Costs of Private Coaching

[tweakxc03]

So I am currently butting heads with the moronic trainers at my current gym that is very globo-y, but still has pretty solid equipment (oly platform, pendlay bumpers, a prowler, kettlebells, etc.). the only problem with that is they don't want you to actually use the platform for what it is designed. Don't drop the bumper plates. It makes too much noise. Use these rubber pads when you deadlift so it's not loud. etc. etc. I generally ignore them but things are coming to a head and I am almost forced to find a new gym.

My next best option so far is a xfit gym that is Crossfit Football certified, but they only do that with private sessions. (I know, its still xfit, but at least it's related to Welbourn. I was absolutely blown away by the cost. The guy charges $40 a session. I am currently working out 4-5 days a week, which would come out to $640 to $800 a month.

Or I could buy a BMW.

I know that a good strength and conditioning coach is worth the expense, but who in the world can afford that kind of cash?

[Mac Ward]

Not sure what your question is...do I have the cash? Do you have the cash? Is this guy worth 640-800 a month?

[lewabbit]

These gyms are getting sillier by the day, I swear.mi decided I was going to take up the offer of a free trial session at a crossfitter gym here in Dubai.

I usually don't have a dog in the e&p crossfit versus SS, but this was sheer stupidity. They charge you for water(no water fountains in a place that exists in a warehouse in the Middle East -38 degreecelsius inside. Go figure). I was asked not to dead lift on the floor. Though a nimrod PT was coaching his client on barbell lunges on the platform.for this junkyard, the basic charge per month is a hefty USD 150.

[tweakxc03]

Sorry I should have phrased this more succinctly: is that rate way out of line with the market for strength coaches?

[BareSteel]

If I'm reading your post correctly, that's $40 for a one-on-one session. That's very reasonable pricing. If it's too steep, make the best of your current situation. Situation A is the gym without a trainer, situation B is a gym with a good trainer: not an apples-to-apples comparison. I guess the question is: Do you want to pay for a trainer?

My overhead is $10 per session to the gym each time I bring a client. If this guy is trying to make a livelihood out of training clients, he's got to get enough return to make it work.

[Michael Wolf]

Like Mac said, I'm not sure I understand what you're asking, but if Baresteel is correct, yes, $40 is VERY reasonable for a 1-on-1 session. Probably too low just about anywhere in the country, if he's any good.

The thing is, the marginal benefit of coaching for a serious, competent, self-motivated lifter is way less than for your average person. Even a serious personal trainer who promotes strength and barbell training over random exercise - like myself and others on this board - makes his living from the bread-and-butter clients who either can't or simply wouldn't do it on their own. It's a premium/luxury item for people who can afford it. Most serious lifters don't need it and don't want to pay for it.

Coaching for a serious lifter is more important when learning to do the lifts, either for the first time or for the first time correctly, and on an occasional basis thereafter to either prevent or fix form issues that have crept in. I see a lot of people in this category. I charge them a lot, because, as the old adage goes, I'm not giving them a fish, I'm teaching them HOW to fish. I'm transferring my skills to them to the best of my ability, and they're not going to see me for many sessions.

My regular recurring clients who come 2-3x every week wouldn't often do it on their own, and when they would, would do it with poorer form or less weight. They come for the accountability and/or to be pushed harder as much as they do for the coaching. They pay less per session because they come all the time, and thus pay a lot more over the life of their relationship with me.

Of course, in Manhattan $100 for a 1-on-1 session is considered cheap and below market, so $40 seems awfully low to me. I know this is not the case everywhere.

Then there are semi-private or barbell club type options, which involve coaching every session, but the cost is spread over a group, along with the coach's attention.

What you probably need is a place you can pay to use the equipment on your own, and perhaps a competent coach who you can see for an occasional check in to fix issues or to make sure you're doing things right. Or more of a barbell club type situation. Do those options not exist anywhere near you?

[tweakxc03]

That's the unfortunate part of my situation. The current gym I go to is the only non-Crossfit gym in Charlotte (at least within reasonable driving distance in the morning) that has sufficient equipment and fits into my work schedule. The gym actually has really good stuff for a globo-gym -- it's just run by morons. I am doing my best to work around them, but eventually it will come to a head.

Basically, I want a gym with Crossfit facilities but I can do my own programming instead of Crossfit WODs. Why can't there be a decent gym with good equipment and an absence of idiots?

Sounds like Charlotte needs an SS gym...

[tweakxc03]

FWIW, I would gladly pay $150 a month for a gym that has the facilities but an "open" gym policy rather than a mandated Xfit group WOD.

[trick_ster]

Exclusive attention is expensive. How much would you want to get paid for an hour of your time? Now add facility rent, insurance, amortized cost of getting competent at coaching, etc. It all quickly adds up.

As an alternative to what comrade Wolf suggested, do you have time, money and motivation to setup your own training space? Buy the equipment, rent a garage or a self-storage unit big enough, build a platform and you're all set.

[Michael Wolf]

Basically, I want a gym with Crossfit facilities but I can do my own programming instead of Crossfit WODs. Why can't there be a decent gym with good equipment and an absence of idiots?

Thanks to the popularity of SS, Wendler,etc...and people exposed to lifting via Crossfit who no longer want to Crossfit, a lot of people now want to actually lift, but find themselves similarly frustrated about the options. What trick_ster suggested is certainly a viable option as well, if you have the space and resources to do that. Though I suspect that the reason there aren't more, and more successful black iron gyms is because a large % of the market does just that.

Exclusive attention is expensive. How much would you want to get paid for an hour of your time? Now add facility rent, insurance, amortized cost of getting competent at coaching, etc. It all quickly adds up.

Exactly this.