What’s the Difference between Semi-Private and One-On-One Personal Training?

Simply put, Semi-Private Personal Training is a way of coaching clients through individualized or customized workouts in a group-based setting.  Compared to One-on-One Personal Training (one-client-to-one-coach) our system of Semi-Private Personal Training allows one coach to effectively manage up to four clients simultaneously.  Although its not for everyone, we have found the benefits of Semi-Private Training to far exceed the drawbacks for both our clients and professional staff.   

From its origin, Personal Training has been synonymous with One-On-One Training; one-trainer, one-client at a time.  As a client, you hired one Coach to work with exclusively,  who would facilitate your workouts, help you with your nutrition, and keep you inspired and accountable.  It became a real relationship, a close friendship, in which personal conversations and dependency on the Coach were commonplace.  There were some good things, and some not so good things about the arrangement for both people involved. 

If you had a good Coach, he got to know you pretty well; he could read your emotions from day-to-day, knew all of your physical issues, knew just how much to push you, and was the sounding board for your daily frustrations before heading home to your family.   Your Coach may have set-up your equipment, counted your reps, kept you engaged, and told you exactly what to eat.  Needless to say, the costs which were between $50 and $200 per hour-long session, were prohibitive for most people who needed help.

On the other side, your Coach became reliant on you for his livelihood.  There are only so many hours in a week, which meant that a Coach could only take on so many clients.  It also meant that he worked split shifts daily (4-8am; 4-8pm) to be available when those clients wanted to train, and cancelations and no-shows meant no income.  Ultimately, most Coaches got burned out, and even the good ones, moved on to other professions after a few years.

We knew we could do better for our clients and future fitness professionals.  A little more than ten years ago, the industry started to evolve, and we were on the front lines.  For me, it began with the observation of athletic training rooms and physical therapy clinics.  Physical Therapists had been treating four or more patients each hour and were doing it successfully in a scenario where people needed even more one-on-one attention.   We realized there was an opportunity to create a model that was more sustainable for both business and the professionals who delivered the services.  Simultaneously, we could create an environment that was more engaging and empowering, leading to better results for our customers/clients.

The Semi-Private model eliminated most of the drawbacks to one-on-one training for both clients and Coaches, while offering some additional benefits, including a lower cost-barrier of entry for people in the community that needed help. 

Semi-Private Training offered a business the ability to organize staff by strengths.  The person with the best skills, training, and qualifications in each area from assessment/screening, to program development, to coaching exercises, and consulting on nutrition strategies, could provide that specific service.

Today, we continue to provide each client with a customized program, selecting exercises that fit them instead of forcing them into a generalized workout.  Our “team” continues to get to know our clients, understand how to coach and inspire them, and effectively coach the workout that was designed for them. 

This also creates a more flexible training schedule for clients since they no longer worry about the limited number of appointments an individual coach can schedule.  Last-minute meeting?  Stuck in traffic?  No problem.  Simply move your appointment back an hour.  It also eliminates the issue for Coaches, who don’t have to worry about cancelations and the impact on their ability to earn a living.  We provide professional staff the opportunity to work a reasonable schedule.  No more split shifts every day, and no more career burn-out. 

Another benefit of Semi-Private Personal Training is it creates a culture around a community of people who are working on similar goals.  We didn’t anticipate how much value this would bring to our customers.  No longer is it just a one-on-one relationship, but instead, a community of like-minded individuals all working towards similar goals with multiple coaches helping you achieve those goals.  Semi-Private cultivates a community, develops an accountability system, a place to meet new friends, and a home away from home

One-On-One Personal Training has become a fossil left over from the origins of our industry.  It formed a foundation on which we evolved and grew as an industry.  Today we can deliver a more effective product, at a reduced cost, so it’s more accessible to those who need us.