Online Personal Fitness Coaching: Can It Work for You?

Almost out of nowhere, COVID-19 happened upon us and the world has had to learn to pivot. Fast. And here we are, a year later, continuing to learn how to embrace a number of lifestyle modifications.

Home-based fitness regimens have become a viable, if not a necessary, option.  Many people claim that having a gym membership keeps them accountable for working out once they have committed to sign-up fees and membership dues.  And some folks feel that having a workout destination motivates them to get out the door.  These are, of course, fair and valid reasons.  But times are changing, and many individuals are reconsidering how to navigate the fitness journey safely and efficiently, given the challenges presented by this year’s pandemic and the reality that other public health crises will arise in the future. The prospect of exposure to dangerous viruses makes many people wary about exercising in public establishments such as gyms. Not being able to exercise in a workout facility — or feel comfortable about it — has caused many people to reduce their daily physical activity time or abandon their exercise routines altogether.

Videoconferencing technology, social media platforms, and powerful apps now make it possible to work with a fitness professional virtually, all the while reaping the same benefits as meeting with a trainer in person. Working with a seasoned and experienced online fitness coach provides the distinct advantages of cost-effectiveness, flexibility, and self-sufficiency without compromising the quality of the coaching.  A good online fitness coach provides workout prescriptions on a week-to-week or month-to-month basis, and schedules regular check-ins to discuss progress and offer clarification on program instructions. An online fitness coach can create instructional videos that deliver accurate movement demonstrations using powerful cues, all of which you can then review and revisit whenever you like. In the same manner, you can use this process to gain feedback from your online coach regarding your form, tempo, etc.

An added benefit of online training is the flexibility it offers when you perform your routine from day to day. With workouts designed and delivered to you in weekly or monthly blocks, you have the freedom to perform them at your leisure. This flexibility comes in handy when unexpected events and mishaps would have otherwise conflicted with a scheduled in-person appointment. Working with an online coach is typically more cost-effective as well, as the programming is written up and delivered to you in week-long or month-long cycles. Instead of paying for each meeting with an in-person trainer, online coaching typically involves a fixed weekly or monthly rate or fee plan that usually winds up being more affordable.

Online fitness training may not be the ideal option for everyone, at least not at first. If you are an absolute beginner who has never engaged in a structured exercise routine, in-person training is probably a more sensible approach for your initial weeks or months.  At the other end of the performance continuum, if you are a highly-experienced elite athlete with goals of performing on a national or international stage, online personal fitness training may not be able to provide you with the level of attention and precise feedback necessary to make improvements on such a competitive level.

With online fitness training, there is a greater need to be self-motivated, as your weekly or monthly workouts are prescriptions as opposed to actual scheduled appointments. For some individuals, this consideration is not insignificant.  With some thoughtful planning and a commitment to structuring your environment to ensure fitness success, long-term adherence and enjoyment can be achieved.

Many people are amazed at the plethora of exercise variations and movement combinations, often requiring no more than body weight. A talented fitness coach can offer and demonstrate a variety of alternatives to many of the equipment-dependent exercises clients rely on in gyms. Retrofitting a client’s workout routine so that it may be accomplished at home, with little or no equipment, and without sacrificing effectiveness or results, is a perfect task for an online fitness coach. Should the client happen to have a few pieces of exercise equipment in the home, even better! Moreover, a responsible online fitness coach encourages you to challenge yourself, all the while reminding you never to sacrifice form and safety.

Maybe it’s time for you to weigh the options and see whether online fitness training is for you!

Picture of Patrick Gelinas

Patrick Gelinas

Picture of Patrick Gelinas

Patrick Gelinas

In the know

Related Stories

Could Some Hormones Be More Protective Against COVID-19? | Palmetto Bella

Could Some Hormones Be More Protective Against COVID-19?

Good news for those of you who are currently on hormone replacement therapy especially if you’re a woman — new research suggests that sex steroids may play a role in keeping people from developing severe COVID-19 symptoms. One trend that has emerged is the tendency for males to have a more difficult experience with the disease than females. The ratio of COVID-19 deaths are higher among men than women. For every 100 women who die, 135 men die from the disease. In an article recently published in Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism, Graziano Pinna from the University of Illinois in Chicago outlines some of the evidence suggesting that female reproductive

Read More »
Say “I Love You” with a Healthy Chocolate Dessert | Palmetto Bella

Say “I Love You” with a Healthy Chocolate Dessert

Valentine’s Day, celebrated on February 14, is set aside to honor those you love. Traditional expressions of love on Valentine’s Day are cards, flowers, food, and jewelry. One of the foods of love is chocolate. The botanical name for chocolate is Theobroma cacao, which means “food of the gods”. But you don’t have to be a god to love chocolate! The Aztecs thought that chocolate was an aphrodisiac. Research has now shown that the ancient wisdom could be true. A recent study showed the connection between eating sweet foods and romantic feelings. Specifically, chocolate helps to release dopamine and serotonin in the brain, and those are some of our feel-good

Read More »
Set Yourself Up for Health in 2021 with a Simple Test | Palmetto Bella

Set Yourself Up for Health in 2021 with a Simple Test

Are you feeling run down and tired for no reason? Are you taking a handful of supplements each day, and trying to eat cleaner, and questioning whether what you’re doing is working? This COVID-19 pandemic has isolated most of us enough to make us reassess our own health. Many of us flock to the next fad thinking it will help us slim down, give us more energy, make us more beautiful, and maybe even extend our years here on earth. Foods, supplements, and nutritional support are only good if we can absorb them. Most of us go through our whole lives thinking we’re doing what is right, but in the

Read More »
Should You Eat Healthier In 2021? | Palmetto Bella

Should You Eat Healthier In 2021?

“Little by little, one travels far.” Attributed to J.R.R. Tolkien [editor’s note – although this is frequently attributed to Tolkien, it is actually a translation of a Spanish proverb.] Every January many Americans make New Year’s resolutions. One study last year found that 38% of people made one or more of them. The most popular resolutions are related to improving health by losing weight and exercising more. While I am all in favor of this, there are certain people for whom healthy eating is more critical than others. As data has shown this past year, people who suffer from obesity, heart disease, or diabetes are in much more danger of

Read More »