The Pros and Cons of Boot Camps vs. Hiring a Personal Trainer

Being a personal trainer, online trainer and a bootcamp owner, a common question I get asked a lot is what service should I use to get my results? Honestly, there is no one set answer I give to everyone, it’s completely subjective to the position the client is in. In this is blog I am going list the pros and cons of bootcamp vs hiring a personal trainer.

Benefits of a Bootcamp

You get to go away and really focus on yourself for the complete “reset”. A lot of people who reach out to come to bootcamp feel they need that “escape” from current life so they can reset and focus on themselves. Bootcamp is the best way to achieve this as you are committing anything from 1-3 weeks of your time where 100% of your focus is solely on yourself and goals you have. There is little or no distractions from life at home.

Your food and training are controlled for your whole bootcamp. If you are looking to transform your relationship with food and exercise, then a fitness bootcamp or a weight loss bootcamp is the most beneficial as all your exercise, workouts and food is taken out of your hands and given to the experts at bootcamp. This gives clients the biggest opportunity to adopt change in the most professional and controlled way. Just make sure you do your research into bootcamps to see whose values and ideas of food are consistent in what you want to achieve. Certain weight loss bootcamps focus purely on losing as much weight as possible by feeding clients as little as possible, this is not a productive approach for people who are really looking for help with food.

You get to train with like-minded people. On a bootcamp you will be training with a lot of likeminded people who are on the same mission as you which will only increase your motivation and give you an incredible support system.

You get to live with a fitness professional. Clients who come on my bootcamps gets so much more out of their experience than what they thought as they get the opportunity to live with me. This gives me the opportunity to go so much deeper in mindset, education and implementing change. It also provides inspiration for clients as they can see we live what we preach, which builds confidence in that what we do really works.

You will do a lot more exercises and workouts. If you are looking for a complete fitness and health overhaul, bootcamp is amazing at doing that as the objective of bootcamp is workouts, nutrition and getting results. You will spend the whole day doing activities and exercise which will otherwise be extremely hard to replicate at home.

You will have a lot more opportunity to delve in the mindset side of health and fitness. With there being very little distraction from focusing on yourself you can focus so much more on mindset. On my bootcamps, so much of the downtime is spent coaching clients on mindset, nutrition and how to implement things successfully at home. This is something that can be more challenging when clients are at home.

Benefits of Personal Training

It’s always 1-2-1 so all programs will be bespoke to you. Your personal trainer will have programs that are bespoke and tailored exactly to your goals. You will also have the undivided attention of the trainer, so you are getting the most out of that trainer.

It can be more flexible and fit into your hours and routine. A reputable personal trainer will make sure programs fits into your lifestyle and routine at home so there is a lot more flexibility with your training than what would be if you are at bootcamp.

You don’t have to travel far, you can even train from home. You don’t have to travel far and make so many sacrifices when you have a personal trainer. Some trainers will even come to your house!

You can save money by splitting costs with friend. If you are struggling to make the investment and pay for a personal trainer there are a lot of PTs out there that will train two of you for the same price.

You can always meet your trainer and build a rapport before you commit. Most personal trainers will have a free consultation or meeting prior to committing which gives you the perfect opportunity to ask as many questions as you like to see if that trainer is the right one for you.

Cons of a Bootcamp

Can be too expensive for a lot of people. A bootcamp usually requires an initial investment which can quite be expensive for some clients. Expect to be paying about £1000 a week for a bootcamp. Do note though, that the price will include all your food, accommodation and training.

Some bootcamps focus so much on weight loss it’s not sustainable. There are bootcamps that focus on strict calorie and portion control with the objective of losing as much weight as possible in the shortest period of time. This is not productive for a lot of clients and is rarely sustainable.

You rarely get to meet your trainers in person or do a trial. Unlike getting a personal trainer, it’s rare for you to be able to test or meet the bootcamp and team before you go, so it’s vital for you to do as much research as possible. Most bootcamps have a contact form for you to make enquires, but it’s never the same as face to face. As well as email contact forms, I have a WhatsApp tab on my business pages to help bridge that gap of communication with clients but not all businesses do that.

It can be hard to get the right amount of time off work. You need to treat a fitness bootcamp like a holiday as you will need time of work so it can be a challenge to juggle the holiday you have for the year, especially if you want to spend time with family.

Some bootcamps follow diets or specific way of eating that you simply may hate. Some people arrive at bootcamp and immediately hate the approach to food or lack of food so make sure you choose a weight loss camp that fits in to what you want to achieve in terms of nutrition. You don’t want to feel your money is wasted!

You may hate the group environment. If you struggle in group environments then a bootcamp may be more challenging for you as team work and ethos is a big factor at bootcamps.

Cons of Hiring a Personal Trainer

They can lack the knowledge and experience that bootcamp instructors have. Being a personal trainer is usually the first step in the career of fitness so not all trainers will have the experience or qualifications that certain clients are looking to acquire. Eating disorders, nutrition, mental health are common things new personal trainers lack when they first join the industry.

Your PT isn’t with you 24/7. If you are struggling with food and programs alone, it can be easy to slip up. If you are looking for accountability to make some serious changes, a personal trainer can find it difficult as they are not with you 24/7 like at a bootcamp. So it’s easier for you to slip with habits at home and work etc.

It’s harder to delve into the mental side of health and fitness. Typically, personal training lasts 1 hour, and you will be focusing on fitness and working out. If you need support with the mental side of health, it can be hard for a coach to work on this in the environment of the gym and the small time period you have together.

Sometimes it’s hard to create that “reset” people need as they are in same environment. If you are look to get away, escape and purely focus on yourself this is a challenge with personal training and you are still in the same environment at home and can feel you keep taking 2 steps forward and 2 steps back.

There is no right or wrong choice when it comes to personal training or bootcamp. The really important thing is for you to take you time, be patient and know definitively what you are looking to achieve and what you really need. So many people make huge progress with both so it’s about finding the right one for you. If you have any questions or want to chat about which one could be best for you do not hesitate to get in touch.