If you’re thinking about hiring a personal trainer, one of the first questions you’re likely to ask is: how much does a personal trainer cost?
The answer isn’t quite as straightforward as simply comparing hourly rates.
The amount you pay can depend on where you live, the trainer’s experience and qualifications, whether you’re training face-to-face or online, how frequently you see them and, perhaps most importantly, what you’re actually getting for your money.
I’ve worked as a personal trainer since 2015, having originally qualified as a life coach in 2014, and I’ve also worked as a nutritionist for around six years. Over that time, I’ve seen just how different people’s reasons for hiring a personal trainer can be.
Some people simply want somebody to take care of their training so they don’t have to think about it. Others want to learn how to exercise properly so they can eventually train independently. And for someone trying to make a significant lifestyle change or lose a substantial amount of weight, an hour of exercise each week may only be a small part of the support they actually need.
So rather than asking only “How much does a PT cost?”, I think there’s a more useful question:
What support do I actually need, and what am I getting for the money I’m spending?
How much does personal training cost?
Personal training prices vary considerably across the UK. Location plays a part, but so do the trainer’s experience, qualifications, specialisms and the type of service they provide.
Some trainers charge for individual sessions. Others sell blocks of sessions, while increasingly you’ll also find coaches offering monthly packages combining personal training with things such as workout programming, nutrition guidance, accountability and support between sessions.
As a real-world example, I currently charge £50 for a face-to-face personal training session at Cotlandswick Leisure Centre in London Colney, near St Albans.
So if somebody trains with me once a week, four individual sessions would cost £200.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean everybody who works with me should simply buy one PT session every week. What I recommend depends on what they’re actually trying to achieve.
What are you actually paying a personal trainer for?
If you’re relatively new to exercise, personal training can be an education.
A good personal trainer should help you understand things such as:
- How to perform exercises safely and with good technique
- How different movements and exercises fit together
- What weights are appropriate for your current ability
- How to progress your training over time
- How to structure effective workouts
- How to become increasingly confident training independently
For many people, I think that’s an important part of the value.
The goal shouldn’t necessarily be to make you reliant on a personal trainer forever. If you want to eventually train independently, your trainer should be helping you develop the knowledge and confidence to do that.
There are, however, other people who don’t particularly want to become their own personal trainer.
I’ve worked with busy professionals who are perfectly happy paying for regular sessions because they don’t want another thing to think about. They want to turn up, have an effective workout planned for them, be told what to do and then get on with the rest of their day.
They’re paying partly for expertise, but they’re also paying for convenience and reduced mental load.
Neither approach is right or wrong. It depends on what you want.
Personal training and coaching aren’t necessarily the same thing
This is where I think comparing PT prices purely by the hourly rate can become misleading.
If your goal is:
“I want to learn how to lift weights properly.”
Face-to-face personal training might be exactly what you need.
If, however, you’re saying:
“I’ve been trying to lose weight for years. I know I need to exercise and eat better, but work is stressful, I’ve got children, I’m constantly short of time and I can’t stay consistent.”
Simply buying more hours in the gym might not address the actual problem.
That’s why much of my own work combines personal training with broader coaching.
For example, I offer ongoing weight-loss and nutrition support for £129.99 per month, which can include regular food-diary feedback, accountability and ongoing WhatsApp support.
I also offer more comprehensive coaching at £194.99 per month, incorporating personalised app-based workouts alongside that ongoing support. Face-to-face PT can then be added depending on how frequently somebody actually needs it.
For some clients, I also provide more in-depth nutrition education or life coaching where appropriate.
The point isn’t that everybody needs all of those services.
Quite the opposite.
The level of support should fit the person.
How many personal training sessions do you actually need?
More personal training isn’t automatically better.
I’ve had highly motivated new clients come to me wanting to train five times a week and suggesting that three of those sessions should be with me.
Sometimes my response is to rein them in.
Starting at a million miles an hour isn’t particularly useful if the routine is impossible to sustain. I’d rather help somebody establish a realistic training routine and gradually build from there.
And you don’t necessarily need your trainer standing next to you for every workout.
One of my clients, Thomas, is a good example.
When we started working together, he had a very demanding professional career, two children and extremely limited opportunities to exercise. We initially built short independent workouts of around 30 minutes into the windows he actually had available.
His strength-training experience was limited. On exercises such as dumbbell presses, he initially used weights in the region of 5–6kg.
