Personal Trainer vs. Online Coach
CWPT Transformation
I have been a Personal Trainer since 2008. During this time, I have helped thousands of people transform their lives.
I never had an issue getting clients, or keeping them, as it was my passion. I loved to help, and when your passion is aligned with the betterment of your fellow man (or woman) – the opportunities show up.
There has been a time, for months on end, back in the early days, and earlier this year, when I would be conducting 50 PT sessions every week. Which has been incredibly beneficial not only in the lives I have helped but in my own as well.
I started Online Training, or Online Coaching back in 2015. It was a side attribute to my full-time work, which was Personal Training, but then in 2016, my wife and I wanted to move abroad.
There were 3 options in mind: the first was the USA, then Australia, then Dubai. So, we packed up and said goodbye to our family and friends, and our goods.
My wife had some interviews lined up managing salons, and I had some interviews lined up managing gyms – one of which was Gold’s Gym in Orlando, Florida. My dream job at the line.
The plan was to expand my work online too, while we get a feel for the country and ensure we are still able to fund our financial commitments. I used this time to create a lot of content too. Push my YouTube channel, document our journey, and share the experience.
Much of my day was structured and planned out. I was sitting working from our condo that was in a trailer park. Walking distance from a lake that was home to many a wild alligator and other wildlife.
Life was great, business was great. I was getting the hang of it all and enjoying the transition from being in the gym day in and day out to helping clients online through my website portal and providing content. I also had a shop on my website which was another review stream.
My wife got offered the job. I got offered the job – but the visa terms did not match. So, after some time in Florida, we flew to Vegas, partied, attended my coach’s wedding, and flew back to the UK with a sour face, and a failed impression on our face. However, always a glimmer of hope was there as we knew that we would wind up living in another country soon and it would all work out for the better.
I was getting lots of interest as a coach. I was picking up many clients and working with them online, so I decided to continue and leave the personal training for some time.
After a bit, I realized how much I missed being a Personal Trainer, and how much I valued it. So I decided to start PT at G.A.H Gym and work alongside two of my mentors and well-respected people in the fitness industry, especially in the UK – Mike and Leica Gelsi.
In this article, I am going to share with you the difference between Personal Training and Online Coaching.
I am also going to share with you the pros and cons of both, which are from my experience of being successful in both fields and continuing to work in both. I have been fortunate enough to help so many clients, helping them build muscle and build their businesses.
Many of my clients either became trainers themselves or were already trainers, to begin with.
My passion is the same as it has always been: to help people realize their own potential, then achieve it.
Let’s dive into it. I have structured the below in a way that is easily digestible and read – both the differences and the pros/cons.
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PERSONAL TRAINING |
ONLINE COACHING |
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A Personal Trainer is someone that will be there in person, taking the client through their goals. Checking their form, adjusting their posture, and monitoring that the movement is executed precisely and safely. This can be very beneficial for those that struggle with knowing how to do the exercise and if they are doing it the right way. Also, some exercises are considered a little unsafe to be done alone without supervision or ‘a spot’. The Personal Trainer will alter the workout accordingly to what he or she feels is needed at the given time. |
An Online Coach is someone that will design the program for you. Who will ensure that you understand the reasoning behind it, maybe provide videos to show you, or ask you to send videos to you, and give their feedback on if you are doing it correctly, whilst offering their suggestions to improve. This is not often done while the workout is conducted. Although some coaches will Live video call their clients whilst they are training, I call this Online Training, not coaching, as a coach will be setting the plan to follow. The Online Coach will tweak or adjust the program, based on outcome decisions and feedback. |
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When you sign up for personal training, you are usually signing up for working with the trainer in a session you have booked him in for. Although some trainers will also monitor your progress and make tweaks/adjustments to ensure you are reaching your desired goal, this will usually be done in the session or alongside it.
