How to get the most from Online Personal Training
Tips from a coach’s perspective
There is no denying that online personal training has some advantages and drawbacks when compared with conventional in-person training. Some of the more obvious benefits are more flexibility with choosing a coach, scheduling flexibility, and cost. The main drawback however is that you miss some of the personalization that comes from interacting in person. However, there are some things that you can do as a client to nullify that drawback.
Information is Power
To me, the number one most important thing to understand as a distance client is that the quality of the coaching you receive will increase with the more information you give to your coach. Because you are not seeing your coach day-to-day the only information they have to go off of when making decisions about your training is the information you give them. Especially if your coach is results based (I am) and making decisions based on how you are doing with a particular plan or strategy. If something isn’t working for you quite right or you have questions you have to let your coach know!
Along a similar vein is communicating your goals to your coach. Goals change over time and sometimes new ones come up (e.g. you might be trying to lose weight and then get interested in also increasing your mobility). Always let your coach know about any new or changing goals because goals are something that we love to sink our teeth into and make happen for our clients (the satisfaction of accomplishing goals is what keeps us going!).
Finally, don’t skimp out on your check-ins. Load ‘em up! The more information the better! Your coach will never ever complain about too much detail because that’s what we use to craft and modify your plans.
It’s a relationship
As a coach I believe that one of the most important aspects of personal training is the rapport that is built between a trainer and their client. When there is mutual trust and understanding communication becomes much easier for both parties. It’s no secret that it’s tougher to build a relationship and rapport over texts and calls, but it can be done! Like any relationship it’s just a matter of being open, honest, and direct. You should never hesitate to speak to your coach when you feel like you need to. Sometimes this can even be for personal reasons (e.g. there’s something stressful happening in your life that’s making it difficult to adhere to your fitness goals). Obviously don’t share anything you’re not comfortable with sharing, but consider letting your coach in on what’s going on, often we can help or at the very least offer support.
Also don’t be afraid to reach out to your coach! You are paying for fitness guidance, not a lawyer. You won’t be billed for every little interaction and most coaches actually appreciate hearing from their clients in between check-ins (I know I do). There’s a reason that most online coaches only accept a certain amount of clients at any given time and that’s because they want to make sure they can properly serve their clients’ needs, which includes responding to spontaneous questions and chats.
Accountability
Accountability is important for any fitness training journey, but it’s especially important for distance training. When clients disappear (no check-ins or communications) it puts their coach in an awkward spot. I try to check in at least weekly with clients that I haven’t heard from in a while but after a while I start to feel like spam (which is not something I want to be as a person or a business!).
Life happens for all of us. As a coach I always try to be upfront with clients when I anticipate a period of time that might be rough when it comes to timely responses or difficulty with scheduling calls. Likewise it’s very useful to let your coach know when you might be unavailable for whatever reason.
Lastly, clients are accountable for letting their coach know when things are not going well. I know it can be very tempting to act like everything is going well (after all, none of us particularly want to admit when we’re letting things slip! Especially if you’ve hired a coach that you admire or look up to), but I promise you no coach is every going to judge a client for “falling off the bandwagon.” We’ve seen it, A LOT (including with ourselves). We know it happens and we won’t think lesser of any client that it happens to. But you do have to let us know that it’s happening so we can work together on figuring out a way to get you back on track.
Communication is key
If I could summarize this whole post into one central idea it would be: communicate communicate communicate. Don’t ever worry about bothering your coach because communicating with them is precisely what you are paying for. Fitness journeys don’t take days or weeks, they take months. Taking the time to get to know your coach and vice-versa and your training will benefit greatly from it.