Online Vegan Personal Training: Before You Buy [2023 Update]

If you’re looking for online vegan personal training, then this will be the most important short article you’ll read this week.

I’m a former manager of 5 fitness centers in Switzerland with 10,000 members, where I directly supervised 40 trainers. And I am an award-winning online personal trainer since 6 years – running fitvegans.com – as well as a published author.

While working with thousands of clients in person (and hundreds of clients online), I’ve learned a few key things that you as a client need to know before investing in online personal training.

You’ll learn the pros and cons, both of personal training and online personal training. You’ll learn when to pull the proverbial trigger and go for coaching – and when better to wait.

Ready to dive in?

Alright, let’s start with the basics:

Online Personal Training 101

Online vegan personal training is a combination of online training and veganism (vegan diet).

Because online training is often new to a lot of clients, it makes sense to look at the basics of online training together (and yes… I’ll sprinkle a few of our testimonials in this article for some extra motivation).

Is online training as effective as in-person training?

This might come as a shock from an online coach, but look: In-person training has many advantages to online training.

All else being equal, in-person training > online training. So there’s sense in looking for a “vegan coach near me”.

In fact, I believe that the closer your coach lives to you – the better.

There’s value in having a person that can ring on your doorbell and can kick your rear when you require it. The closer in proximity you are to your trainer and the better your rapport is, the better your results typically are.

So at the best case, we’d all have vegan, live-in personal trainers that are constantly looking over our shoulders, right?

The downside to personal trainers

The problem is that living – or even working – with a great personal trainer is not feasible.

Not only because that would be very, very expensive, but…

… also because it’s difficult to find the right people that truly are competent at what they do (every business owner knows how difficult it’s to find competency).

The fitness industry is a notoriously unregulated industry, so competency is even harder to find than let’s say in a lawyer, or software developer.

Competency: It matter for your results

In the below picture you see me working with clients in person:

Although I was physically close to all of my clients at that time, the results of them pale to the results we get our clients right now in the online medium.

But why?

Not all personal trainers are created equal

Although I was ‘good enough’ at my job 5 years ago – hey, it was good enough to win and award and get featured in the newspaper after all…

… and get myself in wonderful shape …

… it was hoever not enough to predictably give a good experience to most of my clients.

While the intentions were always good, the results were not.

Competency (not intention) creates great results

This should not be a surprize:

• Similar to how tattoo artists get good with practice…
• Or surgeons get good with practice…

So do personal trainers. They turn from one hit wonders into a repeatable, predictable service provider.

Do it once you have a party trick. Do it many times predictably you have a system.

And once personal trainers have a system or a blueprint, well, they often transition to online training. Here’s why:

What is actually better, online training or personal training?

Here’s a fitness industry secret: Every ambitious personal trainer strives to be an online trainer.

Because online trainers tend to have more control over their own schedule and overall enjoy a higher quality of life.

As such, the natural progression of every regular personal trainer is to become an online trainer. Same as, the natural, ideal progression of an athlete is to eventually be at the Olympics.

Becoming an online coach is rather difficult. And only the most competent of trainers with the most valuable advice usually manage to make that transition.

For you as a potential client, this means that working with an online trainer is a good pre-selection strategy to make sure that you’re working with the top 20% of the professionals in the field.

Yes, the average online trainer is significantly more competent than the average personal trainer.

So while working with a professional in-person is preferable to working with a professional online – most professionals due to the nature of their competency – will only be available to work online.

How can you find an online coach you can trust?

We’ve seen before that in general, online fitness coaches are the better choice than in-person fitness coaches.

As a person looking to achieve your fitness goals, here’s two key things I’d look out for in search for the best online fitness coach (next to the M&M clause I share below):

1. Results, directly measured by the amount of real-life testimonials. ‘Real-life’ is the most important word here. Here’s an industry secret: The fitness industry is known to fake their testimonials, often using their ‘after’ picture as the ‘before’ one. That’s why most of our testimonials (including the one you see from Kanwarpal above), are backed up by full-length interviews. You can access them here.
2. Alignment with core-values: Here’s where veganism would come in handy. You do want a person that you can connect with and trust. You can only do so if the core values are aligned. Look, getting in shape is a marathon – or a long boat ride. You want people in your boat that row WITH you, not against you. The best way to guarantee that is with shared values.

