The Little Know Affordable Way To Receive Personal Training

Over the years I’ve had a lot of individuals express to me how they’d really like to have a personal trainer, but believed it was just simply too expensive. Now this is totally understandable seeing how hiring a personal trainer is certainly more of an investment than just joining a gym. However, the notion of personal training having to be expensive isn’t necessarily always true. Especially with the strategy that I’m about to share with you.

Comparing cost between hiring a personal trainer and a gym membership is an apples to oranges comparison anyways as there’s not much similarity between the two other than the individual having the intent to exercise with either option.

It’s no secret that hiring a personal trainer increases commitment with exercise if for no other reason than the financial investment paid up front for it.

Nothing works better to provide accountability like having hard-earned money committed in advance for appointments to meet with a trainer.

It’s a lot easier to blow off workouts or skip the gym when nobody’s waiting on you and there’s minimal financial loss in doing so. Heck, the health club and gym models would prefer if you didn’t show up! The entire model is getting as many people as possible to pay a monthly membership and then having only a small percentage of them show up. You really think you could workout at the local Planet Fitness if all 5,000 members showed up one day. Pleazzz.

But, back to personal training and the possibility for it to be affordable. Look, I’m not going to attempt to dish up some word salad and give you some slick Willy sales speech on investment versus cost. You know the difference and realize having a personal coach is obviously going to cost more than a monthly gym membership....well because it provides more. However, here’s the thing, personal training doesn’t have to be $400-$900 per month investment.

A lot of individuals mistakenly assume that personal training is something that must be done in-person several times a week.

Now granted, there are some personal training facilities that require this as part of their programs, but certainly not all, as my facility is definitely not one of them. The frequency of in-person sessions should be about the wants, needs, and means (budget) of the individual, at least in my humble opinion.

I understand a lot of trainers want to see commitment, and without it they realize it’s going to be hard to see results, so they look to weed out the “not so serious” candidates. I totally get it since I’m in the industry, but commitment should not and is not dependent on financial means. That’s like saying, “oh you can’t afford to come see me 3-4 times a week, well then you’re really not committed. Huh? Say what? Or maybe I just can’t afford it there Jocko! Again, it’s conversations like this that lead to the misconception that personal training is only available for the wealthy and affluent.

Stick with me for a minute as I want you to see something. I want to show you, not a comparison between personal training and joining a gym, but rather between working out on your own exclusively, versus being under the guidance of a coach.

Let’s be honest with each other to put this discussion in context. It’s no secret that the “best of the best” in any field (be it athletics, business, etc) work with coaches, consultants, and mentors. Tom Brady is arguably one of the best quarterbacks to ever play professional football, do you think he feels he can benefit from having coaching? Success leaves clues my friends. He’s got coaches for everything from his fitness, to his mindset, nutrition, throwing motion, you name it. If there’s something that can help Tom be a better player, he’s getting coaching on it. So, if the best of best can benefit from coaching, doesn’t it sound silly for one to think they can do just as well without it?

Now I hear you…you’re thinking well yeah, but Tom Brady is a gillzionaire and he can afford to have coaches and cooks and all that stuff. True, but that wasn’t my point in using him as an example. My reason for using him as an example was because of his belief in the benefit of having a coach. The lesson here is everyone can benefit from having coaching. Let’s face it, we can’t all be experts in everything. Getting someone to help you in some area of your life you want to improve on is simply being wise.

Ok, so how can personal training be made to be more affordable?

What I’m about to share with you are alternatives that I believe will be the future of personal training.

For those individuals who simply can’t afford OR don’t need to meet with a trainer several times a week, what about once a week, or even once a month?

A lot of people aren’t aware of this but if you’re a client at Shaping Concepts and come even just 1 x per week, we’ll create an entire program design for you to do outside of the gym at no additional charge! This means you could workout on a customized program built for your individual wants and needs, complete with progression and progress measurement (no more guessing) and do the majority of the routines on your own at a work fitness facility, local gym, health club, at home, etc.

So, for less than fifty bucks a week you could have your very own coach and receive professional workout program design to maximize your results!

That just made personal training way more affordable. The real kicker here is there’s simply no comparison when it comes to which route is going to be more effective at producing RESULTS! Having a coach meet with you regularly and give you a personalized plan to follow OR you doing your thing all on your own and trying to figure out what exercises to do, how much, when to change things up, etc.

There’s also the option of meeting up with your coach once a month to get a new routine and be introduced to some new training variations. This is essentially what our “Remote Personal Training” program provides. Either one of these options may be significantly more feasible from a budget and affordability standpoint compared to in-person sessions 3-4 x per week. Yeah, it’s an investment, but it’s worth every penny if you’re serious about seeing optimal results from your workouts.

Now you see that yes it’s possible to have your very own professional fitness coach and consultant for less than $200 per month. This may open up the possibilities for some individuals who otherwise would have assumed they needed twice that or more per month to have a personal trainer. I’m here to help so please don’t hesitate to let me know if my services may be of benefit. Regardless of where you’ll regularly exercise, I can help you with a personalized program. You can see amazing results with a commitment to perseverance and a sound plan. Be blessed.

Shane Doll CPT, CSCS is a fitness professional and expert on exercise and body transformation for middle age and mature adults. He seeks to make a difference in the lives of others by providing instruction and coaching with a servant-based attitude. Since 2004 his Charleston personal training programs have helped over 3,000 Lowcountry residents.