5 Tips on How to Make an Online Fitness Program

Online fitness training is tough. You don’t have the same luxuries you have when training someone regularly face to face. It’s harder to build that trusting relationship and it’s harder to keep tabs on a client when you aren’t seeing them 3-5 times a week either in sessions or around the gym and that’s before we even start to talk about pushing a client hard enough to warrant the results they’re paying for. 

With that being said, building a bulletproof online fitness training program doesn’t have to be as difficult as you may think, especially with the help of My PT Hub!

In this article, I will be discussing my top 5 tips for creating a bulletproof online fitness program for clients to use all around the world.

1. Ask These Questions Before Making the Program

Just like with your marketing, when writing an online training program it is crucial that you know your niche. If you don’t already know your niche, try answering the questions below:

  • Who is the plan for? 
  • Is it a fat loss/muscle building/powerlifting/fitness plan? 
  • How old are they? 
  • Do they work? 
  • Do they sit behind a desk all day or do they have an active job?
  • What vices/bad habits do they have? 
  • What environments will they regularly be in that could negatively affect their results?
  • What results do they want to achieve? 
  • What results can they expect to get from this program? 
  • Do they need any training experience to complete this program?
  • Why will this program work for them more than any other program they’ve tried before? 
  • Will they need access to a gym or can this be done at home?

Before you can even think about designing a program you need to make sure you can answer all of the questions above. Once you know your audience inside and out, it’ll make it a lot easier to not only market the program but to keep clients happy by delivering them something they want as well as something they need.

2. Gain Real-World Experience Working Out With Your Clients

Personal trainer high fiving client during a workout.

Spending time working with clients on the gym floor, in their homes or in an outdoor environment offers an invaluable experience that you must utilise effectively when writing an online program. It gives you real work experience in dealing with client objections and learning how to push a client hard enough in their workouts to warrant results. If you aren’t currently working in a gym or with any 1-2-1 clients then I’d suggest you reach out to friends, family and colleagues and offer to train them for free for 4, 8 or 12 weeks.

Go to the gym with them or invite them to yours and take them through the workout. Is it tough enough? Is it too complicated? Are there too many questions coming from the client? Does it have progression (progressive overload)?

3. Simplicity Is Key for Online Fitness Programs

Have you ever bought something, took out the instructions and thought ‘what the hell?’. Because that’s something that happens all too often in the fitness space. So many trainers spend hours and hours writing these complicated workouts with triple drop sets, blood flow restriction and a whole host of other fancy techniques that the average Joe doesn’t really need in order to get results. 

Sometimes the simplest plans are the most effective.

Think about it, what’s the biggest thing anyone needs in order to achieve results? Consistency/adherence. It’s a hell of a lot easier for a client to stick to the plan and remain consistent when the plan is simple, easy to follow and doesn’t take up hours of their day. Which brings me back to a point I made in the Real World Experience section, progressive overload. No matter how simple or complicated a plan is, if it has a clear path for progressive overload then the results will come. How big and how fast depends on client adherence and obviously nutrition.

4. Accountability + Support = Client Adherence

My PT Hub Client Management Software

Training programs only work if your clients do. It’s as simple as that. If your clients aren’t motivated enough or the program is too complex then they won’t be able to make it work and they won’t get results. By utilising the messenger section of the My PT Hub app, I am able to keep my clients accountable regardless of where they are in the world giving them helpful tips, motivation and support.

The new Client Adherence section within My PT Hub shows me in real-time who has missed their scheduled workouts/nutrition plans and allows me to better attend to those who may need an extra push or guidance.

5. Include Progression in Your Online Fitness Program

Making your online programs progressive allows clients to not only stay on for longer but improves the quality of their results. Our bodies react to a stimulus by adapting to make the stimulus more manageable which is why progressive overload is key.

Think about ways you can progress your programs or change the key focus so that you can get clients tied into a longer term commitment to guarantee your income and also give them a better chance of achieving a result worthy of finding you more clients. 

For example, in a fat loss program, I’d start basic with 3x full-body workouts each week while encouraging clients to increase their NEAT. I’d monitor their progress through the My PT Hub Results Tracker and once their current rate of progression slows, I’d then look to increase their output by either switching to a 4 or 5-day workout program like push/pull/legs or by gradually introducing cardio workouts in the form of LISS or HIIT depending on the client. 

There we have it. My top 5 tips for bulletproofing an online training program. Take the points on board, try and answer all the questions I’ve asked and then use the My PT Hub app to start creating your programs. 

Joe Mitton
Owner | Mitt Fit