Personal training is expensive.
It can also be considered a bit of a luxury since many people aren’t willing to invest $200 a week to work 1-1 with a trainer to reach their health and fitness goals even if it helps them reach those goals more quickly and safely. One-on-one personal training sessions are the ideal, but what do you do when you don’t quite have the “ideal life”, whatever that is?
This leaves a lot of well-intentioned folks up a creek not knowing what to do, how to do it, intimidated, fearful, and no closer to reaching their goals. Also, because of the massive amount of information that’s available to anyone with internet access, it can be difficult to filter through the nonsense that’s being pumped out everyday that ranges from starvation diets that ruin your metabolism to workouts that would cause you to become cripplingly sore for no real, clearly defined purpose. And if you’re new to exercise, getting that sore from the get go is a sure way to make you never want to touch a weight again.
This is where online training or a hybrid style of training (blending 1-1 sessions with online training) solves many of the problems that plague traditional personal training such as:
Having to go to a specific gym
Lining up your schedule with your trainer’s availability
Lack of accountability, guidance, and support OUTSIDE the gym
High cost
Below, I’ll break down how getting training online in this unique way can be an incredibly beneficial alternative to traditional personal training services.
You don’t have to go to a gym.
Have you ever felt a little out of place when you walked into a gym? For the record, I just raised my hand… It can be AWKWARD! Everyone you see looks like they belong there and you’re intruding on their well marked territory. You want to try some of the different machines, but you’re afraid to look like a doofus. You already feel judged. Even people who might look like they belong can look around what other people are doing and think they are too weak to be there.
Let me point out that a lot of this is primarily in your head. Most people in the gym are too concerned with what they are trying to do (or look) than to worry about what you are doing right or wrong. They’re all trying to better themselves in some way and that makes you the same. That makes you “belong” there.
Here is a text one of my clients sent me randomly one Saturday:
With that said, you can get a good workout at home without equipment OR with minimal equipment if you’re willing to invest in some small suspension bands, some dumbbells, or kettlebells. If you’re just starting out, you wouldn’t necessarily need those tools to begin with!
If you work with a certified online trainer, the workouts are delivered to you through a smartphone app where you see exactly what exercise you should do (written and video), for how many reps and sets, as well as rest periods. And since you’ll sometimes be working out by yourself, you can focus on the workout and not all of the other potential distractions that can be at the gym. Again, not knocking the gym here, but it can be a real issue that keeps individuals from making healthy progress.
Scheduling isn’t an issue.
It can be hard enough to schedule exercise into your already busy life. Combining that with trying to line up an opening with a busy personal trainer can really add to that frustration.
Clearly it has and will continue to be done, but if you are training online, you only have to think about your own schedule. Also, if you’re doing your workout at home, there’s no drive time 😉 That means less gas for the car, less traffic stress, less “What clothes do I have to wear?” kind of thing as well.
Here is a text one of my strong momma clients sent me the other day. She does the majority of her workouts at home.
More accountability, guidance, and support.
This is where working with a certified online trainer can really shine.
In a typical personal training arrangement, you come workout with a trainer for a pre-set time for an agreed upon fee. You get your awesome workout in, get a couple high fives if you were extra fantastic, and head out to tackle the rest of your day.
If you’re lucky, you have a trainer that follows up with you on your “off days” to help encourage and motivate you in between sessions.
With online training, your workouts with all of the rep/set/rest/intensity details, progress photos, measurements, training questions, program details, and more are all together in one, easy to reference place on your phone or desktop.
You can easily track your progress with a variety of measuring tools such as body composition, girth measurements, resting heart rate, blood pressure, skin folds and much more depending on what you want.
Not only that, but you can link up other fitness services to your main training portal to get a comprehensive view of your health! The more you know, the more intelligently we can make modifications to help continue to get results.
The one I use incorporates Myfitnesspal (a free nutrition tracking software), Fitbit, Withings (intelligent wifi scale), as well as Facebook and Twitter integration to let people know how awesome you are!
More cost-effective.
You can work with a certified trainer, get results, develop a maintainable lifestyle of health and fitness, keep better track of your progress with exercise and nutrition, be your own “before and after”, and more, all while being more cost-effective than traditional personal training.