What is the difference between an online vegan personal trainer and a regular online personal trainer?

This might sound obvious, but as an omnivore, there are very little reasons to be working with an vegan personal trainer.

As a vegan, however, there are very good reasons to be working with a vegan personal trainer.

Not only will you align with core values, which will make the entire process more enjoyable, you’ll also have better expertise for your specific situation.

Here’s what I mean:

Vegan trainers can give you that extra competency for your vegan diet

Let’s face it: A vegan diet done right is difficult.

That’s why so few people do it, right?

Regular personal trainers think that a regular vegan diet is simply replacing chicken with tofu. That is not correct.

To guarantee your vegan health and fitness, your coach will need to know:

1. How to supplement Vitamin B12 for optimal energy and performance as a vegan (they’re not created equal!). Read an article about the importance of B12 here: https://fitvegans.com/vitamin-b12
2. How to get your iodine, Vitamin D3 and Omega 3 (most vitamins/fats vegans are deficient in)
3. How to get enough leucine as a vegan (and the role of protein in a vegan diet) for optimal muscle growth and maintenance during weight loss

I’ll write about this more in detail in the M&M clause later in this article, but generally, vegan personal trainers will combine workout knowledge AND nutritional knowledge.

The asymmetric value of nutrition

The combination of a workout program and nutrition counseling is not typical.

Normally, if you work with a personal trainer – you’d need to hire a nutritionist to get that nutrition advice (especially if your food is plant-based).

This is important to re-state: Normal personal trainers can not give you proper nutrition advice or nutrition programs.

Which is a shame, because for most people looking to lose weight, nutrition will be 80% of the results, and only 20% will be due to exercise. I outline the exact details about this in another article called ‘How To Lose Weight On A Whole-Food Plant Based Diet’.

This is what I call the asymmetry of nutrition. For a small amount of effort you can get a disproportionate amount of results:

Because regular fitness coaching does not entail the aspect of nutrition, you get significantly less bang for your buck.

Is an online personal trainer worth it?

Whether or not an online personal trainer is worth it depends on the value in return for your investment.

In doing so, it’s worth looking at the benefits and risk of investing in an online personal trainer.

Potential benefits:

• Increased self-esteem and confidence
• Increased dating success (and better family relationships), and yes, this goes for men and women
• More energy (and better work output, which can lead to higher salary)
• Increased longevity (10-20 years+ of extra healthspan)

Potential downsides:

• Very minor injury risk
• Momentary discomfort of changing one’s habits
• Financial risk (e.g. you lose the money you spent on a trainer)

The ‘financial risk’ is often what clients are most worried about, along with not getting the results that they’re wishing to get.

This is warranted.

The 80/10/10 rule of investing in yourself

Let me again, say something shocking: As someone that has invested $50,000+ in oneself, I can assure you that not every investment in your self development will ever pay off.

I call this the ’80/10/10′ of self development. Generally, about 80% of the investment in yourself will give you moderate results. 10% will give you no results. And about 10% will give you extraordinary life-changing results.

There’s no way around that. That power law/pareto principle holds true for every successful person I’ve ever met.

They ALL had the habit of investing in themselves. And they ALL stroke out sometimes.

Failure is not the polar opposite of success, but a necessary ingredient. Intelligent people know that – yet they still invest in themselves, as there is no feasible alternative.

To minimize the risk of striking out, here’s what I’d recommend you searching for in a trainer to maximize the chances of hitting gold and reaching your fitness goals:

Vegan fitness coaching 101

In the above picture you see Stefan, a former fit vegan client, turning from a carnivore to a vegan to a fit vegan. Over this fitness journey, Stefan felt that he tried almost everything.

Yet to achieve his fitness goals safely and sustainably – vegan food was not enough. Stefan required the right type of coaching.

In this section you’ll learn what makes vegan fitness coaching different, and what it really takes to succeed.

