A hatred of going to the gym is just baked into some people, acknowledges Dan Donahue, who trains people in their homes as well as at World Gym in Palm Springs. “Unless a client has a well-appointed home gym, training usually involves resistance bands, free weights, stability balls, mat work, and the use of body weight for resistance. The role of the trainer is the same as in a gym: monitoring form, motivation, and basic guidance.”
Jesse Thomas offers at-home Pilates training, either in mat-based exercises or with people who have their own Reformers.
With years of experience as a personal trainer, Nadia Popova established her Send Me a Trainer franchise in April 2021.
“The pandemic shifted people’s perceptions about the space where they can exercise,” she says. “All you need is a desire to be healthy and a knowledgeable trainer to have an effective exercise routine. With a trainer, the likelihood of a person staying committed is much higher than when they try to do it on their own in a rollercoaster of starting and stopping.” Her business, she adds, revolves around accountability, consistency, and convenience.
Popova requires her personal trainers to have certification accredited under a national standard and experience working with older people.
“Our clients are very active adults. They feel just as comfortable investing in a personal trainer as people do about hiring a financial advisor,” Popova says. Some of her clients live in gated communities with equipment in an unstaffed gym. Others simply use areas in their homes or yards.
Potential clients can download the Send Me a Trainer app to view the backgrounds of trainers and programs offered. They include three- and six-month packages, each with twice-a-week sessions, in durations of 30, 45, and 60 minutes, as well as a trial package of four sessions.
“Sometimes people request a specific trainer, and sometimes I match them,” Popova says. “I tell them they always have the option to change trainers or rotate among them.”
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