You can do this by going online or participating in a hybrid model.
As was mentioned at the beginning, cost is typically what keeps people from hiring a trainer in the first place. It’s not necessarily because they think the trainer is unqualified (Although there are many of those. Always ask what certifications or credentials they have. ACSM, NSCA, NASM, and ACE are just a handful of legitimate organizations.), but roughly $200 a week is difficult for anyone to shell out.
If you were to hire an online trainer’s services, you’re looking in the range of $130 – $320 a month depending on how much support you are needing.
The price is lower for an online trainer for a variety of reasons already discussed but also because you aren’t paying for any club overhead. You can get a trainer for a fraction of the price by working with someone online while maintaining the benefits of having someone qualified to create a training program modified to your unique needs, injuries, and ability level.
Other online training options
People have gotten good results from cookie cutter programs. People have also hurt themselves on them because they haven’t been taught how to move correctly during an exercise. Also, the “coaching” aspect of many programs you might hear about online is just someone, who may or may not be certified as an actual trainer through a legitimate organization, to encourage you to actually do the workouts in videos that may have existed for decades.
Anyone can skip a part of a workout that’s too difficult, but if you worked with a certified online trainer 100% online or through a hybrid style of 1-1 sessions and online, you would be given a workout at an intensity level appropriate to you and exercise modifications catered to you the first time.
Everyone has RESERVATIONS before they start training and even throughout the initial stages. Here are some of the reservations a handful of my clients had at first:
“…I had a little doubt whether or not I’d stick with it.”
“…I was nervous about some of the primary moves but I feel like I have pretty well gotten those down pat. I don’t feel nearly as awkward doing them.”
“…I have self-esteem issues and don’t really care for myself, and most trainers are dismissive of that. I also have a lazy streak.”
“…I had reservations with myself: when will I find time, will I actually do it, will I see a change, etc.”
Here is how they said I was able to help them with their reservations:
“…Your positive attitude and the relationship we have developed. Makes me want to continue.”
“…I think your specific encouragement and proper education helped make me feel more comfortable doing them.”
“…You are a very positive person, and you have a way of making me think about hard questions without making me feel bad about myself.”
“…You’ve pushed pretty good sometimes, which I respond to.”
And here are some accomplishments with training so far:
Joe B. (traveling information systems professional at Autozone)
- Lost over 20 pounds
- Stamina is much better
- Recovery time is much better
Amanda S. (physical therapist)
- Um, have you seen my a**?
- I definitely feel stronger
- I can tell a difference in my figure; I feel like my legs and butt are much more toned
Ashley J. (working momma)
- I feel stronger
- I am more confident when going about my everyday life
- I am more conscious of what I am, or am not, eating
Rachel L. (busy momma of 3)
- Lost weight
- Sleeping better
- More energy/less fatigue
- Better concentration
- Starting to feel stronger
What should you do?
Hopefully you have a better idea of what’s available in the realm of personal training. You don’t have to spend a fortune to get the expertise of a certified professional. If you’ve been on the fence about getting that extra support, guidance, and accountability that a trainer can provide, maybe this is the solution for you. It works for many different people and has some solid benefits over 1-1 training in certain respects.
Some people absolutely need 1-1 training so again, this article isn’t saying it should be done away with. This is merely another option available to you.
If you think this might be something worth talking more about, let me know and I’ll be happy to provide you with more details. This is my thing.
Through a hybrid model of online training and one-on-one sessions, I meet you where you are and help you reach your goals quicker than if you were to go at it alone. Fill out the Interest Form when you decide you’re ready to talk more and potentially take the next step to invest in a lifestyle of health. After I review your responses and we get a chance to talk, our journey will begin immediately if we’re a good fit 
Here’s that link again for the interest form: Click Here
About Me – Bryce Berry, CSCS
- Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science with a concentration in Health and Human Performance
- Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) certification from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA)
- Certified Online Trainer (OTC)
- Methods used to help you reach your goal are based off of research supported principles
- Husband (5 years going strong) and father to the Three Missketeers (3 daughters)
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