Online personal trainers

Citation

(2010), "Online personal trainers", Health Education, Vol. 110 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/he.2010.142110bag.001

Online personal trainers

Article Type: Internet review From: Health Education, Volume 110, Issue 2

If you are new to regular exercise then it can be hard to stay motivated, particularly in the early stages when progress is slow and the exercises painful. This is where the personal trainer can be beneficial. Obviously a one to one with a real personal trainer would be ideal, but it is also quite expensive and not always easy to fit into a busy schedule. The online personal trainer offers you all the benefits of a real personal trainer, but without the expense and at a time that is convenient to you. But do they work? Can an online personal trainer really motivate you to the same degree as a real person? Will you strive as hard for a virtual trainer as you would for a flesh and blood counterpart? In this review we look at some of the online personal trainers that are available on the internet in an attempt to answer these questions.

Fitbug – www.fitbug.com

It is very easy to develop a web site that provides users with information on how to live healthily and what to do to get fit. The difficulty is in maintaining motivation after the initial enthusiasm wears off and this of course is where the personal trainer comes in. In real life our personal trainer would monitor our activities, diet, weight and so on and provide us with feedback that would help us modify these as required. The Fitbug web site does much the same by providing a link between the user and the web site in the form of a small electronic bug that users wear and that monitors activity levels. In essence this is nothing more than a pedometer that records activities and then via a USB port, uploads this information to the web site where progress can be recorded and monitored. Based on this uploaded information the user can then be provided with a tailor made health and fitness plan that will help them in achieving their particular goals. To make best use of this web site, users would have to pay a subscription, £9 per month for a 12-month subscription at the time of writing. However there are many useful features in this web site that can be accessed for free. For example the “Healthy Living” section has articles on a wide variety of topics including nutrition, stress and goal setting. Users can find dozens of recipe ideas dealing with every food imaginable. The “Activity Programmes” have plans for all levels of fitness. For the beginner the “Front Room Workout” will be particularly suitable. The exercises are simple and can be performed using the ordinary tables and chairs most people would have in their homes. All the exercises are described in detail and are illustrated throughout. For the more ambitious a “Beginners’ Running” programme is provided on the web site. More advanced running programmes are also available for download for those who have paid for a subscription. The web site also has some other good motivational features, for example the members forums where views, ideas and problems can be aired and shared. There is also a “Member of the Month” section where users can read about the successes of other members, and just to prove it can be done, you will find the ubiquitous “before” and “after” photographs. Even without paying for a subscription this online personal trainer has a lot to offer, but for those who really are serious about getting fit and staying healthy, the small subscription would probably be a worthwhile investment.

Virtual Fitness – www.virtual-fitness.co.uk/index.php

Virtual Fitness is an interesting personal trainer web site because unlike others where the user interacts with the technology, here the user interacts with a personal trainer who is a real person. As with the previous web site, this also operates as a subscription service with three levels, bronze, silver and gold. The more you pay the more individual interaction you can expect and the more personalised are the training plans and nutritional guidelines. The web site provides a lot of detailed information about the trainers, and they do appear to be very well qualified, but users will be disappointed if they expect to find much more than this. The testimonials provided by existing users are on the whole very positive, but that is only what we would expect. Prospective subscribers to this service can get a feel for what is available by taking the online tour which gives an indication of the range of information and services that are on offer.

A links page is provided with the sort of useful links that would be expected, e.g. “great2run”, but just why “Cosmopolitan” magazine is included here is rather beyond me.

Finally, under “Fitness Tools” the user can find a Body Mass Index calculator and a heart rate chart to calculate optimal heart rate for a given age.

Although the information provided by this web site is very limited, it nevertheless provides an interesting approach to the online personal trainer.

Freetrainers – www.freetrainers.com/

I am always suspicious of anything that is quoted as being “free” on the internet, especially if it requires that you complete a registration form. This web site does require that the user register, but it is probably worth it given the range of resources that are then available. There are three main parts to this web site, the “Fitness Plan”, the “Nutritional Plan” and “Health Resources”. For the “Fitness Plan” the user completes a simple online self-assessment and the web site suggests a personalised exercise program. This can vary from the very simplest type of program that can be completed at home with minimum equipment, up to the more sophisticated training plans requiring access to training machines, weights and so on. Users can set their own goals and these can be monitored with exercise progress charts.

Similarly, for the “Nutritional Plans”, the user completes the initial self-assessment of their diet, stating what goals they wish to achieve, and a personalised plan is produced giving details of how diet should be modified to achieve the goals set.

For those people who are serious about healthy exercise the “Health Resources” section will be very useful. Here, under fitness resources, users can find information on general exercise, specific muscle exercise, how to deal with injuries, as well as fitness calculators. The nutritional resources section provides information and guides on general nutrition, diet for weight loss, diet for muscle gain, supplements as well as a host of related articles.

Finally, acknowledging that getting fit can sometimes be a difficult and lonely business, the designers of this web site have provided access to a chat room and message board, which at the time of this review, certainly seemed very active.

As with many web sites that are “free”, there is usually a cost in terms of the advertising that supports these sites. This is also true of this web site but fortunately the advertisements are, on the whole, unobtrusive and don’t detract from what, otherwise, is a very good resource for people who want to improve their level of fitness and general health.

My Home Personal Trainer – www.myhomepersonaltrainer.net/

Clicking on this URL brings up the web site fronted by an avatar (an animated video) if the form of a young woman who introduces the user to the web site and explains briefly what will be found. Registration is required but this is only a user name and e-mail address. Certain features are only available with a paid subscription but in this review we will focus on the content that is accessible for free.

After completing registration, the user is asked to provide a quite detailed self-assessment, height, weight, age and various other physical measures. You also have to give an indication of what level of exercise you are looking for and any specialist equipment you may have access to. If one of your goals is weight loss then you have to indicate how much weight you want to lose and over what period of time.

Once you have completed all this you will be provided with an exercise/nutrition plan that will help you to achieve the goals you have set. This is a very useful part of this web site because it gives the user an indication of how realistic their goals are. If the plan suggests an activity level that you feel is too great (or not great enough) then it is possible to go back and readjust the targets to make them more manageable. Not only can activity levels be adjusted but activity types, e.g. running, swimming, aerobics and so on, can also be changed and their outcomes observed. This degree of interactivity is excellent and a good motivator particularly for people who are just starting out on a fitness programme.

Another interesting motivational feature of this web site is the “efitponts”. These are points that are rewarded for a variety of activities. For example logging into the web site is rewarded, as is achieving goals that you have set, even just contributing to the message board. The points can then be exchanged for real rewards, for example money, books and gift certificates.

Whether they choose to subscribe to this web site or are happy with free content, users will find lots of valuable resources that they can use to help them become stay motivated and thus become fitter and healthier.