Hi folks,
I tried to hire personal trainer(s)* some months back and the experience has been weird. I’d like to hear feedback on what is causing the weirdness. I’m in my early 50s, have arthritis in lots of places, and multiple, significant chronic health issues. My goals with the trainers are to regain significant mobility so I can go up and down flights of stairs and run for the subway (possibly unrealistic but I want to try). Here is some background. I attempted to hire a personal trainer (Mr. X) through a local yoga studio and paid full market price. Simultaneously, I tried to hire another trainer (Mr. Y) though another studio. My hope was that one of them would be able to help and be a person with whom I could work comfortably. I agreed without bargaining to pay full rate to both. The only condition that I imposed upon their services was their meeting on weekend afternoons or evenings to accommodate my work and family responsibility schedule and that we meet no more often than every few weeks (My weekends are full and I want to be tight on spending.)
Both X & Y met me initially a couple times in November and December. It was a bear to get sessions scheduled with both. Lots of calls and emails. However, my sessions were fruitful, particularly with X. His workout program has me going up flights of stairs without pain & with increasing stability. I now have hope of eventually going down flights of stairs painlessly & with stability which is wonderful. In my dealings with both trainers, I paid on time, was motivated, was respectful of them as professionals, didn’t cancel, and followed up on what was recommended by the trainers.
Unfortunately, Y has disappeared. He won’t respond to emails. X went dark for awhile. He now responds to emails but only wants to work remotely using zoom/ skype. For reasons that baffle me, he doesn’t want to do in-person sessions. He wants to charge the same price as for in-person for remote sessions. Before I potentially try to find new trainers, does anyone have ideas on what is causing this odd behavior from X & Y? Are remote sessions workable? (I have emailed X to let him know my house has distracting little kids in it.)
*I know this isn’t a frugal thing to do. I did it because I got poor results with seeing dozens (!) of physical therapists since 2003 covered by insurance. But I’m willing to pay if someone delivers value which I define as getting me significant function back where many others have failed in this task. Not being able to use stairs or run even short distances is a money & time suck.