plan depending on everything from your initial weight class to your current lifestyle and overall goals. Just a few of the things that a trainer should talk you through when putting your plan in place include:

• Current fitness levels
• Intended muscle growth
• Complete diet plan
• Preferred weights
• Planned recovery days
• Etc

As well as writing your plan in the first place, most trainers will check in on those goals at least once a month throughout your muscle-building journey. This helps to keep you on track, change your strength goalposts, and generally make sure that you’re putting in the effort required to see real results.

3. Shorter recovery periods

Recovery periods are a crucial part of any muscle-building routine. After all, when you lift weights, you’re quite literally damaging your muscles. Due to a process called muscle hypertrophy, your body’s process of repairing those muscles is what results in increased muscle mass and size.

Too often, amateur muscle builders either skip their recovery periods or fail to make the most of them. Either mistake can lead to lasting injuries that keep them out of action, or recovery periods that ultimately take a lot longer than necessary.

Personal trainers are well experienced in the necessity of recovery periods, and also the crucial things that you should be doing to speed up muscle recovery, including techniques like:

• Hydration
• Carefully planned diets (including protein, berries, and fatty fish)
• Cold baths
• Lots of rest

In each instance, your trainer will help you to get back on track as soon as possible. This can significantly enhance your ability to build more muscle during shorter timeframes. It can also help to reduce the discomfort that may, if you were doing things alone, otherwise cut your muscle-building journey short.

4. Much-needed accountability

As mentioned, building muscle is a process of damage and recovery and, while things get notably easier once you’ve built initial muscle, there isn’t any gain without pain.

With no one to hold you accountable, it’s all too easy to turn away from your muscle-building journey as soon as those aches and pains start. After all, no one likes to suffer! But giving up at the first sign of trouble means that you’ll never build muscle in the ways that you must want to, considering that you’re reading this article.

With a personal trainer or other fitness professional in your corner, you always have someone to remind you of what you’ll give up if you stop trying. Plus, the chances are that you’ll be far less likely to even consider quitting when you’ve already put money towards the cause. Your trainer will also do regular check-ins, meaning that, even if to avoid embarrassment, you’ll probably get around to those workouts at some point during a set time frame. And, the longer that goes on, the easier muscle building will become, and the more of a daily habit you’ll develop to increase your chances of carrying on!

No one said muscle building was easy, but if you’re struggling to get started, why not get professional help?