ONLINE vs IN-PERSON TRAINING

Written by Coach Austin Current

In 2014, we set out to take the skills we had learned with our own training experience and education and pay them forward. We have spent the past 6 years doing everything we can to make the online training experience a seamless process for clients. In that, we still hear your questions, concerns, and objections weekly.

• What if I do not know how to perform a movement you put in the training program?
• What happens when I have a question during my session?
• What happens if I am not motivated to go, or be at the gym?
• Do you FaceTime yourself into the training session?
• Is it more expensive to have your trainer online?

In this article, we want to set out to answer your questions and be sure that you are not left guessing about how we manage to work around common concerns and misbeliefs of the online training process.

Do We FaceTime You During Your Training Session?

Nearly every time one of the coaching staff gets asked what we do for a living, the question or comment about us FaceTiming our clients comes up. Do we chat on the phone with our clients? We do. But, not while you are training.

Your training program is designed by your coach based on an extensive questionnaire when you sign up. The questions below are ones specific to training:

• How many days a week do you want to train?
• How much time do you want to spend in the gym each session?
• What are your current limitations and past injury history?
• What gym equipment do you have available?
• What gym equipment do you NOT have available to you?
• What has your training looked like for the past 1-2 months?

From the questions above, your coach can put together an individualized training plan for you to start making progress in the gym. When the time comes for you to have questions, we ask that clients place those questions in a well thought out email and send it directly to their coach. From there, the coach and client work back and forth to ensure the question is resolved.

So, to clear the air and common misconception, we do not ask you to FaceTime into your training session.

You are freed up to train when you need to, no matter your coach’s availability or calendar.

Do You Provide an Exercise Library?

A common concern when inquiring about online training is performing exercises correctly or as they are programmed during the sessions.

Each exercise in your training program(s) is linked to a video to help walk you through how to perform the exercise. The last thing we want to do is leave you confused. When you are confused without direction, you turn to Google or YouTube. Although better than nothing, we supply you with the tools you need to have the confidence you are set-up properly, executing the movement, and avoiding the most common mistakes.

On top of us providing your instructional video to ensure you are set up for success, we also ask clients to send us a video of them performing movements during their sessions. This allows us to critique and correct. We may not be there to physically walk you through things, but we have found a way to keep you progressing regardless of the distance that separates us.

Questions During Your Training Session?

Although we are not there in real-time with you, we are always an email away. So, we ask clients to write down any questions they have during their session(s) and send their coach an email after their session. As mentioned above, we have spent time filming instructional videos to ensure you are not left wondering, or wandering. But, we realize we can not anticipate every question you may have during the process. This is why our emails are open to you throughout the week for questions.

We ask that during your session(s) you do your best with the information we have provided, then send a thorough email with your question and we will spend as much time as we need to ensure that question is answered in its entirety. 

What if I Lack The Motivation at the Gym?

Through our onboarding process, we do everything in our power to set up a plan of attack that leads you down the path to success. But, at the end of the day, this dance takes two. We will do everything we can on our end, and we will ask you to do the same.

If you struggle to be self-motivated to get yourself to the gym and through your workout, online training may not be the best approach for you. This is the one area that we often encourage people to seek out a personal trainer in-person. At the end of the day, we want what is best for you and your success.

Isn’t It More Expensive Online?

At the time of writing this article, the average rate for in-person training is $1,280 per month (Denver, CO, USA). Our monthly rates are easily a ¼ of the price, and our service includes training programming, nutritional guidance, and accountability support.

Other than being a lower cost financially, you get the convenience factor of being able to best work around your availability daily.

Don’t want to wake up a 5 am to make your session with your trainer? Stuck at work longer than expected? Wreck causing a traffic jam on the way to the gym? Are your kids sick and you cannot leave the house until the sitter arrives?

These are just a handful of the phone calls I received during my time as an in-person trainer. It was common for clients to hit one of the issues mentioned above and get there for only half their session time. Unfortunately, you would still be charged the hourly rate for the session (company policy). 

So, to answer the common question of price difference: No, it is not more expensive to be trained online. If anything, it’s much less expensive with the convenience of creating your schedule.

Each year, we spend time learning how to make this experience more seamless, cost-efficient, convenient, and effective. Since 2014, we have made incredible strides in doing just that. If you have any more questions relating to the online training experience, we would be happy to answer them for you. Click here to contact us or fill out an application to learn more about how we can specifically help you take the next step.

Written by Coach Austin Current, BSc, CSCS, IFBB, Pn1