Selkirk clients now have both options: in-person one-on-one sessions with a trainer, or fully online coaching. Both can produce excellent results. The question is which one fits your goal, schedule, and how you actually train. Here's the honest side-by-side.
Cost
Per hour, in-person is more expensive. You're paying for the coach's time in the room. Online coaching is priced monthly and typically covers the full week — programming, check-ins, and messaging access — at a rate that works out lower per training day.
If budget is the main constraint, online usually wins on cost per week of coaching.
Scheduling
In-person requires locking in specific time slots that match both your and the coach's availability. Online training happens on your schedule — 5am, lunch break, late night — as long as you complete the sessions and submit the check-in.
If your schedule is unpredictable or you travel, online is dramatically more flexible.
Exercise form coaching
In-person wins for real-time cueing. Every rep gets watched, and small errors get corrected immediately. This matters most for beginners on the main lifts, anyone returning from an injury, and anyone whose form has plateaued.
Online coaching handles form through video technique review — you film short clips of key lifts and get feedback with each check-in. It works well for people who already have a reasonable movement foundation and are willing to record and review their own sets.
Accountability
In-person accountability is showing up to the session. It's strong for people who need someone waiting for them, but it only covers the days you train with the coach.
Online accountability is a full weekly check-in plus messaging access. It covers every session, sleep, energy, and adherence — not just the hour you're in front of the trainer. For most people trying to change body composition, that's actually more useful, because most of the outcome is what happens outside the session.
Equipment
In-person sessions use the training location's equipment. Online programs are built around whatever you have — full commercial gym, home rack, a set of dumbbells, or bodyweight. If your equipment is limited or unusual, online coaching can adapt around it faster than switching gyms.
Convenience
In-person means driving to a location and matching a specific time window. Online means training whenever you have 45 minutes free, wherever your equipment is. For anyone with a demanding job or family schedule, this is usually the deciding factor.
Privacy
Some clients strongly prefer training in a private setting with a coach they trust — especially early on. In-person gives that if the training location is quiet. Online offers full privacy — no one's watching but the coach reviewing your videos.
Independence
Online coaching builds independence faster because you're the one executing every session without a coach present. In-person builds technical proficiency faster because you're getting corrections every rep. Both are legitimate goals.
Who each option is best for
In-person personal training fits best when:
- You're a complete beginner and want technique coached in real time
- You're returning from injury and need eyes on every session
- You know you won't train unless someone's there
- You want to work heavy on the main lifts with a spotter
Online personal training fits best when:
- You're self-motivated and comfortable training solo
- Your schedule is unpredictable or you travel
- You want more coaching contact than one session per week for the same cost
- You have basic gym experience already
Hybrid: the underrated option
Many Selkirk clients end up in a hybrid setup — one or two in-person sessions per week for the main lifts, plus a full online program that covers everything else and weekly check-ins. You get the best of both: real-time cueing where it matters most, plus full-week accountability.
If you're not sure which one fits, that's exactly what the free consultation is for. You can talk through it with Jared and decide together — book a call on the Selkirk personal training page.