7 Key Differences Between Online & In-Person Personal Training

By Adrian|October 29th, 2023

Online vs In Person PT:

There’s no doubt that we live in a digital age where the internet has now changed literally every aspect of our life.

Don’t feel like cooking? Click onto your favourite app, select what food you’d like and have it delivered directly to your door.

Don’t feel like going to the supermarket? No problem, select where you want to do your grocery shop, add foods to your basket and select a time and date that suits for delivery.

And the world of personal training, just like many other areas of our lives has not been left behind when it comes to the digital age. And in this revolution has evolved the emergence of online and virtual training.

As many people realised since March 2020, you can still achieve your health and fitness goals from the comfort of your home with the assistance and guidance of an online coach.

So which one’s the best fit for you? 1:1 Online training or 1:1 in-person training?

In this blog post, I’m going to discuss the pros and cons of each of these methods before providing you with my verdict.

1). Schedule:

1:1 Online Coaching: Online coaching allows you to fit your workouts into your own schedule.

It’s not uncommon for people to genuinely have great intentions to train only for an event or incident occurring which throws their routine off for that day.

Although it’s never optimal to miss a workout or having to schedule it for a later time in the day, you do have more flexibility with when you train, where your train and what time you train.

This might mean never stepping foot in a gym and training from home if you’re more comfortable doing this. Or even a combination of both – the choice is yours.

1:1 Personal Training: Personal trainers can only work as many hours as their time slots allows them to.

As a personal trainer, you have to be selective with your time slots – particularly early morning and from mid-afternoon and evening onwards.

This means you can only book into a time slot that suits the personal trainer on a certain day and certain hour.

Verdict: If you’re someone who likes flexibility and being in control of your schedule, online coaching provides more freedom.

2). Technique Analysis:

1:1 Online Coaching: Breaking down proper technique is done through tutorial videos which allows you to watch them as many times as you feel you need.

If you’re uncertain of technique, you could video yourself performing the exercise before sending it on to your online coach (depending on the coach of course!).

1:1 Personal Training: Your personal trainer will be standing beside you critiquing and assessing your form.

Depending on the trainer’s experience and how the client responds to your training cues, this can go either way.

Verdict: 1:1 personal training gets the nod here. Having someone in real time break down your technique can be beneficial.

3). Additional Help & Guidance:

1:1 Online Coaching: If you need assistance during the other 23 hours outside of the day, you will be able to contact your online coach regarding questions about training/nutrition or other topics on your mind (again depending on the coach of course).

This will allow you to clarify any questions you’d like answered.

1:1 Personal Training: If you need some additional guidance, you have to wait until your next available time slot with the personal trainer.

Verdict: Online coaching offers more support and accountability during the other 23 hours of the day.

4). Accessibility:

1:1 Online Coaching: There are many online coaches out there at the moment meaning you have access to all of them – you could choose to work with someone living local or pursue a coach who lives further afield.

Where you live is not a factor when it comes to who you can work with.

1:1 Personal Training: You are limited by location as to what personal trainer you hire.

If you’re looking for the right fit, it is optimal that he/she lives within a relatively short drive from you – otherwise the commute to and from the gym on top of the training itself can eat into your schedule a lot.

Verdict: Online coaching gives you more accessibility and choice meaning you have more variety to choose from.

This self-efficacy (the belief you can achieve at something) increases when you can be more selective with working with someone you trust.

5). Social Element:

1:1 Online Coaching: Online coaching is done remotely meaning you do not meet your trainer.

Coaching calls are usually provided but there is no 1:1 meeting with your coach.

1:1 Personal Training: You meet your personal trainer every time you have a slot booked with him/her.

Verdict: Although many people like to put on their earphones and train “in the zone,” - if you are someone who likes human interaction, personal training gets the nod on this one.

6). Session Duration:

1:1 Online Coaching: Your sessions take as long as they need to. No longer. No shorter.

This will be based on your goals and how much time you can commit.

If your weekdays are busy but you’ve more free time at the weekend, this can be communicated with your coach to ensure session duration is tailored to match your schedule.

1:1 Personal Training: Sessions tend to be an hour because trainers tend to work in one-hour slots.

This is either by choice or by the standards set out by the company the personal trainer works for.

Verdict: It’s nice knowing the more effort you put in, the faster you get it done which makes online coaching more convenient.

7). Trainer Burnout

1:1 Online Coaching: This is context dependent but most online trainers get up early in the morning by choice rather than necessity to have to go to the gym to train the morning clients.

This usually means they’re not as mentally or physically tired and are “fresher” when you talk to them.

1:1 Personal Training: It can be draining on your body, your mind and your voice when you have to consistently deliver a service which requires a great deed of energy.

Verdict: I found personal training particularly draining when I spent up to 4 hours of my evening coaching clients back-to-back after getting home from my primary teaching job.

When it comes to the likelihood of getting trainer burnout, it’s less likely for this to occur with online coaching.

The Takeaways:

Everybody is different and we all thrive in different environments.

In person training is perfect for some yet can potentially be daunting for others. Online coaching is a good fit for many yet it’s not for everyone.

Either way, there are lots of benefits of having additional accountability and support whenever you are feeling stuck, have questions or perhaps just need someone to talk to and a bit of reassurance.

Decide which method works best for you & then go about finding someone who is a good fit.

Free 3-Day Total Body Training Program:

Depending on your goal, I have some free resources which might be of benefit to you.

If you’d like a copy of my free, 3-day Total Body Transformation Program click HERE! (Enjoy the core finisher!).

If you’d like a copy of my Free Living Lean Cookbook to prove to you that it’s possible to eat foods you enjoy and get results, click HERE.

(Try out some EPIC protein pancakes!).

And if you’d like access to my Free 7 Day Fat Loss Accelerator (which has helped some members drop up to 7lbs inside 7 days),
click HERE and it will be sent straight to your email.

I hope these free resources help you!

About Adrian McDonnell & McLifestyle Fitness:

Adrian McDonnell is a highly specialised Personal Trainer & Online Fitness Coach from outside of Tuam, Co.Galway, Ireland.

Previously a primary school teacher for almost 5 years, Adrian followed his passion and pursued a career in fitness after seeing first hands the results he could achieve with himself.

Although Adrian is a Personal Trainer & now Full-Time Online Transformation Fitness Coach from outside of Tuam, Co.Galway – he not only coaches clients locally, but also nationally and internationally.

Adrian specialises in helping working professionals:

- Be confident in themselves·
- Feel more comfortable in their clothes·
- Look better in the mirror·
- Increase their energy and go for more promotions at work·
- Get fitter, leaner & stronger without following rigid meal plans·
- Go on more dates (this is a common one)·
- And feel proud of themselves for doing something they never thought was possible!

To date he has helped Transform over 500 Clients into fitter, more toned & confident individuals.

Transforming people’s lives through proper fitness, sustainable & enjoyable nutrition practices & mindset mentoring is something Adrian is truly passionate about and this is his mission in life.

Want to find out more? Contact me today & I’ll answer any questions you have.

1:1 Online Coaching Application

If you’d like a coach to help get you out of a routine that isn’t currently working for you and into one that will , then book your
free consultation call today to see if you’d be a good fit for my Online Coaching.

This is where having the structure and accountability of a coach comes in. I’ll help you get the results you’ve always desired and
make your journey much easier and quicker than doing it on your own.

You’re just one click away of becoming a success story.

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