FAQ

In many ways, online coaching is very similar to personal training. For starters, you’re working closely with a pro who understands your needs and provides personalised advice accordingly. It’s a very adaptable service with a big focus on teaching you what you need to know as well as giving you a great workout.

The most obvious difference is that online coaching helps you to stay accountable: there are no in-person appointments and you’ll be doing your workouts independently. You can still ask questions and get detailed feedback by commenting on the workout and updating your results. If you’re concerned about your exercise technique, you can even get my analysis on that by uploading short videos of yourself exercising.

For me, the main benefit of online coaching is the amount of support I’m able to provide you. My personal training clients might see me once or twice a week for an hour at a time, but I communicate with my online clients daily!

I started my business exclusively as a personal trainer, and completely understand that many people prefer the experience of training with a professional in person. There are a few limitations to Personal Training, however, which is why I created this Online Coaching service. There are no waiting lists for sessions, you don’t have to travel out of your way to make appointments, and you’ll be able to communicate with me all week, rather than in between rest periods during an in person session. If you feel like you still need in-person support, remember that I run frequent workshops that my clients can attend for a discount or for free, and there’s always the option to book ad hoc personal training sessions with me in my London gym.

It’s important to remember that Online Coaching isn’t for everyone. If you would prefer to have less overall contact but more hands-on support from your trainer in person, then conventional Personal Training is likely a better fit for your needs.

If you need to have an appointment with a trainer in order to exercise, my services probably aren’t for you. My goal is to teach every client exactly what they need to know so that they can take full responsibility for their health for the rest of their life. That includes motivation and accountability. If your goals are truly a priority for you then it’s essential that you have complete autonomy in making great decisions on how you live, eat and exercise. You can’t rely on me to do the work for you.

At the very beginning of my career, I had a conversation with a mentor of mine which I’m sure will answer your question. Here’s how that conversation went…

• Petersen: “What’s your job title?”
• Me: “Personal Trainer.”
• Petersen: “And who does your accounts?”
• Me: “I do them myself.”
• Petersen: “But you’re a personal trainer, not an accountant. Would you hire a washing machine repair man to fix your car?”
• Me: *scratches head* ... “Well... no, I’d hire a mechanic.”
• Petersen: “So why are you letting a personal trainer do your accounts?”
• Me: *brains turn to mashed potato* ... “Ummmm...”

Whatever your job title is, leave Personal Training up to the professionals! Remember that it’s not just about great workout programmes, it’s also about great coaching, collaboration, and ongoing support.

Online coaching actually makes the process of getting healthy and working towards your goals very straightforward. Rather than learning through trial and error, you’ll be given clear, step by step instructions on how to eat and exercise to help you live a better life. Your workouts will be delivered to your inbox on the day they’re due to be completed… all you have to do is follow the instructions!

If you stick to the advice provided (and you don’t have any underlying health issues), then there is absolutely NO REASON why you shouldn’t achieve the results you desire.

The investment for online coaching is £350 per calendar month. That’s for a minimum term of 6 months, and after that it’s a rolling contract that you can cancel any time with 30 days notice.

Brilliant question. In my experience, 6 months is a decent length of time to really give your training a chance to earn you results, without making a long-term commitment. Most other personalised online coaching services require a minimum commitment of 12-24 months.

Having worked in gyms for many years I’ve seen just how frustrating it can be for a person to be tied into a contract they don’t want any more, and I don’t plan to make you feel that way.

I would strongly recommend checking your health and fitness budget before committing to online coaching. I’m no financial advisor, and I’m certainly not here to tell you how to spend your money, but I do know that the value people get from this service far outweighs their investment.

If you're struggling financially at any point during your initial 6 month period, we can pause your online coaching for a month.

Here’s what my client Christopher has to say on the matter:

“While the initial cost of the PT sessions might seem high, when you think about the level of training and education that a PT has, and their total 1:1 focus on you and your fitness development, the sessions actually represent a great value for money, especially when you think about the fact that you are being shown ways to help keep yourself fitter and healthier for the rest of your life.“

Nuff said.

