Sometimes you just can’t get the results you want at the gym all on your own.
Sometimes you need a helping hand.
Personal trainers do so much more than spot you as you lift weights and tell you to push harder. They’re there to offer encouragement and accountability. When you have a personal trainer waiting for you, you can’t just blow off a trip to the gym that day.
They also help eliminate any confusion about what to do and how to do it. With a trainer, you don’t have many excuses left for not getting into your best shape!
The simplest way to hire a personal trainer is to hire one of the in-house trainers at the gym. Most big box gyms have personal training services available.
So what are the best gyms with personal trainers near me?
Most major gyms from Anytime Fitness to Life Time have in-house personal trainers. The tricky part is finding a personal trainer who’s compatible with your lifestyle, personality, and budget.
You’ll get access to top-notch trainers and specialty equipment if you join up at a luxury gym like Life Time or Equinox ($100+ per month plus training fees). But you can also get great results with a few sessions from a trainer at mid-range gyms like Anytime, 24 Hour, or LA Fitness ($40-60 per month plus training fees).
Planet Fitness usually only offers training in a group setting, and some other tiny, convenience gyms may not offer training at all.
You can also join a smaller, independent type of gym for more customized training — and in some rare cases, you can bring your outside personal trainer into the gym to train you there.
Below I’ll break down the major gym chains that typically have personal trainers on standby. All gyms are different, so the number of personal trainers at each location varies.
As always, call ahead or take a tour before you sign any contracts.
Benefits of working out at a gym with a personal trainer
Working out, especially if you haven’t done so in a while, can be intimidating.
It’s natural to have a lack of motivation at times, and you may quit before you really even begin.
(Watch on YouTube: Psychologists explain how to stay motivated to workout.)
But a personal trainer can change all that.
No matter what your personality or fitness preference is like, there’s a trainer out there for you who makes working out exciting!
Learn about staying healthy
A personal trainer does more than just stand to the side as you work out. They make sure you’re working out the right way.
You can easily sprain something if you lift a weight the wrong way. A single injury could keep you out of the gym for weeks. During that time, you lose all the progress you built up.
A trainer shows you the right way to lift, run, and row.
Additionally, a trainer can give you pointers on staying healthy on your own — so eventually, you won’t need them. You’ll learn tips on how to maintain a healthy diet and what exercises you can do at home without any equipment.
Strive toward your personal goals
Everyone goes to the gym for a different reason.
You may want to lose weight or build up muscle so that you look great in a swimsuit next summer.
Depending on what you want to achieve, your personal trainer shows you what exercise regimen to follow to help you reach that goal. A lot of people do the completely wrong exercises for how they want to look!
Personal trainers have experience and education to know which exercises do what to your body. You can usually trust what they say and follow their lead.
(Check out the different types of fitness instructors to see which one is the best fit for your goals.)
Hold yourself accountable
It’s a good idea to go to the gym at least a few times every week.
But we’re only human. It’s natural to say to yourself, “Oh, I’ll skip it today.”
When you have a personal trainer, you have someone at the gym waiting for you. You have a specific regimen to follow and missing even one session can throw you off.
Naturally, if you’re sick or something comes up, your trainer will understand.
But you can’t just dip out because you feel like it.
Big box gyms with trainers: Services, cost & more explained
You can find personal trainers at pretty much every major gym out there.
However, not all gyms, even under the same name, have the same amenities.
Even if a gym has personal trainers, there may not be any there you really vibe with. Having rapport with your trainer is crucial to getting the results you want!
It’s okay to look around and change memberships if a personal trainer at one gym isn’t really assisting you to reach your goals.
For the most part, here’s what you can expect out of the bigger names out there.
1. 24 Hour Fitness
You can try personal training for three days free at 24 Hour Fitness.
Various coaches work at these locations that can create a customized workout plan for you.
You benefit immensely from one-on-one sessions. You’re paired with a coach who motivates you through workouts and helps you create healthy eating habits through a nutrition regimen.
You need to pay an extra fee to access these workouts. However, 24 Hour Fitness offers a Satisfaction Guarantee with its trainers.
You get the Introductory Training Package, which states if you’re not happy with the progress you’ve made in the first 30 days of your training, you get 100 percent of your money back.
There’s nothing to lose and everything to gain with Spartan-certified coaches.
According to Lessons.com, expect to pay around $80 per 1 hour personal training session at 24 Hour Fitness.
2. Anytime Fitness
Training options are available for beginners and pros at Anytime Fitness.