The M&M Clause: How to [really] achieve your vegan fitness goals quickly and sustainably

In my popular book ‘The Fit Vegan’s Secrets’, I outline that the best, sustainable healthy lifestyle changes, are built with the following tools in the fit vegan pro’s toolbox:

1. The art and science of (healthy) lifestyle change
2. A performance-focused whole food plant-based diet
3. An efficient exercise schedule

If you’re looking to speed up your fitness journey, these are the components you need to factor in.

I call this the ‘M&M Clause’ in the book, given that this is an easy way for potential clients to pre-select a vegan trainer.

A performance-focused whole food plant-based diet: How does vegan nutrition factor in the coaching?

The first and foremost tool to get in shape is nutrition. As we’ve seen above, the right type of vegan nutrition can disproportionately improve your results.

I say the ‘right‘ type of vegan nutrition, because a plant-based diet is simply not enough:

• You can eat a plant-based diet and still not be in fantastic shape.
• You can eat a plant-based diet and NOT lose fat – in fact, you might actually gain fat.

It’s not a plant-based diet that will get you to the perfect amount of fat loss, perfect BMI, body weight, health – as well as physical shape/confidence that you desire…

… but a performance-focused whole food plant-based diet.

The bridge between a vegan lifestyle – that is not necessarily conducive to a great fitness level – and a performance-focused WFPB diet is often a nutrition coach.

A performance-focused WFPB diet is different. Such a diet will not have any animal products, but it will ALSO necessarily contain:

• The right amount of calories
• The right supplements (potentially protein powder/protein shakes)
• The right time of food input
• The right type of comfort-fuel balance, factoring in for the client’s unique needs (gluten free etc.)

An efficient exercise schedule: What role do workouts play?

Nutrition is one tool in our toolbox, and so is exercise and proper workout plans.

While most people do not want to turn into the next Arnold Schwarzenegger, we still can not understate the value of getting the right type of workouts in. This allows us to:

• Build strength
• Build muscle
• Cultivate our ‘hard work’ muscle

While strength training can be done at the gym, 80% of our clients do workout in the comfort of their home.

How do you create a healthy vegan lifestyle?

Workouts and nutrition are integral tools in the fitness journey. Yet the absolute best strategy does not work, if we do not follow it.

Or, if we do not stick to it long enough. Right?

What we need to create a sustainable, healthy lifestyle is:

• Accountability
• A coach that we’re able to talk to (and that is able to answer our questions, even the most personal ones (this is why we have both men and women as support coaches))
• Proper motivation and desire (keeps things fun)
• Mindset of a fit vegan

Working with a vegan fitness coach: Combining it all in one

Looking over the M&M Clause it’s obvious that most of the parts are not present in regular fitness strategies.

• A gym will not contain any nutrition aspect, nor a behaviour change component
• A personal trainer will not contain any nutrition aspect, nor a behaviour change component
• A nutritionist will not contain any workout aspect, nor a behaviour change component

Which means that typically, your absolute best bet for getting in shape and achieving your fitness goals is to work with a vegan fitness coach.

Conclusion: Making the decision – and feasible alternatives to coaching

At this stage, we should have covered the bases. You have learned that:

• On average, online trainers are better than personal trainers
• And online vegan personal trainers are better than online trainers

But, how and where do you go forward from here? We’ll cover that in this chapter:

So, should you hire a vegan fitness coach?

Whether or not you go for a vegan fitness coach depends on many different aspects. The more questions below you can answer yes to, the more likely it is that you would benefit from coaching:

• Do you feel you’ve tried almost everything before?
• Do you feel your situation is very unique – and most general advice does not apply to you?
• Do you have some extra money laying aside that you’d be fine investing in yourself?
• Do you value your time and health enough to consider spending money on yourself an investment?

If the answer to any of the above question is yes, then feel free to schedule a call with us here: https://fitvegans.com/breakthrough-session/

We’re considered the #1 online vegan fitness coaching service, and we have the real-world results to back it up.

What do you recommend for those who are not ready to invest in a trainer?

As someone that makes a living as a trainer, let me say something that might shock you: Given the right time and effort, most smart people will be available to achieve optimal health and fitness on their own.