Well let me ask you this: if not now, then when? Is there ever a good time to turn your health and fitness around? A huge benefit of this service is that it’s highly adaptable to your lifestyle, time constraints, health concerns, and energy levels. Whatever obstacles you have, I can help you to overcome them. After all, that’s what all this is about.

Why not start as you mean to go on!? The whole point of coaching is to get you to your goals more quickly and easily than you could on your own. There is no minimum level of fitness required to start online coaching, and you will always get value from the service regardless of your current capabilities.

Great question! The best way to find out if we’re a good match is to book a free discovery call with me. There is no obligation to sign up for any service - the whole reason for these calls is to establish whether online coaching is right for you.

This is my jam! The MOST important part of this service is me understanding and adapting to your needs. I’m confident that after our in-depth initial consultation I’ll be able to understand your goals so clearly that I’ll be able to give YOU even more clarity on what it is you want.

Expect to dig deep and really reflect on your dreams and aspirations, and the reasons why they’re important to you.

I’ll be available on the training portal every single weekday to communicate with you. I’ll post feedback on each workout you complete, whether it requires a thumbs up or more detailed coaching, plus you can ask questions or leave comments for me via the instant messenger function. We’ll also be enjoying two 30 minute video or phone consultations every month.

One thing I do NOT do is hand-holding: you can’t rely on me to convince you to go to the gym or constantly remind you to follow your nutrition plan. You are 100% accountable and responsible for your thoughts and actions… and that’s a good thing!

Goodness, yes! I have clients who love to dance, play rugby and football, and go on active holidays. Whilst I don’t coach specific sports, your online coaching programme will support you to improve in your hobbies. We’ll talk about your sporting goals in our consultations, and your workouts will support your development in these areas.

Obviously everyone has individual goals and requirements, so sharing a programme with a friend won’t work as well for you as a personalised programme, but if training with friends keeps you showing up to the gym and engaged during the sessions, then absolutely stick with that!

If you still have specific goals you’d like to reach, it’s possible to enjoy the best of both scenarios by still going to the gym with your friends, but following your own focussed programme. Your friends will likely be inspired to follow a specifically designed programme of their own when they see all the results you’re getting!

Not necessarily, you can train at home or outdoors. I would still recommend using a gym if possible, as having more equipment at our disposal will offer a greater range of opportunities and variety.

Making the decision to up-level your health and fitness can be a scary thing… but it’s good scary! It’s necessary to come out of your comfort zone in order to grow. Everything in your programme will be pre-agreed between us. That means you won’t be asked to commit to more workouts than you can handle, and any nutrition and lifestyle tasks will be drip-fed step by step to empower you to form great habits over time.

Consistency really is the name of the game here, and of course I’ll be there every step of the way to nudge you in the right direction, ready to provide a gentle, loving kick up the bum where necessary. At the end of the day, it boils down to how much you really want to reach your goals. Are you prepared to do what it takes?

If you’re worried about faffing around and wasting time in the gym, then don’t! Your workouts will be designed specifically to deliver the correct intensity for you: you’ll be taught how to select the correct weight for each exercise, how to progress to heavier weights, and I’ll calculate all of your aerobic work, eg running speeds, based on tests we’ll do at the beginning and intermittently after that. If you can commit to simply following the instructions provided (including rest periods!), you can be sure you’ll be training at the correct intensity without wasting any time.

There’s something very important I also need to let you know right now. Whilst it’s true that to make progress we must come out of our comfort zones, training at extremely high intensity in every workout is not conducive to earning great results. In fact, in many cases, overtraining and overreaching cause more health problems than they’re worth. You can expect to be working at a moderate intensity most of the time, with some tougher workouts strategically placed to earn you better results.

Will it be hard? Yes. Will it be TOO hard? No way. My aim is to challenge you and take you out of your comfort zone, but it’s important we train you in a sustainable, manageable way. We’re looking to maintain effort over time, without stressful or intense training and dieting. If you're struggling with any aspect of the programme, it can easily be changed.