Over time, we progressed his training gradually rather than trying to completely overhaul his life overnight.
He’s since lost around 20kg, built a substantial amount of strength and muscle and now trains hard with weights around four times per week alongside his running. On some of those pressing exercises, he’s now using dumbbells in the region of 25–30kg.
Importantly, he’s also much more independent.
He doesn’t need the same level of nutritional support he once did, he can manage much more of his own training and the role I play has changed as his knowledge and experience have developed.
That’s what good personalisation should look like.
What somebody needs during their first month of coaching isn’t necessarily what they’ll need six months later.
Sometimes you’re paying a PT so you don’t have to think about it
Another client of mine, Will, illustrates the opposite end of the spectrum.
He’s perfectly capable of exercising, but has a demanding career involving considerable travel alongside raising a young family.
Depending on what’s happening in his life, he might train with me weekly, fortnightly or occasionally have a longer gap between sessions.
For him, part of the value is being able to turn up and not have to think too much about the session.
I take care of the training. We get on well, he enjoys the session and then he gets back to everything else he has going on.
That might sound very different from Thomas’s example, but that’s exactly the point.
They’re paying for personal training for different reasons, so it wouldn’t make sense to give them identical services.
When personal training alone isn’t enough
Exercise is only one component of changing your health.
That’s particularly important when we talk about weight loss.
I know this both professionally and personally. Before becoming a coach, I lost more than 10 stone myself. Qualifications have subsequently given me a huge amount of knowledge, but there are things about changing your lifestyle that are very difficult to understand purely from a textbook.
I’ve experienced what it’s like to struggle with food and weight firsthand.
That lived experience has helped me understand why the theoretically “perfect” plan isn’t always the best plan for the person actually trying to follow it.
One former client, Warren, is a particularly good example. He eventually lost around 50kg, but his journey involved considerably more than personal training.
We worked on nutrition education, his relationship with food, lifestyle, mindset and wider challenges in his life alongside exercise.
Simply selling him more PT sessions wouldn’t have addressed all of those things.
For somebody primarily trying to lose weight, I’d therefore look beyond whether the trainer can deliver a good gym session. I’d also want to know whether they have appropriate knowledge and qualifications around nutrition and behaviour change — or whether they work alongside suitably qualified professionals who do.
Why does one personal trainer charge £30 and another charge £60?
It’s tempting to assume the more expensive trainer must be better.
I don’t think it’s that simple.
You could find an excellent younger trainer charging £30 per hour because they’re still establishing their business. They might also have extensive experience and qualifications in a particular sport and be exactly the right person for an athlete wanting to improve their performance.
Equally, somebody charging £60 or more doesn’t automatically mean you’re receiving a highly personalised or comprehensive service.
I’d look at factors including:
- Relevant qualifications
- Coaching experience
- Specialist knowledge relevant to your goal
- What’s actually included in the service
- How personalised the programme is
- Track record and client results
- Reviews and testimonials
- How well you communicate with one another
- Whether their coaching style suits your personality
Price tells you what a trainer charges. It doesn’t necessarily tell you how good they are for you.
How important are a personal trainer’s qualifications?
Qualifications matter, particularly when you’re looking for help with something specific.
For example, somebody working with pre- or post-natal clients should have appropriate knowledge and qualifications for that population. The same principle applies when someone’s health, disability or medical circumstances require specialist consideration.
Someone seeking sports-specific coaching may want a trainer with relevant strength and conditioning expertise.
And if your main goal is weight loss, I’d want to understand what genuine nutrition knowledge and qualifications the person advising you actually has.
My own professional background spans personal training, exercise referral, advanced nutrition science, weight-loss coaching and life coaching.
But qualifications aren’t everything.
I’ve been personal training for more than 11 years, and one of the biggest things I’ve learned is that real people rarely behave exactly as textbooks suggest they should.
Work stress happens. Children get ill. People lose motivation. Some people want lots of information; others become overwhelmed by it. One person responds brilliantly to being challenged, while another needs a much more gradual approach.
Qualifications give you the foundations.
Experience teaches you how to apply them to the person standing in front of you.
What does genuinely personalised personal training look like?
“Personalised” is a word that’s used a lot in the fitness industry.
For me, it means considerably more than changing a few exercises on a workout programme.
I want to understand things such as:
- What are you actually trying to achieve?
- How much time can you realistically commit?
- What’s your work schedule like?