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When signing up with an Online Coach, you are not signing up for a program or diet plan, but for the coaching experience from start to finish. They will adjust and tweak the plan, and be available to help you with any coaching-related issues you have. This could be inside the gym or outside the gym, but all tailored towards reaching your goal. |
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The benefit to having a Personal Trainer can be the commitment to turning up, and having the best brought out of you, ensuring you are working as hard as you can towards your fitness goals. Even the fact of booking in sessions is often enough of a reason to ensure you turn up, as there is someone else involved, and knowing you would be letting them down. The downside to this is that you have to match schedules, and you don’t have the flexibility to train when you want or change it last minute if something comes up. Especially if the trainer is teaching you structure, order, and discipline, and there is a consequence to lack of effort. |
The benefit of having an Online Coach is that you don’t have to commit to a time frame where your schedule has to match theirs. You are also not limited to the gym a Personal Trainer may be based. You will not have to pay the fees, nor will you have to commute to them. You can even work with a coach that is overseas, and communicate with them whenever needed, through whatever platform they use. The downside to this is that you are not obligated to turn up, and you have far more chances of missing workouts, and not pushing yourself as much. |
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Personal Trainers are usually people that have invested a lot of their time, money, and life into the fitness industry, learning as much as they can to pass on to their clients. The cost of a Personal Trainer is not cheap, but very beneficial, and seeing that the client will be paying for the session, and may need at least 3 sessions a week, for a good four months to reach their goal. The goal variable, of course, could be as simple as learning new techniques. But still, this can build up, and be a large investment, and the better the trainer, the more they will usually charge as their time will be high on demand and you will likely be taking a slot they would have to reserve, and you will probably have to pay upfront to reserve it. This can always be a great motivator to achieve the goal, as when you have made such a large investment, you will likely want to see a return. Hence, you will follow through with the trainer’s plans. |
Online coaches are usually trainers that have also invested much of their time, money, and life. In fact, an online coach usually transitioned from being a Personal Trainer, as they want to expand, scale, and work with more people globally. The cost of a well-educated Online Coach may not be cheap by any means, but it can be a lot more affordable than having a trainer multiple times a week and be as effective if you listen to the coach and follow their guidelines. When signing up with an Online Coach, you are doing so with the end goal in mind, this is not something you will achieve in a single session. You will need to sign up for a number of weeks – usually at least 6 weeks – as any less and the results promised may not be received or at least match the expectations of those setting them. The downside to this coaching service and its affordability of it is that sometimes it may not be enough of a jump to feel the progress, hence why many may not take full advantage of it. |
| A Personal Trainer is very hands-on, and much of the time spent will be learning the movements and benefiting from the energy passed from the trainer.
You would be able to watch first-hand how one should train, and know that you are doing what you need to do. It will be a chance to build a great relationship, one that could turn into a friendship, and could be the very reason why you keep booking in with the trainer. Not just absorbing what they teach, but because you enjoy their company. This is great, and it is what will keep the connection long-lasting. However, it can also pull you away from the main goal and reason why you signed up – which was to train and achieve the goal. You will be getting so much more from the session – not just the workout – which may allow you to accept if your goals are not being met, and discourage you to follow the plan set outside, as you are gaining value from the person. |
An Online Coach will be helping you out with much more than just the training plan and diet. They would be relying heavily on your feedback, as well as your pictures and weight, monitoring you over a screen, often written text. They should be encouraging you to share more, to open up, give details and ask for help, as they will need to make assessments on your progress or lack of. This can be a great opportunity to understand your sticking points, strengths, and weakness, and to understand what the professional is suggesting. The tweaks to the diet, and workout, based on the outcome, so that you can model your decisions in the future based on the same. As the relationship is developed online, it will never be so close that it becomes personal, and the service is always tailored around improvement. Hence, you will be far more likely to follow the plans and achieve the desired goals. |
As you can see, there are many differences between being a Personal trainer vs. an Online Coach, and depending on where you are, what you want and what you need, will determine what is best for you at this time.
What I can tell you is that through many years of experience, some people make a better fit for personal training, and some online coaching. It usually comes from where you are in your journey and how much you require personal interaction or online guidance.
This is one of the reasons I continue to do both, however, one of the other and the main reason is simple.
When I was working from home, not speaking to anyone, only communicating through text, video call, or phone call, I felt lonely. I missed that human interaction. I missed the transmission of energy, both giving and receiving.
Plus, sitting all day long is not good for the body or the mind, so personal training keeps me physically on my points, and online coaching keeps me mentally on my game.
I love helping people, and I am thankful for personal training, as it gave me the understanding of connecting through movement, and online coaching has allowed me to connect on a bigger scale.
When you are looking for a trainer/coach, or if you are a trainer/coach looking to transition, this article can be beneficial, and there is always a deeper path we can dive into. All you have to do is reach out and take on the opportunity to learn from someone that has been there, done that, and is still doing it.
What is important is not what you want to achieve, or what path you take to get there. What is important is that you take it, and you achieve it.
