20/08/2026
Nobody really talks about this side of personal training.
It's literally in the name.
Personal training.
When you spend one, two, sometimes three hours every week with someone, it's very hard for it not to become personal.
You get to know them.
You hear about their good weeks and their awful ones. Their families. Their jobs. Their holidays. Their struggles. You celebrate the weight they've lifted, but also the things happening outside the gym that nobody else sees.
And somewhere along the way, especially when you really gel with someone, that line between client and friend can become a little blurry.
But there's a strange part of this job that I don't think many people talk about.
At the end of the day, they're still paying you for a service.
And sometimes they need to take a break.
Sometimes circumstances change.
Sometimes money gets tight.
Sometimes life gets in the way.
And sometimes they simply don't want to train anymore.
And professionally, you understand all of that.
But personally?
Sometimes it still hurts.
Because you're not just looking at an empty hour in your diary thinking, I've lost a client.
Sometimes you're thinking, I'm actually going to miss her.
And I think that's one of the hardest things about genuinely caring about the people you coach.
I've always said my clients often become more like friends. I care about their progress. I think about how they're getting on outside their sessions. I worry when they're struggling and I'm genuinely buzzing when something goes right for them.
Maybe that's not the most "business-like" way to be a PT.
But I don't think I'd want to do this job any other way.
Because for me, personal training was never just about counting reps.
It was always about the person doing them. 🩷
