Online Personal Training pt. 3
My particular style of online personal training (while always evolving) is meant to use as much of the experience and education that I’ve accumulated over the course of my academic and professional careers to meet the client where they are and enable them to pursue whatever goal they may have. Nothing is off the table for anyone; but, a willingness to learn, grow, and accept the challenges that each goal presents are crucial to the success of any client. Nothing just happens because you receive a program or a bit of guidance from a professional. Weeks, months, years, and decades of progressive hard work will get you to where you want to be. With that in mind, the best (and sometimes frustrating) part of any physical pursuit is that the goal becomes slippery. The goalposts get moved as the client advances. As they believe more for themselves, they may buy-in and push for bigger things. The true nature of physical training is that it is unending.
With the previous two blogs in mind, here is what I offer.
Description of Service
1) You will receive four-weeks of customized workout programming via emailed spreadsheet. This will coincide with your monthly subscription charge.
· Programs may be sent in 1-4-week installments depending on the client.
2) Once the programming has been sent, you will complete your workouts in their prescribed order within the flexibility of your own schedule (ideally completing all training sessions within the four-week timespan).
3) If accountability measures are helpful, structured weekly workout times can be coordinated between you and your trainer. In this case, the trainer would follow-up with you via email or text message application (for example, whatsapp) to ensure you have completed the workout on your own on the agreed upon day/time.
4) You will have unlimited access to your trainer for training questions via email or preferred text message application (responses within 24-hours of messages received).
· You may receive video feedback and technique coaching via text message application on all filmed essential exercises.
· Essential exercises to be determined by client and trainer.
5) You will be offered unlimited ongoing program modifications based upon necessity (for example, travel, equipment changes, goal progression / alteration, exercise tolerance, etc.).
6) Each month, an email will be sent to update your programming based upon your progression and/or changing personal goals.
In the simplest terms, I am your teacher. I take the information I receive from your intake form and in return create the most applicable training program for you. This form of training prioritizes reduction of time barriers, financial commitments, and especially knowledge gaps, but requires accountability measures to be collaborative between the client and trainer. The only way that this process results in a client achieving their goal is by the client taking the information provided and actively engaging in their workouts with consistency and effort.
There can be huge variability in the degree of engagement between the client and trainer. This comes down the client’s level of personal responsibility, interest, or necessity. I serve as the full access resource to the litany of experience and education that many people pursuing fitness don’t have the time or resources to accumulate on their own. My degrees, certifications, experiences, networks, and ability to research are all on retainer depending on the questions or inquiries that a client may elect to pursue. However, to avoid information overload, any personal training experience is iterative. Small pieces are slowly added over time to build the person from where they are to where they want to be – in such a way that is unique to each client. That is the personal aspect of the service. You will be taught in a way that is most appropriate for you.
My best advice for anyone that is looking at online (or live) personal training services is to scour your potential options. Pricing shouldn’t be too variable in this field, but you’re looking for a teaching relationship and those are very difficult to find. The power of any training relationship is that the longer it goes (provided your trainer is credible), the better the outcomes for the client. We, as trainers, are learning about you as we train – and by extension, are learning how to best train you as time goes on.
Best,
Eric