YOU ARE READY!! You're had enough. You're tired of being overweight or out of shape, of fumbling along in your health and fitness journey with very little clue or how, why, what, or when. You also have decided that you need help.  You are going to need guidance and have decided to hire a personal trainer. You found an online trainer that you would like to try, but you have a million questions and concerns. How does this work exactly? Is an online trainer right for you? Can you truly benefit from having an online-personal trainer? Questions abound. Hopefully what follows will help answer your questions, debunk some myths, and help you decide if an online trainer is the right option for you. 

ONLINE TRAINING COSTS LESS

Perhaps the first question asked of any trainer is, “How much?” At a typical gym, personal training will range from $30-$100 per 30-60 minute session. So, if you set up a three-day lifting schedule with a typical trainer at $50 for each one hour session, you would spend $600 for four weeks worth of training. The cost could range as high as twice that depending on where you live, the qualifications of the trainer, and the frequency of your visits. And that is the cost for the training alone.

Now what about your nutrition? How much more will that set you back? It can be much less expensive to hire an online trainer to do both your training and your nutrition. Not many people can afford upwards of a thousand dollars a month to help get them fit. Having an online trainer allows you all the benefits of having a trainer and a nutritionist with much less of the financial burden. I know from experience with someone like Allison, from Alli-Fitness Systems LLC, a month of online services costs far, far less. It's a huge difference! And again, this is for both the training and nutritional aspect of your fitness plan., both integral components to ensuring you achieve success.

SCHEDULING YOUR TRAINING

How does the scheduling work with an online trainer? Pretty simply, when it fits your schedule to train – go train. This is one of the biggest perks of hiring a trainer online; you set your own schedule. There is no need to coordinate your schedule with your trainer’s, and there’s never a need to worry about cancellations and having to deal with rescheduling. You can work out as late or as early as you would like because you have the plan and know exactly what you need to do for each workout. If something comes up and you have to change your workout time, you can, with no worries. 

HIRE A QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL PERSONAL TRAINER

One of the greatest assets of this new online world we live in today is the access it grants all of us to leading experts in nearly every conceivable industry. Thanks to the internet, you can tap into the expertise of renowned professionals in subjects ranging from business and marketing to health and science and everything between. The availability of good qualified trainers in your backyard, however, is much harder to find than you think. There aren’t always local trainers that have the same qualifications or experience in the fitness industry that you are able to find and hire online. When you talk about industry leading experts, unless you live close to one of these types of coaches, they are just out of reach – unless you find and hire one as an online trainer. The internet gives you access to these experienced professionals that you wouldn’t normally be able to reach.  

The average gym trainer has a meger online certification and limited nutritional education or experience. However, with the growing use of the internet, you can access professionals like Allison, who have a wealth of background in training and nutrition including not only certification, but college education and hands on experience as a nationally ranked physique athlete and a published fitness model.

HIGH LEVEL PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY

By now you might be thinking, “Okay, that sounds great but who is going to hold me accountable?” I have heard this argument used as one of the biggest concerns of hiring an online trainer. People feel that if someone isn’t right there, counting out their reps and pushing them to get on that treadmill, that they won’t be motivated to even get to the gym. There are a couple of tools employed by online trainers to maintain a high level of accountability.

The first is that online trainers always have a check-in process. For example, they may have their clients send in weight, measurements, and, possibly, pictures every two weeks for them to review so that progress can be tracked and evaluated. This evaluation process serves a dual purpose for the client as it also provides an opportunity for both the client and the trainer to evaluate the effectiveness of the training plan. Training is results driven – do I look better, do I feel better, are my fitness goals being reached – and your online trainer will review this progress with you typically every two weeks to continuously customize and refine your plan for maximum results.

Another tool is a dietary adherence chart. Some online trainers require clients to mark each meal eaten during the course of their evaluation period to see how well the client has been sticking to the food plan that has been set out for them. Again, not only are you faced with written accountably, but you are also able to evaluate and explore the effectiveness of the plan – or maybe your lack of adherence to the plan.

Finally, never forget, you are paying for all of this!  You made a personal commitment to get into the best shape of your life and now you add in the financial commitment to recruit the expertise to do it the right way and that combination should push you to go to the gym and get the most out of your dollar

"HOW DO I LEARN THE EXERCISES?"

Another concern felt by those considering hiring an online personal trainer is that uncertainty of how to actually do some of the lifts and exercises in the program. However, I have found that with the internet and computers being such a simple way of communicating, this problem can easily be combated.  A lot of online trainers have a large list of exercise demos of each of their prescribed programs.  Photos, demos, or educational videos may be sent to the client in addition to written exercise description. Another great resource that online trainers use to help make sure their clients are doing their exercises properly is by asking them to video tape it and send it to them.  This allows the trainer to view the lift and correct or adjust any form issues that may arise. 

COMMUNICATION IS KEY TO SUCCESS

Moving your training online is scary at first. But it works as well as, if not better than brick and mortar storefronts and is more readily accepted today than ever. Take Cyber Monday for example. The first Monday after Black Friday – the busy Friday shopping day after Thanksgiving – has been dubbed “Cyber Monday.”  In 2007, internet consumers spent $733 million shopping online. That’s a lot of confidence in the online marketplace. The reason for this confidence is the ease and convenience of being able to communicate with anyone, anywhere, any time of the day. With an online trainer, you are able to ask questions that will be answered at a faster speed than if you had to wait for your next scheduled appointment. In addition, because online trainers might have hundreds of clients scattered around the world, they often have robust web sites and forums that are filled with great information and guidance that can be accessed by clients 24/7. 

Hopefully this information will help answer some of your questions and address some of your concerns about online personal trainers and will give you enough information to see if this is the right option for you. Do your research when it comes to hiring someone to help you reach your fitness goals. You have made an important decision in choosing to lead a healthy lifestyle and hopefully you will find that hiring an online personal trainer will provide you with more bang for your buck, more convenience, better access to expertise and better communication with them in the long run, on your journey to a healthier you!