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Online Personal Training is one of the hottest new fitness businesses on the web, for both women and men, but you need to be motivated to get the most out of one of these courses, or you'll just waste your money.
If you've worked with a personal trainer before, you'll know the benefits: a workout program that's tailored especially for you, personal attention one-on-one, and a heavy dose of motivation to get you going.
Yes, personal training is one of the most effective ways to get fit and stay fit. But it costs you. Maybe $60 an hour, and of course you don't just pay once - your trainer or health club has probably signed you up for at least a dozen lessons and probably more ("because a package is cheaper"). And to really get the benefits you have to train several times a week, on an ongoing basis, so that monthly bill can start to mount up, although results can be spectacular.
What if you can't afford it? The answer may be online personal training. This is the latest trend and many health clubs and websites offer programs costing $25-$75 a month.
Basically, you get everything you get with a real life personal trainer but you have to do the assigned exercises yourself and report back. So you're missing that in-your-face coaching that is one of the strong points of personal fitness training, but you are getting a program that's tailored to you, with all the nutrition advice and training information that a first class personal coach would give you. What's more, you're getting feedback from your online trainer - and having to report back does give you an incentive not to be lazy!
However, not all online personal training programs are created equal! Many diet or fitness courses are developed using a general, one-size-fits-all approach and use computer software-generated programs which don't provide a genuine individually tailored regimen. So it's important to check this out, and the qualifications and/or certifications of the people who'll be planning your training.
You shouldn't have to go out and buy expensive new fitness equipment to use the program suggested, ideally they should be able to work with whatever you already have (although if you have nothing at all you may have to purchase a few small things). Whether you have access to a full gym, a couple pieces of equipment at home or don't have any equipment at all, you still should be able to get a good program designed to meet your requirements.
With online training you usual start off the same way as you do with a one-on-one trainer, by filling out a profile, health history questionaire and various assesments, but you do it online. Ideally, a certified personal trainer will then review your details and create your workout program. This will be sent to you by email or you'll be given a website address where you can download it.
The workout program should tell you
You are then responsible for doing the workouts at the intervals suggested and reporting back to your online trainer via email or via their website reporting system. If you have any questions, issues, or problems your trainer is there for you, primarily through email support though some may give you a telephone number.
You usually have a workout log which is used by your trainer to evaluate your progress at regular intervals, preferably weekly, to ensure your program is is working for you, so there is some degree of accountability involved. Researchers have found that exercisers who are accountable to a trainer or a partner are more successful in reaching their fitness goals.
Ideally, you should also get at least a sample menu plan, and have to track and log your food intake as well as your exercises weekly online for your trainer to review. The truth is that exercise is not enough -- you need to monitor and evaluate your food intake. Nutrition is an important component in a healthy - and fit - lifestyle. Quite a few online training providers have extensive databases of foods where you can check nutritional value and even create meal plans with matching grocery lists!
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