Remote training is here to stay.

Is remote training here to stay? The short answer is "yes."

Here's the longer answer...

I vividly recall the day I thought my career had ended. It was March 11, 2020, and after all-star center Rudy Gobert had tested positive for COVID, the NBA announced it was terminating its season. That was also the day I received a voice mail from my long-time friend and client Dan (like me a huge basketball fan)."Hey...um...I just want to let you know that I'm not coming into the gym anymore. OK. Thanks." His voice was hesitant and unsure and it reflected the tenor of the times. What was happening, what was the risk, and how soon would it be over?

At that point, I had been training Dan for nearly a decade. Come rain, hail, sleet, or snow, Dan was going to show up for the session. Listening to his words elicited a kind of existential panic. What would happen to the relationships that I had fostered, nurtured, and sustained for over a decade? The people I trained were more than clients at this point. They were my friends. Clearly, my business was in jeopardy. Complicating the situation was that I'm kind of a Luddite. My tech savvy was rooted somewhere in 1997. 

But, as it turns out, I was uniquely positioned to professionally survive the Pandemic. Since I had been training the majority of my clients for over a decade at that point, I was intimately familiar with their strengths and weaknesses as it pertained to fitness. I knew exactly what to look for during a particular exercise or stretch. And I had a built-in rapport that came with ten years of sweating, swearing, and laughing together.

But there was an even bigger factor in the equation — I have always been a proponent of "body weight" fitness. While other trainers and clients were grunting and screaming orgasmically beneath a loaded bench press, I had clients toss a tennis ball against a wall while balancing on one foot (or on a BOSU ball) Or I would have them do "crawl-unders" (think of a reverse "limbo" where you crawl under a pole that's close to the ground) And LOTS of body weight squats and push-ups. The COVID Pandemic actually highlighted my strengths as a trainer and opened my eyes to a new business model.

Since I'm frequently asked about the plusses and minuses of remote training, here's what I tell people: when people tell me they need the camaraderie that comes with working out at a gym, I allow that's a downside to remote training (even though I have a group that has been training together for the duration of the Pandemic). If it's camaraderie that's your primary motivation, group classes at the gym is the way to go. 

If people tell me that training at home doesn't "feel" like a gym, I try to examine that sentiment. What does a gym feel like? Loud music blaring through the speakers? Row upon row of shiny, glistening machines? Sign-ins for the equipment? Commute time back and forth? Most of the desire for the "feel" of a gym is wrapped up in the notion that you need to go "somewhere" to get healthy. 

But the biggest misconception about remote training is that you can't get the same workout you would in a gym. That is unequivocally FALSE. Most gyms are predicated on you not showing up. That's how they make their money. And most of the equipment is more about marketing and is highly questionable when it comes to promoting actual  fitness (which will be the subject of another article). I can say with the utmost certainty that a qualified trainer can give a vigorous, varied, and safe workout in the comfort of your own living room. 

As it turns out, many of my fears of remote training were misguided. I've reconnected with clients that now live in Portugal, Italy, and across the country. And training people remotely hasn't hampered the rapport I've worked so hard to achieve and that I value so much.

In fact, after a recent session a few years back, my client Dan paused after a particularly strenuous exercise and drew his face close to the camera. 

"You know, I gotta be honest," he said with a little chuckle. "You're much more charming remotely than you are in person." 

Joshua Brandt is an Oakland based personal trainer. 

He can be reached at joshua@joshuabrandtpt.com or (415) 412-7339. 

Initial consultation and session is free.