Fitness Apps vs. Personal Trainers – The Showdown

PersonalTrainerorAppGP fitness apps vs. personal trainers

The health and fitness industry’s revenue is estimated to be around $25bn, according to a report by IBISWorld, a market research company. This statistic highlights how more people are investing in their health and fitness. This has created opportunities for technology apps to help them in their fitness journeys. The question remains though: which option works better for fitness fans?

Fitness apps

iPhone, BlackBerries and Android mobile phones have changed how people work out because there are mobile apps designated to help people exercise. The advantages of using fitness apps for your health and fitness regime include:

  • Helps you monitor your diet: What you put in your body is crucial to being healthy and nutritious. Vegetables and foods that are rich in protein are top of the list for people who want to eat healthily. This is where fitness apps that monitor what you eat come in. They would suit anyone who wants to keep track of what they are eating to see what their diet patterns are.
  • Can give you exercise tutorials: Some apps on the market have developed beyond simply watching what you are doing to giving you tutorials on work outs that you should try. It would be a good idea to download an app like this if you want to add variety in your current fitness regime so that you are effectively conditioning your body.
  • Can be customized: The technology that has built mobile apps now gives people like you the chance to customize your exercise routines depending on what you want to do. Fitness apps give people more choice to create a DIY work out plan if they want to have more control over how they exercise.

Personal trainers

Working with a personal trainer is an excellent way to start your fitness regime and it is a good way to maintain your health and fitness if you have already started working out. The benefits of using personal trainers include:

  • Personal trainers are there to motivate you: One of the most important features of working out is having the motivation to go to the gym or work out from home. Many people struggle to keep their motivation levels high but with someone watching how you lift weights and how you run on the treadmill, motivation to succeed increases.
  • Special health conditions can be managed by trainers: IDEA Health & Fitness Association found that 50% of personal trainers surveyed said they had clients who had health conditions like arthritis. These conditions affect the ability to work out but they don’t mean that you can’t exercise if you have them.  Personal trainers can help you work out if you have a health condition in a safe way.
  • Learn new ways to work out: Personal trainers can give you ideas and new exercise regimes to tone your body depending on what physical look you want to achieve. Personal trainers tend to be at the forefront of the latest fitness trends so they can filter these trends for you to try during your exercise work outs.

The battle between fitness apps and personal trainers is closely fought however nothing beats the human connection when it comes to health and fitness. What you eat and how you work out is enhanced when you have someone at your side that is fully invested in you being healthy.

Article by contributing author Richard O. This piece was written on behalf of Well Wisdom, who are the best suppliers for grass fed whey protein shakes. 

24 Comments

  1. I wish I could get a personal trainer, but right now I don’t have the time or the money. So I use DVDs to help me do the best I can.

  2. I have worked out with a personal trainer… and by myself using an app. I think it all depends on the trainer… as well as how motivated YOU are when working out. Sometimes I can totally push myself MUCH HARDER by myself than in a group setting. While other times I need someone else to ‘compete’ with or ‘push me’ to really get a good workout.

  3. I like that apps won’t hold me accountable (I can delete an app) which is probably actually why personal trainers are better, lol.

  4. I really think it depends on the person.

  5. I wish I was brave enough to get a personal trainer. I am shy, especially when it comes to talking about my weight.

  6. I prefer a trainer. Apps are great for some things but a person in front of you is a lot better motivator

  7. I would prefer a trainer but I don’t have the extra cash right now.

  8. I would definitely love to have a personal trainer, but I can’t afford one, so an app is the next best thing.

  9. I would love a personal trainer. I need the human touch I think.

  10. I can’t stand personal trainers nothing like having someone that looks fabulous yelling at you and calling you fat to want to punch someone in the face

  11. I have an app for situps that I love but I’ve toyed with the idea of getting a personal trainer, maybe once I’ve lost more weight.

  12. I wish I had the money for a personal trainer. I can ignore an app.

  13. I think that apps are great for tracking your weight, calories and exercise, but they can never replace a trainer and the personal attention and motivation they provide.

  14. In my personally opinion you have 2 completely different ways of interaction. As a Personal Trainer and as a producer of an Iphone Fitness App (Killer Abs) I tell people that Apps will never replace people as Personal Trainers.. Why? Because a Personal Trainer has to ensure the client is doing the exercise correctly with good form. For the moment the technology in a mobile app can not do that. You have the advanced knowledge from the Trainer right there and then to give you expert advice. So why use an app to replace a Trainer?

    I personally developed my app for clients to do exercises for when I don’t see them, pretty much like doing the homework for me. It’s worked out really well for my clients and they enjoy using the app, but they say its nothing like a trainer.

    Their are some excellent apps out there that can really motivate you, but I would say my opinion strongly leans towards a Personal Trainer who is there right in front of you. Safety is key when training and they are there to do just that. If your worried about the cost of a Personal Trainer, group up with a couple of friends to help reduce the cost.

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