So you’ve decided you want some professional 1-1 personal training. 

Perhaps you have spent months and months scrolling the internet, reading blogs, trying free workouts online, and maybe you’ve even bought the book ‘Lean in 15’ by Joe Wicks!

Despite all the effort, and countless hours on the internet, nothing seems to be working and you’ve realised you need an expert fitness coach to help build you a be-spoke exercise regime and have some extra face-to-face support.

You have accepted that you need help but you are unsure of how to find a suitable fitness trainer. Don’t worry, in this post i’m going to show you exactly how to find a personal trainer in your local area.…

#1 Local Gym

One of the most obvious places to look is at your local gym. If you are already a member of a gym, you’ll have noticed personal trainers walking about and coaching clients. Why not politely pull over a trainer and strike up a conversation. Tell them about your goals and what you are hoping to achieve. Ask them if you can book in for a free consultation. 

#2 Google

One of the most common ways of finding a personal trainer is to go online and type in ‘personal trainer’ and then follow up with your local area or city. For example if you live in Sheffield you would type in ‘personal trainer Sheffield’ – you will then receive a bunch of results for local PT’s in your area.  

Once you’ve found a personal trainer that you like, you can then do a private search on Google, for example to find my business you would type in LEP Fitness and then a bunch of useful information will come up i.e. my facebook page, twitter, youtube channel, etc. 

You will also be able to see any other sites i’ve been featured on, articles i’ve written, testimonials, fitness blogs on website, etc. It’s a really good way to do extra research and find a trainer that suits your needs. 

#3 Private personal training studio 

An alternative to going to your local gym is to hire a coach with their own private personal training studio. In my opinion the best coaches work for private companies, where the gym they work at is solely for coaching clients (not for commercial use). As a general rule of thumb personal trainers who work at a private facility are far more qualified and carry more experience than those who work in commercial gyms. 

#4 Ask your friends

Do you know anybody in your circle of friends, or work colleagues who have a personal trainer? Do they mention them often i.e. how much they enjoy training, or have you noticed their results? If you can it’s best to get a recommendation, that way you are more likely to find a reliable and trust worthy coach. 

#5 Local Forums 

Another great way to find personal trainers in your ares is to search online for local forums, for example lots of people find my personal training business ‘LEP Fitness’ through the Sheffield Forum website. I’ve also heard of people finding PT’s on Gumtree and websites like Bark – where you can find local services and professionals for whatever you need.

#6 Shop around

Before investing see if you can ‘try before you buy’ – can you do a free session? Don’t be afraid to visit 2-5 different personal trainers in your area to shop around and find out who you like the best, after all you are going to be spending plenty of time with your coach and investing lots of money – so it’s important that you make the right decision!

Other things to consider before hiring a personal trainer…

Distance to travel 

If you live in Sheffield you aren’t likely to want to travel to Doncaster unless there’s a really specific reasons i.e. sports specific coach, etc. Make-sure to investigate before you travel to save stress. Is it within distance from work? will there be bad traffic? will it cost you an arm and leg in petrol money? etc, etc.  

Price

Most personal trainers in the North of England will charge between £20-£80 per hour. In the South of England, in places it could be upto £200 per session. Make-sure to enquire about prices before investing time travelling to your consultation.  Find out the prices for personal training packages and make-sure it’s financially viable.  

Expectations 

To achieve what you want do you know how long it will take? It’s worth asking your coach how long they think it will take you to achieve your desired outcome. Of course it depends on how hard you are willing to work, and that you follow their instructions to the letter, but it’s good to manage expectations. For example 10 personal training sessions will definitely help you get on track, but to achieve your end result you may need 50-100 sessions!

Support outside of coaching sessions

Find out if you get extra help outside of your private personal training sessions. Do you receive a meal plan? be-spoke workout plan? e-mail and text support, etc.

Thanks for reading,

Nick 🙂 (Owner & Founder of LEP Fitness)

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