Your programme will be tailored around your lifestyle: you could have home, outdoor or gym workouts of any length at any frequency. Your training structure can be adapted at any time to suit your needs.

I totally get that things crop up, and life gets in the way sometimes. That’s why there’s a whole video covering strategies to help you work around obstacles like this in my on-boarding series.

Although online coaching is specifically designed for people with busy lifestyles who struggle to fit in workouts, if you genuinely can’t make any time at all to exercise then this service is probably not for you.

If you’re not willing to put in the time to take care of your mind and body now, when will you be be? Remember that online coaching is a highly bespoke service and your programme will be specifically designed with your schedule in mind. Not only will you be provided with workouts that you’re sure you’ll be able to incorporate into your daily routine, you’ll also be benefitting from time-saving lifestyle tasks that encourage you to move more and live better in general, such as walking more and preparing meals in advance. By making a small amount of time now, you can create a wealth of time and energy for the future, and enhance your chances of living longer.

If not now, then when? Over the years I’ve seen many clients who have only come to me for help once they’ve already developed a health problem, or have become so unfit and overweight that it’s unbearable. Whilst they all made great progress, things would have been much easier for them if they’d gotten into good habits before their problem occurred. In fact… not taking early action is exactly why they ended up having a problem!

Moving well is essential if you want to see the full benefit from your training and avoid injury, and I know many people have concerns around appearing silly in the gym getting something wrong.

Every exercise I give you will be prescribed with your current capabilities in mind, and comes with a demonstration video for you to follow. My approach is to meet every client at their current level of capability, which means you won’t be given any exercises I’m not 100% sure you can complete safely.

That said, sometimes it takes a couple of tries to get something right, so make use of the video upload feature and send me clips of your technique for feedback! I employ a range of sophisticated strategies to get you moving really well and teach you new skills organically.

Remember: if a particular movement isn't working, there's always an alternative we can use to get the same/similar effect!

If after a number of attempts you're still unsure about your technique, you're very welcome to schedule a personal training session with me at my London Bridge location so we can take a closer look at your movements.

I respect that many people prefer their gym sessions to be free from distractions such as their mobile phones, and if you’re able to write down or memorise your workouts then there’s no need to bring your phone into the gym with you. That said, tech has massively improved the way we approach health and fitness and provides an invaluable tool for delivering information and collecting data. It’s extremely useful to be able to view exercise demo videos in the exact moment you need them, and to be able to record your results in video or text format. If you think your phone might distract you, I’d recommend turning on airplane mode during your workouts (if you’re using the smartphone app for your programme, this will still function as normal).

Probably not, but if that’s what you need we can certainly provide you with a more rigid plan. My approach is to “meet you where you’re at”, providing personalised guidelines and helping you take small steps over time to gradually get you into healthy eating habits.

If you have clear weight loss or competitive goals, you’ll need to take a more structured approach to nutrition than if you just want to maintain weight and stay healthy, but we’ll make this as easy as possible for you regardless.

Heck yes. I want you to enjoy your nutrition, and even better: I’ll help you incorporate the foods you love into your diet in a balanced way. I would never ask you to give up your current diet in favour of one I conjured up for you - real magic happens when you shape your current eating habits into something that uplifts your health and performance.

Remember that your programme will be tailored specifically for you - I’d never ask you to do things I didn’t think you’d be able to manage, and we’ll talk in detail about your routine and lifestyle, including which additions/changes you’re prepared to make.

I don’t expect you to be able to follow 100% of the tasks I give you, but you will need to follow at least 80% to see good results. If you can’t commit to following my advice when working together, then online coaching probably isn’t for you.

Online coaching makes the journey to your goals as smooth as humanly possible, laying things out into simple, actionable steps. If you can’t follow instructions laid out in this way, how else will you get to where you need to be?

The 6 month minimum subscription is actually a very important element of online coaching. In the greater scheme of things those few months only make up a tiny percentage of your lifespan, but what you learn in that time can change the trajectory of your life forever. It’s essential that you’re committed to making long term improvements that stick, and you have to give the programme a chance to see great results.