General fitness training works towards broad goals of overall health and well-being, rather than narrow goals of sport competition, larger muscles or concerns over appearance. A regular moderate workout regimen and healthy diet can improve general appearance markers of good health such as muscle tone, healthy skin, hair and nails, while preventing age or lifestyle-related reductions in health and the series of heart and organ failures that accompany inactivity and poor diet.
Diet itself helps to increase calorie burning by boosting metabolism, a process further enhanced while gaining more lean muscle. An aerobic exercise program can burn fat and increase the metabolic rate.
General fitness training may be used to promote weight loss. Personal trainers construct a program centered around restructuring lifestyle while helping to provide the necessary motivation for its success.
General fitness training can also be used to promote toning or building of muscles, which are essentially the same physiological process. (However, 'toning' implies moderate muscle definition, whereas 'building' implies increasing musculature significantly.)
