Online training has opened up a great deal of opportunity for both coaches and clients or athletes alike, as the location barrier is completely eliminated. It gives clients the the benefit of being trained by world class coaches from across the world, and never having their training interrupted when they travel.

Whatever your reason for looking for a remote coach, the technology and way we communicate make it a great option for a growing number of people. With that said, some people are better candidates than others.

Are you a Good Candidate for Online Training?

Online training and coaching is great for…

• intermediate to advanced lifters and athletes with a lot of gym experience.

• athletes and clients continuing programs off-season, through travel, or for those who are in and out of the gym for various logistical reasons.

• people who are good at self evaluating and making changes inside a session themselves.

• athletes who are intrinsically motivated and wish to have the supervision of qualified eyes on the most important aspects of their workouts.

• athletes or individuals who need someone taking a bird’s eye view of their training, and don’t necessarily need micro adjustments inside of every workout.

• athletes who have erratic schedules, making gym times and appointments hard to keep, but always manage to fit their training in.

Online Training and Programming Isn’t for everyone…

If any of the following describe you, online training and coaching may not be ideal.

• newer lifters who need more in-person cueing and real time proper mechanical breakdowns.

• poor communicators or lifters unwilling to record videos of their exercises.

• lifters who have a difficult time writing down their workouts.

• intermediate to advanced lifters who do well as part of a team or social environment, or that need a social touch to feel engaged (more on this below).

Expectations as a client: What to look for In a Coach

1. A Track Record of Success In person

If you’re thinking of hiring an online coach or trainer, there are a number of things to consider. When I look as a coach and trainer myself out at the world of online training, the most important criteria I have for evaluating online coaches is not the platform they use, their number of social media followers, or even their content. Instead, the main criteria for me is a track record and history of being a competent in-person coach first.

You read that correctly: online training programs and online coaches should have a track record of progress and success with clients as an in-person coach, first and foremost.

Training someone remotely removes multiple layers of connection and observation from the equation. A coach that’s working with you online doesn’t get to see your overall movement. They aren’t warming up with you, talking to you, or observing if you’re favoring a knee or shoulder from a mishap that happened the night before. As I always tell my new clients: our assessment begins the moment you walk through the door.

Because of this, coaching online requires that much more communication, and you need to have a lot of experience as a coach to notice red flags or things that are worth investigating. In other words, you have to know what kind of questions to ask in the first place. You’ll never know this unless you’ve actually worked with clients.

This requires a dialogue and it means the client needs to also be ready to share and do their part in the communication loop. More on that below.

Mostly though, as a consumer, you are safeguarding yourself and assuring you’re hiring someone qualified when you try and ascertain their history as a coach. If they have a track record training people in-person, you can at least be confident that if they’re newer to online training, they have the knowledge to be successful with you - it just may take some trial and error.

2. Remember, You’re in a coaching relationship

As the client hiring a professional, you must also remember that you are in a coaching relationship: you’ve hired your coach to guide you the best way they know how. It may look very different from what you’ve previously experienced, and that’s okay. You may want to talk to them about that, but what you do not want to do is try to be the coach yourself.

Perhaps it’s the lack of face-to-face interaction, but there is a tendency sometimes for some online clients to try to make changes that they wouldn’t normally make if they were working in-person with someone. They may add extra biceps work when the coach may be purposely omitting it for a reason. Communication is key here, but as the client, you need to be compliant with the program for optimal results. A lack of in-session supervision requires trust and communication, and isn’t license to use the day’s training however you want and expect results.

Most importantly, you need to give things time.

3. Good training costs money

Online training allows providers like us to work at a little more scale and have some time independence — but not too much — to bring the price down to all clients involved.

This means you get a better rate with access to great coaches. But you must remember: great coaches cost money. Their education level and knowledge is sought after and comes at a price. If you think about it, you are essentially hiring them as a consultant - and qualified consultants bill appropriately for their time.

Online training that is comprehensive but dips below the $200 per month mark could be a red flag. Other times, a lower price is more innocent and is being offered by someone relatively new. Sometimes a cheaper price tag is indicative of a single aspect of the service: you get programming, but no form breakdowns or communication. You’ll need to do your homework and decide what you’re personally okay with when reviewing prices and coaches.