THe downside? This often takes significantly more time and energy. And if you’re busy – often those two resources are not available in excess.

If you’re not yet ready to start investing in a trainer, reading books is the second best option Here are my 7 favorites:

The 7 best vegan fitness books

There are many great books out there that cover many different aspects of the vegan diet and achieving your health and fitness goals. These include:

1. ‘The Starch Solution’ by Dr. John McDougall

This is one of the more beginner-friendly books.

‘The Starch Solution’ written by Dr. John McDougall, promotes a plant-based diet centered around the consumption of starch-rich foods such as potatoes, rice, and corn.

The book also includes meal plans and recipes (as well as tons of testimonials!) to help readers incorporate more starch into their diet. You can find a review about the book from yours truly here: https://fitvegans.com/starch-solution-truth/

Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/Starch-Solution-Regain-Health-Weight/dp/1623360277/

2. ‘How Not To Diet’ by Dr. Michael Greger

This is the most research-dense book.

‘How Not to Diet’ is a book by Dr. Michael Greger, a physician and founder of the website NutritionFacts.org. The book discusses the science behind weight loss and offers practical tips for achieving and maintaining a healthy weight.

Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/How-Not-Diet-Groundbreaking-Permanent/dp/1250199220

PS: For a full background on Michael Greger (and recent, quite shocking news) – read this article here: https://fitvegans.com/michael-greger

3. ‘How Not To Die’ by Dr. Michael Greger

This is the best book for the health benefits of a vegan diet.

‘How Not To Die’ is written by Dr. Michael Greger as well (same author as the above book, How Not To Diet).

The book examines the scientific evidence behind the leading causes of death in the United States and offers practical recommendations for preventing and reversing these diseases through diet and lifestyle changes.

Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/How-Not-Die-Discover-Scientifically/dp/1250066115

4. ‘The China Study’ by Dr. T. Colin Campbell

‘The China Study’ is a book by Dr. T. Colin Campbell, a nutritional scientist, and his son Dr. Thomas M. Campbell II.

It is based on the China-Oxford-Cornell Diet and Health Project (the largest nutritional study ever conducted).

Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/China-Study-Comprehensive-Nutrition-Implications-dp-1941631568/dp/1941631568/

5. ‘Science and Development of Muscle Hypertrophy’ by Brad Schoenfeld

The best book for muscle growth.

‘Science and Development of Muscle Hypertrophy’ is a book by Brad Schoenfeld, a leading expert in the field of muscle hypertrophy (the increase in muscle size through exercise and nutrition).

The book discusses the latest research on muscle hypertrophy and offers practical recommendations for maximizing muscle growth through training and nutrition.

Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/Science-Development-Muscle-Hypertrophy-Schoenfeld/dp/1492597678

6. Proteinaholic by Dr. Garth Davis

The best book for getting rid of protein addiction.

Proteinaholic is a book by Dr. Garth Davis, a bariatric surgeon and weight loss specialist.

In the book, Dr. Davis states that a high-protein diet is not only unnecessary for most people, but can also be harmful to health. He cites scientific evidence to support his claim that a diet based on whole, plant-based foods is the most effective for promoting weight loss and optimal health.

Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/Proteinaholic-Obsession-Meat-Killing-About/dp/0062279319

7. ‘The Fit Vegans Secrets’ by Florian Wüest

The #1 most beginner friendly e-book is arguably, ‘The Fit Vegan’s Secrets’, written by vegan trainer Florian Wüest (yours truly).

Not only because it’s written in an entertaining way, but also because it’s real-world proven by hundreds of vegans I’ve personally worked with.

It circles largely about changing your mindset in regards to fitness – making the ‘connection’ if you will – so you understand:

1. Why getting in shape is important
2. How to do it
3. What to do next

You can secure your copy of ‘The Fit Vegans Secrets’ e-book by clicking here: https://fitvegans.com/secrets

PS: Want to read another article of yours truly about the benefits of reading a vegetarian or vegan fitness coach? Read this one here: Why You Should Hire A Vegan Or Vegetarian Fitness Coach