Online PT

[MattLongFitness]

Firstly, an online personal trainer should be experienced in training clients face to face. They should be a level 3 certified personal trainer.

The way it works is quite simple really. The online personal trainer communicates with you through email, and other forms of media and electronic communication.

They work with you to assess your fitness levels, strength levels, goals and time commitments.

From the information they collect from you, they can produce you a training programme and nutrition plan that's perfect for you, to fit in to your lifestyle and time commitments. The programme needs to be personalized to you, and built around the assessment results you submit.

They will ask you to send regular updates and progress in terms of fitness/ strength and weight loss. They will also encourage feedback from you and regular email contact to help you stay motivated.

They way an online personal trainer will make sure you follow correct technique and form is by having a directory of exercises available. You can see what exercises are in your programme, and search for these in the directory.A good exercise directory will have full video instruction of perfect form/technique and tips/coaching advice.

An online personal trainer should make sure that you start out with several specific goals that meet the (S.M.A.R.T) Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic and Time based goals.

They will provide you with everything you need to achieve these goals. Once you have achieved these goals they will help you set further goals.

A good online personal trainer will educate you about training and nutrition. They will improve your self confidence and efficacy. They will teach you that you can set goals yourself, and you can train yourself, using perfect form, to achieve these goals.

[WoofieNugget]

Personally I completely disagree with online training and think it is a cash grab for the "trainer" and a waste of money for the person getting trained. I see this all of the time in the bodybuilding and fitness model community. Some thoughts:

There is no way to properly assess someone online - possibly through skype if you can get a live feed of someone performing certain movements, but in order to do a thorough assessment you need to be there watching and recording the entire time. There is a lot of stuff I do to assess people that they would have no idea how to do to themselves properly, even if I described it. Basic things like weight, height, girth measurements sure, no problem. But this doesn't come close to telling you the entire picture of someone.

Even if someone watches a video there is no way to know if they are performing the exercises correctly when they do them with proper tempo, form or anything else. Why? Because you're not watching them - and coaching them. A major part of my job is correcting movement at the time it is being done and making sure that the client maintains it throughout whatever they are doing. If you're "coaching" weightlifting online then you aren't coaching. You're giving someone exercises and hoping they will do them properly.

Also, just knowing the business like I do, 90% of the time the workouts (and diets, but that is a whole separate issue) given are the same for everyone. They aren't individualized or adjusted for the person involved. Because they can't be - the person giving the workout has no idea how the individual moves, responds to movement or if they are doing anything right. Why would you not just seek out a qualified trainer in your area for whatever you want to do? Unless you live in a really remote place, odds are there is a qualified person (I have no idea what Level 3 means) who actually knows their stuff and can meet with you regularly.

[darins]

Also, just knowing the business like I do, 90% of the time the workouts (and diets, but that is a whole separate issue) given are the same for everyone. They aren't individualized or adjusted for the person involved. Because they can't be - the person giving the workout has no idea how the individual moves, responds to movement or if they are doing anything right. Why would you not just seek out a qualified trainer in your area for whatever you want to do? Unless you live in a really remote place, odds are there is a qualified person (I have no idea what Level 3 means) who actually knows their stuff and can meet with you regularly.

Cost, obviously.

I don't see it as a flawed model as you do - I see it as something very beneficial for a specific audience. If someone isn't in the right audience group to really benefit from it, they will perhaps see more of the value in a quality in-person trainer and 'graduate' to that.