The Best Personal Trainers

Friday, October 11th

2024 Personal Trainer Reviews

Forge

Compared with some of the personal training and nutrition services in our review, Forge is on the smaller side. However, this means they can deliver a more customized approach to your personal training, and that's where Forge really outshines the competition. Here, in addition to personalized workouts, you'll get access to a sophisticated meal planning system that can be tailored to your dietary needs. You'll receive from 1 to 4 live video call coaching sessions each month, based on the plan you choose, plus the workouts delivered right to your phone through their app. For all this, there's no commitment or long-term contracts - just stay as long as you enjoy the service. They are loved by a small but loyal following, and this hidden gem earns our highest rating for personal trainers.

Thumbtack

Thumbtack isn't just for hiring home repair professionals. You can use this service to find both in-person and virtual personal training too, with no minimum required minimum training sessions and no subscription. Thumbtack makes it easy to see their trainer's reviews and hire history, certifications, rates per session, and much more, and there's no cost to reach out to any trainer you're interested in working with. Trainers are available for either in-person sessions or virtual sessions. Thumbtack is an excellent, free-to-use resource to start connecting with a professional to help you on your wellness journey.

Born Fitness

Born Fitness is a highly customized personal training platform that offers concierge-level fitness and nutrition advice. It is one of the most personalized options on the market, but as a result, there is often a waitlist to join: if you are interested in becoming a client, you may have to wait up to 48 hours to find out if you have been accepted. As a client, you'll get customized meal plans and workout routines that address your needs and goals, including accommodations for special diets and physical limitations. Born Fitness offers comprehensive guidance, planning, and feedback to help you achieve your fitness goals.

Fitness Trainer

Fitness Trainer is a solid place to start if you want all of the options at your fingertips, from in-person trainers to virtual-only coaches. You can preview a lot of information about each trainer before you commit to one. You'll have to book at least six sessions, but you can get a refund if you're not happy with your first personal training session. Overall, Fitness Trainer is a very good choice.

Trainerize

At first glance, Trainerize looks like an amazing way to choose a personal trainer near any location you choose, who will use the platform app to sync with your wearables, deliver workouts and meal plans, and help you get healthier and stronger. There are a lot of fans of the Trainerize app - when it works properly, which definitely isn't a given. Our experience with this service was frustrating at best. We recommend using the Trainerize website to find several trainers you like, then reach out to them directly to find out how they incorporate the app into the services they offer.

Transform

Transform isn't really dedicated to the kind of personal training most people are searching for, like regular interactions with coaches who will give you specific feedback on your workouts and nutrition. Instead, you'll mostly get workouts and meal plans that you'll combine in whatever way appeals to you. Doesn't sound like much, but it only costs $14.99/month (or less than $40/quarter) and you can try it free for a week.

Trainiac

Trainiac used to be our most recommended platform for online personal training. However, the service was acquired by Gympass in late 2021: unless you have access to that employee perk AND an iPhone, you won't be able to work with a personal trainer here. If you meet both of those criteria, Trainiac could be an option to try, but most people will need to go with one of the more widely accessible, higher-ranked personal trainer services in our review.

Wrkout

Wrkout could be the best thing to hit the personal training industry in a long time - but this service just isn't there yet. The platform is currently geared primarily towards signing up new coaches and helping them connect with new clients, but not telling those prospective clients what to expect once they're matched with a trainer. Wrkout has potential - we love that they're developing studios where their coaches can deliver in-person and virtual sessions - but we found it an aggravating service to use as an everyday consumer.

Fyt

Fyt, formerly known as Find Your Trainer, can connect you with personal trainers locally or online. Unlike some of its rivals, Fyt lets you schedule your first session right away using the online calendar, but you shouldn't be charged for your package of 4, 12, or 24 sessions until you've had an intro call with the trainer. Fyt's database isn't as robust as many comparable services, and while the trainers themselves are first-rate, customer service at Fyt leaves a lot of room for improvement.

Future

Future is a relatively new option for personal training. If you're already an iOs user, you should be able to connect with this platform's resources easily; features are still being rolled out for Android and for non-Apple Watch wearables. This service focuses strictly on delivering workouts, not nutrition, but you'll pay monthly fees comparable to other more well-rounded services. Although we appreciate that Future has a risk-free one month trial and an easy way to choose a personal trainer, concerns about injuries from poorly-customized workout plans are just one reason Future lands at the bottom of our list.