I've worked with two different trainers up to now, and I met with a third one today for a few tips. I love working with trainers...let me first start by saying that investing in just 1-2 visits with a personal trainer can do wonders for your weight loss progress.
Every trainer has a different style, so I learn something new every time. Trainers also keep you accountable, help with setting up/spotting, watch your form, teach you new exercises, provide variety, encourage intensity, aid with recovery, etc. If you find really good ones, they will also help with your diet and mental/emotional baggage. I worked with a trainer named Alex for a little over two months, 3-4 times a week, and he become my friend/therapist/nutritionist/business mentor..
Anyway, back to the trainer I worked with today. I met a former body builder (for a visual: picture a beautiful, enormous but shorter black guy you see on the covers of muscle magazines) to help with my meal plan and to help me lose these last stubborn 10 or so pounds of fat.
We met at 6am (YES 6am) and spent an hour doing relatively mild exercises/movements. He wanted to "watch me move." Starting with the seated row, he helped me activate the muscles in my back I wasn't using. Same with assisted pull-ups. I was using a lot of arms, and not a lot of back/core.
Then some medicine ball squat jumps, bosu ball mountain climbers, back extensions and this weird seated morning-glory kinda move. Some of these exercises I've done before, but each one felt like a brand new exercise because he was poking at muscles I wasn't using that I should be.
"I can see why you have problems, you don't engage this area at all..." As he sections off my "fat zone" perfectly. My upper thighs and fupa/muffintop/gut/love handles.
My other trainer once said, fat hides where it can rest.
Now I'm not kicking myself for all the progress I have made with my leg circuits and bicep curls, but I will most certainly be adding more movements in that engage my mid-section...hips, back, upper glutes, and core. I did things that I would consider mostly arms/legs but I sit here and the only part of me that is sore is my affectionately nicknamed fat zone.
What an enlightening experience. I look forward to sharing my new progress once I start activating those muscles that have been hiding!