Trying to get a straight answer out of a gym about how much it is to train there is like trying to figure out how to assemble a 20,000 piece all black jigsaw puzzle with the biggest hangover of your life. Gyms keep that info hidden tighter than Osama Bin Laden.
Most of the time you won’t get a straight answer over the phone, you can’t find it on a website, and the only way you can find out how much you need to give em is by going in for a “consultation” (*cough* sales pitch *cough*).
Then, when you DO go in and find out how much it is each month, they slap you with the real kicker – there’s a joining fee too. And when you (correctly) recoil at that idea of giving somewhere €200 just so you can continue to give them MORE money down the road each month, the sales reps takes your side, goes into the back room with a “manager” and negotiates it down to €75.
…but it’s only valid IF YOU SIGN UP RIGHT NOW.
Don’t fall for that. The only reason they charge you a joining fee is because they know, for the majority, they’ll never make it outside of their first few months training, and they wanna gouge as much out of you as possible in a short period of time.
Never forget – big gyms make their money by hoping you sign up and pay, but never actually show.
DIFFERENT PRICING MODELS
Broadly speaking – there’s 4 different training pricing models;
– Commercial gym: pay a low monthly fee, or 12 months up front. Come as much as you want, but don’t expect to get any personal attention. You’re effectively renting the use of machines and space
– Personal training: pay a trainer for one to one attention for 30-60 minutes, or for a series of training sessions
– Semi Private Personal Training: it’s yourself and a small group of people following a program modified to match your needs, you SHOULD be getting some personal attention, shown what to do on each movement, and have any technical errors accounted for, and movements modified for injury etc
– Online Personal Training: this takes many forms, the best online PTs will check in with you weekly, review videos and training session, and adjust your next weeks program off that
WHICH ONE IS RIGHT FOR YOU
I’ll go on record as saying I’ve yet to meet a single person who does not benefit from semi private personal training. Obviously I’m biased because that’s how we make our money in RevFit, but it’s also how our clients get results.
The beauty of semi private PT is that for most people, it’ll deliver the exact same results as personal training, but at a much more cost effective price point. It also has the added benefit of training being more craic in person than it is on your own, AND way more flexibility than pure personal training (if you miss a time slot with a PT, you lose it. If something comes up on a semi private program in RevFit, you’ve like 40 other sessions you can book in for during the week).
A good semi private personal training program will have an initial in person consultation (that’s not a sales pitch!) where the trainer will talk to you about your goals, past training experience, any injuries or other concerns you have. They should explain they system to you, and how they’ll match it to your needs, before performing some kind of mobility assessment and teaching you the basics of some of the exercises you’ll be using.
Then, every single workout they should be checking in after explaining the workout to make sure you know exactly what’s happening. While it MIGHT seem that you get less personal attention during a semi private workout, you gotta remember a lot of purely personal training sessions are just counting reps and making small talk. Once someone has a basic idea what they’re doing training wise, minimal “coaching” actually happens.
If you’ve got the flexibility and finances to afford it, or want the added personal accountability – personal training is a great shout. But be prepared to pay €60+ per session for a good trainer.
If you’ve no good semi private gyms around, or you can’t commit to regularly making the training sessions they have available, online coaching is good. Most of our clients that move out of the area, or out of the country, will just transfer over to our online programming because they already know how to train, they still get weekly check ins, a customized nutrition plan, and any relevant adjustments for their needs.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST
Commercial gyms usually run ya something in the €25-50 per month range. You may or may not get stung with a joining fee. You can go as often as you like. Or never at all. We don’t offer anything like that at RevFit.
Online training could be anywhere between €40 per month and €300+ per month depending on who you do it with. The lower price points tend to be a cookie cutter PDF where the “trainer” doesn’t know anything about you and just sends out a generic plan. The high price stuff tends to have daily check ins and consultation calls.
Our semi private programs in RevFit cost between €40 and €50 per week. Most of our clients pay about €41 week. It doesn’t just get them the training and nutrition, it also gets them free access to any special transformation programs or seminars we run, along with regular body fat check ins, injury and rehab modifications to programs, and if they’re part of our powerlifting group – comp prep and game day coaching.
We do our charges weekly on a direct debit recurring basis because we’ve found it helps clients manage their budgets easier, and gives them the flexibility to pause the membership if they’re going away on holidays.
SUMMARY
So.. yah… that’s it.
Join a commercial gym and get no attention.
Hire a personal trainer and get LOTS of attention.
Jump on an online program and get varying degrees of attention, but nothing in person.
Or join RevFit and get all the benefits of a personal trainer, all the craic of a group, and all the follow up attention of a great online coach, for just €40-50 per week.
Not sure if it’s worth it? Here’s what your members say:
After you watch that vid, come get a free trial with us by clicking this link.