Online Coaching is Better Than In-Person Coaching

In-person coaching is valuable and definitely has its benefits. New coaches can quickly learn how to coach, and how lifters respond to different cues and approaches, with the real-time feedback in-person sessions offer. In-person coaching forces new coaches to “speed up” their delivery of cues and instruction, which is great for refining their ability to offer concise and effective guidance. There are no “do-overs” in real-time: a coach only gets to see their lifter perform once and then must decide on the most important element to address and commit to it, for better or worse.

Despite these benefits, we think online coaching is better, and here are some big reasons why:

For people who live in remote locations, it is nearly impossible to have access to expert coaching (unless they are very lucky). Actually, even in large cities, having local access to the best experts is still uncommon. Truly world-class coaches, by definition, are scarce. Online coaching allows anyone in the world access to any coach that offers online services. All that’s needed is a smartphone and internet service.

The ability to interact remotely removes commuting time, costs, and complications for both parties. This alone saves everyone so much headache!

Online coaching can be much cheaper than getting that same level of expertise in person. A coach can charge less for their services if they don’t have to pay for physical gym space, utilities, cleaning services, and the like. Also, think about this: an in-person client has to pay for the coach’s time when they’re resting between sets, warming up, or even going to the bathroom. Online coaching reduces the amount of a coach’s time being paid for, to only programming considerations and the short periods where form is breaking down and needs correction. This increase in efficiency puts the maximum value at the most competitive price point.

Being asynchronous allows both the client and the coach the flexibility to interact with each other whenever it is convenient for their schedules. Clients can train at home, in a commercial gym, on vacation—wherever they like. Coaches can review those sessions from any location as well: while traveling, from home, or at their physical gym if they also have in-person clients.

The ability to train/coach at different times is a huge benefit. Most sought-after coaches have little availability for the most requested time slots (bad for clients), and perhaps also struggle to fill the rest of their day at other times (bad for coaches). Even if clients manage to snag a great time slot with a great local coach, they are now committed to exactly that time. If they’re running late, want to go on vacation, or their schedule changes, they lose access. Online coaches also benefit by being able to condense all their coaching into the times they would like to work, with no unproductive waiting times between sessions.

All of these reasons make online coaching a great choice for clients and trainers alike.