Have you ever felt sick and thought to yourself, “I should diagnose myself based on a web search,” later wishing you’d sought a professional instead? How about taking on an extensive home-improvement project, only to call in a contractor after struggling to make any real progress?
Getting in shape or losing weight shouldn’t be something you are stuck doing on your own, either. That’s where a personal trainer comes in.
With busy schedules, expensive packages, and limited access to professional help, many people overlook personal trainers when getting into working out. Trainiac makes personal training affordable and accessible, no matter where you are, or what’s on your calendar.
With Trainiac, you get the benefits of a personal trainer, and the freedom and flexibility of solo workouts. That kind of freedom makes it the ultimate tool for getting in shape on your own time.
Trainiac review: Ultimate personal training app
Trainiac is an online personal training app, connecting you with a real-life trainer. Each trainer is certified in various aspects of exercise, with focus or emphasis on certain aspects of fitness.
Once paired with your trainer, they’ll guide you through some introductory workouts, designed to get a baseline on your current fitness levels. From there, they’ll work with you to assess any physical limitations, as well as your personal fitness aspirations. These will go into shaping your personalized workout routines.
Get fit with a real training expert
The trainer-to-trainee communication inside Trainiac is one of the app’s stand-out features. Through the “Connect” section of the app, you can send your trainer text comments, audio recordings (like voice memos), or even a video. Your trainer can do the same, providing personalized feedback or recommendations based on your workouts.
In the first few weeks of using the app, I found that most communication was done through text comments. I also received a few audio comments from Geoff (my trainer) when he had longer comments to share. I personally found leaving a video comment was a good way to show just how exhausted a workout made me.
With all three communication options, it’s between you and your trainer. The feedback system is a great way to let your trainer know if something is difficult, uncomfortable or hurting.
As you complete your workouts and provide feedback, your trainer will create custom workouts just for you. These workouts may focus on full-body fitness, or may be for specific areas (lower body, arms, etc.). Each workout can (and usually will) include individualized exercises, weights or reps designed to match your fitness level and ability.
Screenshots: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac
Your fitness on your schedule
One of the best parts of Trainiac is that the workouts can be completed on your own schedule. After finishing a few basic workouts, Geoff set me up with five or six different workouts of varying duration, style and focus.
Those workouts included self-paced strength training, guided HIIT (high-intensity interval training) sessions, treadmill and rowing training drills, and some great cool-down stretching circuits. Thanks to the variety, I had some workouts specifically for the gym, and others I could do almost anywhere.
This allowed me to go to the gym (or my basement) and do a workout when it worked for me. No appointment necessary. From there, I could provide my feedback in the app and, within a day, get something fresh to work on. It’s a level of freedom you don’t get with an in-person trainer.
After spending some time using Trainiac, it’s clear how a personal trainer can work to push your fitness. I’ve been working out both at home and at the gym pretty consistently for several years. Needless to say, my workouts have grown very repetitive and a bit boring. Even with a huge selection of guided workouts from other apps and websites, I still found myself in a rut.
With a trainer through Trainiac, my workouts have become fresh and fun again. Having my own personally curated workouts makes fitness something I’m excited about again. No previous workout program or app did this for me over an extended time.
Burn fat, not your wallet
Whether you’re new to fitness and need some guidance, or you’re a seasoned professional, having a trainer at your side is the perfect approach to improved fitness. Trainiac puts the expertise of a trainer at your fingertips. It allows you to progress at your pace, on your schedule, at a far more affordable price than the trainer at most gyms.
Trainiac offers a two-week trial with the freedom to cancel anytime, directly in the app. Trainiac’s personal trainer services are billed through a credit card or Apple Pay (not iTunes). Getting started, managing your account and unsubscribing is all built into the app, giving you total control.
Price: Free download, membership required (membership costs $49.99/month or $99.99/three months — save $40 on your first bill with promo code 9EB328B8)
Download from: App Store
