Creator Stories: Personal trainer adapts to workouts moving online with the help of SoSpoilt

 

Personal trainer, Simon has been in the fitness industry for over 30 years, starting out as a professional sportsman before receiving his certifications and training clients in the US, Australia, and India. He now works with clients in prestigious hotels across the West End of London, including the world-renowned Dorchester Hotel.

“Fitness is a journey that’s taken me all over the world”, explains Simon. “I’ve been a basketball player, a triathlete, and worked with clients from all walks of life. Fitness and health are all I’ve ever known and I’m very passionate about it.”

Simon’s enthusiasm for fitness stems from a desire to build highly-customised workouts. He sets out to help his clients recognise that each body reacts differently to training and takes into consideration the health barometers that an individual may be dealing with.

Simon’s comprehensive approach was sparked after his son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes 10 years ago. “My son was a very good sportsman and when you’re dependent on insulin that changes the boundaries of how you can exercise,” explains Simon. “Now, when I take on a new client, I work with a doctor on Harley street and offer full-body scans and blood profiles to work out the most optimized fitness programme.”

“As a trainer it’s enormously beneficial to be able to hit more than one person at a time.”

When the pandemic hit, Simon had to adapt his business as fitness was forced to move online and clients took to working out from home. “Every trainer has had to adapt and this is where platforms like SoSpoilt really come into their own,” says Simon.

“Everything has gone online now and there are a lot of fitness options. As a trainer, it’s important to embrace these changes. Especially as international clients can’t travel at the moment; clients aren’t coming over from the US, or coming in from the middle east, like before. Now trainers are having to go to the client instead with whatever means are made accessible, and SoSpoilt is perfect for this.”

“Part of having a Personal Trainer is a commitment to fitness and whether that’s scheduling online classes 2 or 3 days a week or having that access to on-demand support, it gives clients that accountability. If you don’t have that consistency and accountability you won’t hit those goals.”

The transition from gym to at-home workouts doesn’t have to be a tough one either. Simon believes that there’s no need to have a full set of gym equipment to have a good workout. “A good trainer can give you a good session on the floor,” explains Simon. Sure there are certain benefits to having all the equipment, but ultimately it is about movement.”

“It’s easy to provide a more personalised service…Clients can log on for a few minutes and show me the facilities they have at home.” 

Part of adjusting to personal training online is learning how to use platforms like SoSpoilt in a way that works for the professional. Simon uses SoSpoilt’s flexible live features for both group classes and per-minute one-on-one consultations. “If a client comes to me with a ligament problem in their ankle, I can design a program around that.”

Simon can still keep that one-to-one connection that himself and many other trainers are used to. SoSpoilt makes this easy through on-demand direct messaging and live streaming. “It’s easy to provide a more personalised service and feedback through reminder texts, programs or PARQ form questionnaires” continues Simon.

“Clients can log on for a few minutes and show me the facilities they have at home. This lets me design a program with what they have available to them. Having this info still allows me to give the most tailored workout plans for an individual.”

“What I like is that you have the choice to flit between one-to-one and group sessions. I can send through personalised documents that can be updated week on week or month and month, or I can stream to 10 people at once,” explains Simon.

“As a trainer, it’s enormously beneficial to be able to hit more than one person at a time. Personal trainers are very dependent on locale and SoSpoilt allows you to hit a larger number of clients geographically and across time zones all at once”.