A real exciting subject that I really looked forward to writing! So many people have been asking us about the differences - usually about preferring one over the other. For full transparency, we're often told that Personal Training is something people prefer as; "I need someone to show me how to do it", "I'd struggle without someone physically pushing me." - so on.
This isn't an article forcing you to like one or the other, but information and knowledge for you to understand how both work and not only what will work for you, but what will benefit you in the long term. Fitness being apart of a lifestyle, not just a short term objective.
Personal Training
Most of us are familiar with 'personal training' or have at least at one stage of our lives had one or contemplated it. Personal training is a 1-1 regime that consists of implementation of exercises and in person support.
Personal training is effective as there is a tangible element to it; in that a trained professional is with you during your session, is able to correct your forms and movements, advise on areas that need improving, set goals, provide support not only through training, but also through breaking those mental barriers in your sessions too.
Personal training is the more general and traditional approach of 'how to get ripped and bulked 101'.
Sounds great right? But what are the caveats?
The 'conditions' of personal training are, that the majority of the time, trainers work on an appointment by appointment basis - meaning; you may only have two sessions a week, maybe even just one. That's four training sessions per calendar month.
Do you see the issue now? If you have the luxury to afford yourself a personal trainer every session then you will see results, but the truth is; Personal training can be expensive and is usually limited in services offered. When you leave the session and go home, you're 9.9/10 times, on your own. Depending on your goal, how can you be sure you're working towards it? Are you giving yourself the correct nutrition? Are you day by day learning about the effects training has on your body? Lastly, do you have a plan without your personal trainer next to you? - when your dependancy lies on one session a week.
I'm in no way advocating for you to not choose a personal trainer, they're trained professionals, the majority of them will be efficient in determining what you need and how to implement it (choose them wisely, you don't want to pay a huge upfront bulk package and then realise you're not compatible with them) - but be aware of certain limitations of in person training and the costs they could incur.
Online Coaching
Online coaching has kind of taken the internet world by storm in recent years. The introduction and use of social media has only increased its usability and power. Online coaching as the name suggests, is 'being coached online'.
To get straight into the mix of things, being coached online eliminates the need of having to be in the same physical location as your coach in order to be trained. So, in a way, it's kind of hassle free right? You don't need to let anyone know that you're running 10 minutes late and then have a quarter of your session cut away and still needing to pay the same rate! You work out on your own time.
Online coaches work on a month by month basis usually. Straight away the benefit of this, is a whole month of coaching, analysis, plan creation and execution. What this method of coaching enables is: monitoring and tracking your progress daily or weekly, adapting and amending to changes you go through during the coaching phase.
Think of it this way, it's like owning a subscription service or a one off fee per use. For those of us with Amazon Prime, we reap the benefits of paying a monthly service and being able to use a next day delivery method any and every time we buy something. Contrastingly, if you don't own Prime, then you're kind of smacked with that pricey delivery fee that can sometimes amount to nearly the same cost of the goods you're purchasing at the point of purchase.
To kind of conclude that example. Personal training is great for that impact of it being tangibly effective, but once you're done with your session, as mentioned above, you're on your own until your next one. Online Coaching is there for you, at the gym and out of it. Your coach is the subscription service that you continuously use and can continuously rely on!
Now I'm not painting Online Coaching as the heaven of training, there may be caveats to it such as simply not having an in person trainer, or you're the type of person that can't do things without someone pushing you to do them.
What do I do then?
Okay, let us break this down now to ultimately choosing one that suits your needs and wants.
Costs: Costs will usually always be our main influencer in making a decision. Let's take Central London as the location of where we are looking for trainers. According to some articles found online regarding the costs of Personal Trainers in London. You're looking at an average of around £50-£65 for a 60 minute session. Should you go to a more premium establishment... You could be looking at £60-£100 for sure. Of course, reduced packages are offered usually on the basis of 'the more sessions, the lesser the cost'; but you're still looking at a formidable amount of money for 1-2 hours a week over a month.
An Online Coach in comparison, can range from £100 to £200+ a month. As stipulated above, the reason for this is the elimination of being there in person. This saves the obvious, time; even things such as travel expense and paying the costs to the club/gym that you will be trained in. Therefore an Online coach can offer you a similar service at a much more affordable rate.
Practicality: Speaking from the perspective of a beginner, someone who has never in fact been in a gym. You probably do need some pointers in regards to technique, introduction into what gym equipment is and how to use it. Even gym etiquette, which I think should be on the curriculum...
A personal trainer will show you the ropes in person and assist you in that very moment by teaching and rectifying. If you're someone who's at an advanced level in the gym and in the matter of training, you most probably don't need someone standing next to you, giving you orders.
Due to an Online Coach not training you in person, there is more time to actually invest in you over time. those 60 minutes that a personal trainer will give you can be used by an online coach to create a long term plan and objective for you to work towards to. Not just a one off session. Your plan is always monitored usually by weekly check ins and a shared app that allows trainers to observe how you're training, what you're eating and what kind of daily habits you have. With this, you pretty much get the ultimate plan to execute with the constant support of your online coach.
So what's the conclusion? Personal Training and Online Coaching are both great introductions to implement into your fitness lifestyle. A suggestion would be to understand what your objectives are and apply them to the method you wish to use to train. Consultations are something you should always undertake when picking between a Personal Trainer and an Online Coach. Both will always and should always offer a consultation in order for you to ask questions and understand them and for them to present to you, what, who they are and how they can help you.
Get in touch if yo have anymore questions or would like to enquire about our services.