Personal training is a fitness trend that is really gaining momentum. A recent development is personal training via phone or email. Most phone personal trainers will converse via email as well. With most services, there is a part of the population that will benefit from and enjoy phone personal training. However, there are definitely some negative aspects of doing personal training over the phone. Each side will be outlined in order to provide you with an overall picture of how (and if) personal training over the phone will work for you.

Positives

Busier people will definitely benefit from this service because it enables them to workout on their own time and report in when they can. People that do not have the leisure of scheduling a three-day-a-week workout at 9am, and instead have to stagger their workout times will find this service easier to use due to its flexibility. Many phone personal trainers available advertise a weekly phone session to check up on progress so a workout plan can be adjusted.

Most people know how to work out already; they are just looking for a personal trainer for motivation. A phone personal trainer provides the encouragement and motivation that one needs; it still gives you someone to be accountable to and check in with. Phone personal trainers provide more coaching than anything, mainly because they are not with you when you are working out but are tracking your progress nonetheless.

Based on your specific goals, a phone personal trainer will still design a workout program specifically for you. The weekly phone sessions are used to talk about the week's progress and see what works and what doesn't. The workout plan is then tweaked from week to week to increase intensity and help you reach your fitness goal.

Negatives

The most obvious negative to using a phone personal trainer is that you lose that "personal" part - your trainer is not there with you working out because they only available over the phone once a week. Some people need the motivation in the moment, not after the workout has been completed. When working out with a personal trainer, they are going to push you harder than you would push yourself if they were not there. Two more reps of an exercise or two more minutes of running can make a big difference in the long run - both for your body and for your self-confidence.

A benefit of having a personal trainer in person and not over the phone is that there is immediate feedback on your workout. Your personal trainer is able to coach you on form and technique immediately instead of a week later. If you go a week doing a workout that was designed for you, and you are doing one part of it wrong because you weren't sure of the technique, that could be precious time (and money!) wasted.

The bottom line is that for some people, phone personal training will work out wonderfully. For others, it will be a waste of time and money. You have to figure out how motivated you are and whether or not you are comfortable with your technique and form in order to decide which option will best suit your needs. Either way, you are gaining someone to be accountable to, and fitness goals aside, sometimes that is all people need.