Face to Face Personal Training and Online Fitness Programs offer very similar programming which may include the same activities and comparable reps etc. However, they are very different due to the ‘personal’ nature of face to face training compared to the ‘impersonal’ offering online.
With Face to Face Personal Training you have the great benefit of Face to Face interaction. With a face to face personal trainer you can build fantastic rapport with your trainer, and they will learn your capabilities a lot faster, enabling you to achieve your fitness goals sooner.
Being accountable to a Personal Trainer is another great asset for motivation. If you know you will be training with your Personal Trainer in the next few days, the chances are, they will ask you, ‘how has your program been going this week?’ or ‘how’s your healthy eating going?’ Many of us don’t like to say, ‘I had takeaway last night’ or ‘I haven’t done any exercise this last week’. That’s when a trainer will help you strategise, helping you get back on track. Also, when you are tired from a long day at work and all you want to do is go home and watch TV, knowing you have an appointment with a Personal Trainer, you will be less likely to skip your fitness session.
If you are partaking in an Online Fitness Program, the chances are, you say to yourself, I’ll train tomorrow. We all know that tomorrow never comes, because by the time it gets to tomorrow, tomorrow is tomorrow again! There is only today!!!
Regular contact with your Personal Trainer can really help you reach your full potential, keep you motivated and on track. They can also see in person, if you are progressing well or not so well, adjusting your program to be more effective.
Face to Face Personal Trainers can help push you to achieve goals that you would not otherwise achieve. For example, it is not uncommon that I work with people and they perform 10 reps of 100kg on leg press. While they are performing the exercise, they feel they are giving it their all. On several occasions, I have doubled their weight so they leg pressed 200kg 11 reps immediately after. That is double the weight with more reps in just 5 mins. This is not someone getting instantly stronger, it is self-belief, technique, FOCUS and motivation. Without the help of a Personal Trainer, they would still be leg pressing 100kg and finding it very tough.
I also work with a lot of people who, if I take my eye of them even for a split second, they stop what they are doing. Some of you reading this now may have a little chuckle to yourself, saying, ‘yep’, that’s me (hehehe). When this happens, a Personal Trainer can motivate you so you keep going when you would otherwise have stopped completely.
With Online Fitness Programs, you do not have the face to face support and personal interaction from your trainer. However, a video call is the next best thing with obvious limitations. With video calls, geographically, you can be anywhere in the world and you can still discuss programs with your trainer. However, I have seen people in gyms with well-designed programs written by good fitness professionals but unfortunately, the person using the program does not understand sound techniques to perform the exercises listed in the programs. Often, I will help them with their techniques limiting their chances of developing injuries.
Also, with Online Fitness Programs, there is no one to watch your technique. I always recommend working out in front of a mirror. The more mirrors the better and that isn’t so you can admire or critique your physique but, to monitor your own technique. If you are a person who likes their own company, you also get to work out in peace and/or while listening to your choice of music. I personally like working out while listening to my favourite tunes.
For me, Online Programs can be great for people with lots of exercise experience, who are highly motivated and are wanting greater improvements in performance. Or, they just want a new program to change things up. People experienced in exercise will already know good technique and are able to correct their own form/technique helping to develop their body whilst also preventing unnecessary injuries.
I’m a person who really enjoys Personal Training. However, I do follow fitness programs when I’m at the gym working out. At the start of the week, I map out my program which also includes activities outside of the gym such as cycling and kayaking. Unfortunately, I haven’t been out Kayaking for a little while so I have now planned to kayak this Saturday at high tide.
A Face to Face Personal trainer can provide you with individualised Fitness Programs which might incorporate activities outside of the gym. In my opinion, Online Fitness Programs are not a substitute or alternative to Face to Face Personal Training, they compliment Personal Training. Both Face to Face Personal Training and Online Fitness Programs have their benefits. For me personally, I prefer both. Face to Face Personal Training a couple of times per week, along with Individualised Fitness Programs that I can follow when working out on my own, listening to my favourite tunes.
My advice is find yourself a Personal Trainer who you are comfortable working with, commit to weekly sessions with them. They will be able to provide you with a fitness program that you might otherwise have purchased online, with the benefits of personal interactions and ongoing motivation.