Hybrid Personal Training
Hybrid Personal Training is a multifaceted approach to delivering consistent workouts to a client. In today’s hi-tech, connected online environment, personal trainers have myriad tools to deliver programs to clients that can save time and money as well as increase accountability and results.
When used to its fullest abilities, hybrid training is a combination of in person appointments, live interactive online appointments, personalized videos and a written, overarching plan…all delivered and tracked through an online app or through several online programs.
The elements of Hybrid Personal Training are Instruction, Planning, Scheduling and Tracking.
Instruction
The first element, Instruction, can be done during In Person and Online, Interactive Sessions. A Personal Trainer worth your money will have a program that is unique to them in design, exercises and progression, for this reason they will need to provide you with instructions on the exercises and intensities that they will want you to perform them at.
Once you have learned the exercises and intensity, your trainer can give you your first workout via video. It may be just a few exercises conducted in intervals or reps and then repeated to create a full workout or it can be a longer, follow along style video. Either way you will have wanted to have that personalized instruction prior to starting any videos so that you are sure of your form and that you are working at an appropriate intensity for your fitness level and goals.
Planning
Generally speaking, I see a client in person before I begin the planning phase for two principle reasons:
1) I like to conduct a movement screen to understand limitations and imbalances.
2) To get an opportunity to ask in person questions to really understand each client’s goals and how we are going to achieve them within their abilities physically and timewise.
The first couple in person or online interactive sessions will be movement and education heavy and over time will become a refinement of movement and improving intensity to get the most out of every workout. Once a trainer has conducted a movement screen and understands the abilities and goals of their client, they can then begin a larger plan that can be implemented with the first video.
The first video workout can be either a demonstration of a series of exercises with instructions on reps and/or intervals or it can be a full length follow along workout, depending on cost and time of both the trainer and the client.
The plan will include the number of workouts that you will be doing each week, the muscle groups and energy systems that will be working in each workout and the total minutes of exercise you will be doing each week.
Scheduling
This is one of the main benefits of hybrid training. Since you can get your workouts in so many different ways besides just showing up to a studio or gym, then you can have a much more robust fitness schedule, especially if getting to your trainer can be a large time cost to you.
It is good to initially have in person or online interactive appointments to get a lot of exercise instruction, evaluation of form and effort and over time, add more personalized videos into the mix to increase the frequency of your workouts without the time constraint of personal attention. Finally, your trainer can move toward a lot of written workout programs and scheduling as you will have become familiar with most of the exercises over time. Your trainer should be checking in on your progress, the frequency and intensity of your workouts and should continue to track your biometric stats to make sure you’re on track to reaching your fitness goals.
Tracking
Because you are utilizing a Hybrid Personal Training system, it is easier to track your stats electronically, especially if you have a scale with body composition readings incorporated into it and a fitness wearable.
There are lots of important numbers that your trainer should be tracking such as Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), Resting Heart Rate (RHR), Weight, Target Heart Rates (THR) during exercise and Max Heart Rate (MHR). All these go into the mix to allow your trainer to know how effectively their workouts, programming and scheduling are at getting you to your goals.
In Conclusion
Hybrid training isn’t for everyone, lots of people still like to see their trainer and get a great workout each time and just be told what to do. However, if you are a self motivator who is looking for guidance and accountability but is able to manage form and intensity on their own then the Hybrid Personal Training model could be a great way for you to get the most out of your fitness budget.