Personal training is a common service in the fitness industry, but the reasoning behind why men and women choose personal training can be very different.
In Episode 7 of The Research Debrief, hosts Rachel Chonko and Luke Carlson look at an article written by Carlson and his colleagues at Discover Strength that surveyed the difference in men and women’s choice to have a personal trainer. The conversation talks about the why and how club operators can use that towards the personal training experiences offered at their facilities.
Listen:
What This Episode Covers
This episode breaks down a survey examining why men seek out a personal trainer versus why women do using six main characteristics: technical coaching, effort, motivation, program design, safety and accountability.
Key findings include:
- 90% of both men and women rated technical coaching as essential or important.
- 90% of both men and women said effort coaching and structured programming are important.
- Safety matters more to women, with 92% rating it essential versus 78% of men.
- Men reported greater confidence in maintaining effort, technique and programming without supervision.
- Many participants compared personal trainers to doctors or dentists, framing strength training as health care.
Why This Matters for Operators
This episode provides operators with research-backed clarity on what clients actually value in supervised strength training — and how those perceptions should shape marketing and service delivery.
This research can help operators:
- Sharpen their positioning of personal training.
- Inform gender-specific communication strategies.
- Reframe personal training as health care, not sport.
- Highlight opportunities to increase female participation.
- Guide trainer education.
Ultimately, this episode gives operators a clearer roadmap for increasing personal training utilization and positioning personal training as an essential service.
Listen or Watch
Audio: Available on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Video: Watch the full episode on YouTube.
Research Referenced in This Episode:
Male and Female Perceptions of Supervision During Strength Training