If you were to average out the time it takes a good coach to write programs, correspond with you and possibly even talk on the phone at times, you start to see the price per hour is very consumer friendly even at the higher priced ends of the spectrum.

That’s why good online coaching from qualified professionals rarely goes under $250 USD per month.

Like most things, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is!

4. Expect Prompt and Timely Response TImes to your questions and training results

You should expect to receive an answer to questions at whatever time interval you agree on, and this should be discussed at the beginning of your coaching relationship. It’s very common and easy for coaches to get back to you within 24 hours, minus holidays or agreed upon downtimes.

You should also expect to be delivered what you paid for: in other words, your workouts are delivered in a timely manner. You should have a discussion early on with your coach as to the times you need to have your workouts ready, and that should be accommodated.

Expectations a good coach has for you as a client:

1. You’ll keep them in the loop on life events and things that prevent you from reporting your training

A good online coach should have a conversation with you up front about their expectations for you in terms of communication preferences and ask you about your schedule from a logistical standpoint.

A good coach understands that life happens. We all have families, friends, responsibilities and things that can get in the way. That said, a coach needs to be kept in the loop. It’s for your good as much as ours.

This is also a good place to mention that one of the best times to have an online coach is when you are going through a challenging life situation or juggling a lot. It may seem unintuitive, but the distinct advantage of having an online coach is that when times get tough and you are literally out of time, you can completely outsource your training needs to your coach so all you need to do is show up and do what’s required. You can lean on them for advice on how to manage your training schedule, and they can modify accordingly to adjust training days or reduce the total volume of work.

2. You’ll be compliant and complete exercises to the best of your ability.

Compliance is really what sets successful programs up from unsuccessful ones. If you’re compliant with even a mediocre program, you’ll see results. On the other hand, if you have a fantastic coach and program that you only half-complete, then you’re never going to be successful.

Compliance and completing exercises to the best of your ability also means you follow instructions. Sometimes you’ll be asked to really push, while other times the instructions require more restraint. If you have a tendency to overdo things, you need to tell your coach and work on checking that instinct in yourself. Whatever the nuance is here, the simple truth is that you need to complete the workouts as written to the best of your ability.

3. You’ll tell them if you are doing something physically taxing outside of your training sessions

Now, for athletes of different sports, the implication right away should be that strength and conditioning is secondary to your sport, and any coach with a pulse will make sure the lifting program accounts for this.

However, it’s unfortunately not uncommon for online coaches to find that they have a client who is having difficulty progressing or struggling to push through plateaus. When confronted and questioned as to things that may be affecting their progress, a client reveals they’ve started doing a 6AM spin class three days per week, or took up a hot yoga hobby on top of their normal schedule.

This is a problem for the online coach who may have been programming for you in such a way that assumes you have ample recovery time. If you’re deliberately cutting into your sleep and adding more activity, this can be a big problem and could explain the lack of progress.

The best way to avoid this is to be very open about all the things you do, and may be thinking about doing. The right coach will guide you appropriately to progress.

Conclusion

It may feel like a bit of a chore to vet coaches or trainers, but if you do the requisite research ahead of time, you’re only doing yourself a favor for months (and potentially years) to come. When you adequately consider the credentials of the coaches you desire to train with, reflect on your own strengths and weaknesses, but most of all, commit to a program and coach, you’ll find that your workouts and training time will be greatly enhanced with a watchful eye — even if you’re in Los Angeles and your coach is in New York City.

I’M MARK DISALVO, CSCS

I’m the founder and owner of DiSalvo Performance Training. I started my gym in 2015 with the desire to bring a higher level of instruction and training to New York City.

I’m an NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and Sports Performance Expert, and I work with people every day who want to enjoy their time in the gym - and see results.

With over a decade of experience training clients and athletes of all backgrounds, I’m confident that my team can help you reach your goals. I’ve built a team of trainers and developed programs designed specifically to help people like you become the best versions of themselves.

The first step is a consultation. After you fill out the form below, we’ll be in touch to set up a 15 minute chat that will help us best figure out how to get you results.

As you learned from this post, location doesn’t matter. Whether you’re local to our gym here in Chelsea, NYC, or you live on the other side of the world, DiSalvo Performance Training can help you reach your goals.

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