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"In preparation for January 1 shape-up resolutions, I shared some expert tips last week on how to pick a trainer. The next part of this series deals with something you may hear less about: how to know if you should stick with a trainer. Just because you started a program doesn&amp;#039;t mean you are absolutely married to this person. It&amp;#039;s important for both of you to realize that the work has just begun and in the same way that you will be working hard for a better body at each session, your trainer should also be working to challenge you. Here are a few main things that Alexis Peraino, MD, a physician at the Cedars-Sinai Center for Weight Loss with a degree in exercise physiology, suggests making sure your trainer is doing:  Maximizing your training time. Your trainer should assist you with a proper warm up and cool down, as well as with exercises to build flexibility. These steps are critical to avoiding injury and you shouldn&amp;#039;t feel like all of your time together is spent working as hard as possible. Giving you homework. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the American Heart Association and the American College of Sports Medicine recommend at least two, non-consecutive days of resistance exercise per week \u2013 and ideally three to four such workouts depending on an individual&amp;#039;s fitness goals. This schedule clearly exceeds the time an average person can spend with a trainer, which is why &amp;quot;homework&amp;quot; becomes so vital. The best trainers provide you with an education, suggesting workouts you can do on your own and that will be sustainable beyond your sessions together. Be sure your trainer gives you exercises you can make into healthy habits. Mixing it up. Trainers should be skilled in various exercise disciplines. Boredom is the enemy of fitness. Trainers who know many ways to work the same muscles can banish those workout doldrums. They also can ramp up a workout&amp;#039;s intensity \u2013 a critical aspect of their role in pushing clients constantly to improve. Find someone who can vary the regimen by drawing from fun and different activities like weight training, Pilates, yoga and martial arts. Not being a salesman. It&amp;#039;s common for clients also to need to change their diet to meet their fitness goals. While trainers can offer counsel on dietary topics, be wary of those too eager to ignore the exercise regimen while huckstering specific supplements, protein drinks or fat burners. There are no &amp;quot;miracle&amp;quot; products or pills on the market \u2013 fitness requires old-fashioned, hard work. What do you think? Any other tips we&amp;#039;re missing? \u2013 Abby Cuffey, Associate Health Editor "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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