A personal trainer is a certified fitness expert who can help you tailor your exercise to meet your fitness goals. While having a trainer is not a requirement to start exercising, a trained professional can help you exercise more safely and efficiently. If you’ve been on the fence about whether to seek out the help of a trainer, here are five ways you can benefit from this relationship.

You feel unsure of yourself at the gym.

The gym can be an overwhelming place. Unfamiliar machines, a lack of experience, and a room of fit people can make you want to turn around and go home. A trainer can help you overcome these discouraging feelings. He or she will show you how to navigate equipment and use it correctly to build the confidence you need to step up and grab a set of weights.

You have a long-term fitness goal.

When you sign up for a distance race or a fitness challenge, knowing where to begin with your training can be difficult. A personal trainer can help you evaluate your goals and create a timely program to prepare you for your event.

You're recovering from an injury.

Safety is the number one priority when you return to exercise after an injury. It’s important to ease back into exercise to gradually increase your strength and reduce your risk of injuring yourself again. A trainer will evaluate your fitness level to find the best place to start. He or she can also provide alternative exercises to help you avoid aggravating an old injury.

You skip workouts.

Hiring a fitness professional means a commitment to exercise. If you often skip workouts, the financial investment and scheduled meetings involved in working with a trainer will help hold you more accountable.

You're bored.

Repeating the same workout over and over can cause you to lose interest in exercise. Your workouts need to be exciting and challenging to keep you motivated. A trainer can provide new exercise ideas that change as your fitness improves.

Lori Rice, M.S., is a nutritional scientist and author with a passion for healthy cooking, exercise physiology, and food photography.