- Do you have family commitments?
- What’s your previous experience of exercise?
- What have you tried before?
- How do you respond to pressure and accountability?
- How do you prefer to learn?
- What are the barriers that repeatedly get in your way?
Somebody might want a huge amount of information from day one. Somebody else may respond far better to changing one or two things at a time.
That’s one reason I generally prefer working with people on a month-by-month basis rather than assuming from the outset that everybody needs exactly the same 12- or 16-week programme.
What you need in weeks 1–4 may be completely different from what you need in weeks 8–12.
My philosophy is simple:
Build the plan around the person, rather than trying to force the person around the plan.
Is a personal trainer worth the money?
For the right person and the right circumstances, absolutely.
But I’m a personal trainer and I still wouldn’t tell you that everybody needs one.
If you already know how to train safely, have an effective programme, enjoy exercising independently, remain consistent and are progressing towards your goals, you might reasonably ask what paying somebody £50 every week is going to add.
On the other hand, PT could be extremely valuable if you:
- Don’t know where to start
- Lack confidence in a gym
- Want to learn resistance training properly
- Struggle to structure or progress your workouts
- Need accountability to exercise consistently
- Have a specific goal requiring specialist expertise
- Value having somebody else take care of your training
And if the problem is broader than exercise — perhaps you’re trying to lose weight or make significant lifestyle changes — you may get better value from a service incorporating appropriate nutrition, accountability and lifestyle support rather than simply buying additional gym sessions.
Five questions I’d ask before paying a personal trainer
If I were choosing a personal trainer myself, I wouldn’t make price my first question.
I’d want answers to these:
1. Who do you specialise in helping?
A trainer doesn’t need to work exclusively with people exactly like you, but their skills and experience should be relevant to your goals.
2. Based on what I’ve told you, how would you help me — and why?
This is probably the most revealing question.
Has the trainer actually listened to you? Can they explain why they’re recommending their approach? Or are they immediately trying to fit you into the package they sell everybody else?
3. What exactly do I get for my money?
Find out whether you’re paying purely for the session or whether programming, communication, accountability, nutritional support or anything else is included.
4. How will you personalise this around me?
Ask how your work, family, previous experience, preferences, limitations and available time will influence the programme.
5. Can you show me evidence of people you’ve successfully helped?
Look at genuine reviews, testimonials and relevant client results.
Depending on your goal, that might include before-and-after photographs, improvements in strength or fitness, weight-loss results or examples of clients developing the skills you’re hoping to develop.
Does the cost of a personal trainer vary by location?
Yes. Where a trainer operates can affect their overheads and what the local market will support, so you shouldn’t necessarily expect PT prices to be identical throughout the UK.
Even within Hertfordshire, it’s worth looking at more than price when comparing your options.
If you’re looking for a personal trainer in St Albans, for example, consider where the sessions actually take place, travel time, parking or gym fees and what’s included in the trainer’s service.
The same applies when comparing personal trainers in Stevenage or looking for a personal trainer in Borehamwood.
A trainer who’s slightly cheaper but difficult to get to may ultimately be poorer value if the inconvenience means you don’t train consistently.
My own face-to-face sessions take place at Cotlandswick Leisure Centre in London Colney, with free parking and no additional gym entry fee required to train with me.
Is online personal training cheaper?
It can be.
Online personal training can remove some of the costs associated with repeated one-to-one face-to-face sessions while still giving you access to professional programming, progression and accountability.
It can also work well as part of a hybrid approach.
You might initially need more face-to-face help while learning technique, then gradually reduce your PT frequency as your confidence increases while continuing with programmed workouts independently.
Again, the best option isn’t automatically the cheapest or most expensive.
It’s the one that gives you the level of support you actually need.
So, how much should you pay for a personal trainer?
Start by looking beyond the hourly rate.
A £30 trainer isn’t necessarily a bargain and a £60 trainer isn’t necessarily expensive. It depends on their expertise, what’s included, how well suited they are to your goal and what you’re hoping to get from the relationship.
Most importantly, don’t assume that more sessions automatically mean better results.
A good personal trainer should help you make progress, but they should also help you develop knowledge, confidence and independence where that’s what you want.
After more than a decade working with clients — alongside my own experience of losing more than 10 stone — that’s one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned:
The best coaching isn’t about selling everybody the same number of sessions. It’s about working out what that particular person needs and giving them the right level of support at the right time.
