Hey ladies,

I hope you are having a great week. I cannot believe we are now into October, it certainly is getting much cooler here in the UK. Christmas will soon be here eek (so not ready for this!).

As promised I am going to share with you the main differences between online coaching and personal training. This is a question I get asked a lot, so it is important I answer this for you.

Before the pandemic hit I was doing a lot of personal training sessions, however the last 18 months I have been delivering online coaching too. I have had some great results with my online coaching programmes, click here to see the transformations.

Many women have reservations about online coaching; the biggest concern is motivation and accountability. “How am I going to get myself motivated to train on my own”. I see what you are saying, in the early days you need support to create healthy habits, especially around fitness and nutrition. This is why online coaching is the perfect programme. Unlike personal training where you are paying for one or two sessions per week, in online coaching, you are paying for continuous accountability.

What I see with my personal training clients is during our pt session motivation is high, they leave with all these good intentions but by the time I see them again the following week they have slipped back into old habits. You see with online coaching this does not happen. All my online coaching clients are set daily step count and a hydration target (normally 2-3litres water per day). These are laid out on my Fit Mama Powered By Mari Carmen Fitness app. The app links to their Fitbit/Apple Watch if they have one with in-built food tracking so they can keep a close eye on their daily calories (which I also set). This gives me a lot of information in order to hold them accountable.

So how do they stay motivated to do the programmed workouts? Again, these are scheduled into their calendar on the app on days we have agreed they were will exercise. If they are not done I will be able to see and check in to see if everything is ok. As you can see with online coaching the client is getting much more accountability and support.

Another key difference is the client has to check in each week with weight, photos, measurements and a simple questionnaire to fill out. I then look at all their stats, workout progress, and nutrition and then give feedback to the client. Don’t get me wrong with my personal training clients I do offer support with their nutrition, but this is done during the session and not in as much depth.

I hope this helps and clarifies any questions you have about online coaching,

Love and light,

Mari-Carmen x