It all begins with a fitness consultation where you get the chance to talk about what you hope to achieve through these sessions.
From there, you can engage in either individual or group workouts. You get a personalized regimen that gradually becomes more intense as it goes on.
This makes it a great option for people rehabilitating from injuries or illnesses. Your trainer won’t push you too hard. Instead, you control how fast you go and can make adjustments as necessary.
Expect to pay around $35 and up for 1 hour of personal training at Anytime Fitness.
3. Crunch Fitness
Crunch Fitness really places an emphasis on innovative workouts for your one-on-one personal training sessions.
Some of the tools offered at Crunch Fitness gyms include MMA equipment, suspension straps, kettlebells, and battle ropes.
As such, you can expect a lot of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts. The company considers it the safest and quickest way to get amazing results.
And you can trust the guidance of Crunch Fitness personal trainers since they come with specialized certifications.
Plus, these personal trainers truly understand the importance of customized nutrition plans.
No matter what your tastes or dietary restrictions you have, these trainers work through the dotFIT program. With a well-rounded approach, it can join a no-judgment zone that creates an inclusive, and more importantly fun, environment.
Expect to pay $100+ per hour for personal training at Crunch.
4. Gold’s Gym
You get a dedicated coach with a Gold’s Gym personal training membership.
Gold’s Gym hires personal trainers who are certified in a number of different fields, including anatomy, physiology, and fitness assessment.
Therefore, you not only find someone who knows how to work out efficiently. You can find someone who specializes in exactly what you want to achieve.
But Gold’s Gym doesn’t stop there. You can also get a digital personal trainer via the Gold’s AMP app. You gain access to a custom music library, so you have tunes to get your blood pumping right in your pocket.
Expect to pay somewhere between $60-100 per hour for training at Gold’s Gym.
5. YMCA
You can even get one-on-one workout sessions at your local Y.
Yes, that’s right, the Y!
Your sessions can consist of a combination of core training, stability, free weight training, and cardio.
30- and 60-minute sessions are available and are especially geared toward beginners and seniors.
That makes sessions at the Y pretty affordable, starting at somewhere around $30 per hour and up.
6. Life Time
Life Time offers more than just personal training classes. It offers an entire philosophy around its personal training program.
It starts with a complimentary consultation where you discuss your goals and preferences. Pretty much every training style is available at Life Time.
Whether you need a drill sergeant or cheerleader in your corner, Life Time does a great job of finding different personalities to become trainers.
From there, you talk about your metabolic rate and your current diet. Life Time takes a comprehensive approach to health. It’s not just about what you do at the gym.
It’s what you do on your own time, making healthy decisions to feel better all around.
Once you have all of that information, you receive your customized plan. You have daily, weekly, and monthly goals you have to meet. This allows you to track your progress in-depth to know how well you’re doing and what changes you need to make, if any.
Expect personal training to cost around $50-110 per hour at Life Time.
7. Equinox
Equinox has had personal trainers at its facilities for about 25 years now.
The company has paired trainers with hundreds upon thousands of individuals, helping them attain an array of unique goals along the way.
To begin, you go through a one-hour fitness assessment. This is done to see where you’re currently at and where you need to improve. Your trainer also considers what you want to achieve out of your gym membership to develop a solid plan for you.
When you start to exercise, it’s easy to plateau early on. That’s exactly what Equinox personal trainers are taught to avoid. Your sessions gradually build in intensity so that your body is constantly feeling challenged.
Sessions at Equinox aren’t cheap, in addition your membership. Expect them to start around $110 per hour or so.
8. LA Fitness
You can schedule a complimentary fitness assessment at LA Fitness to see where you’re currently at physically.
With this information, you’re given a certified personal trainer for an additional fee on top of your membership.
They’ll create a plan for you and keep you accountable over time.
A membership gives you access to Studio Zone, the LA Fitness app. You can track your progress through the app and see how much you’ve improved over time.
Training will likely cost you around $60 per hour or so at LA Fitness.
Gyms that don’t have personal trainers
Personal trainers can be found at pretty much every major gym out there.
Even the most budget-friendly box gym around, Planet Fitness, offers some training sessions you can sign up for through the app.
However, training at Planet Fitness is quite basic — after a fitness assessment, a trainer will create a workout program for you to follow but you won’t receive additional one-on-one instruction.
You can attend some small group training sessions at Planet Fitness — though those are also relatively basic and involve a trainer walking a group through workouts on PF’s limited machinery. You won’t find spin, yoga, or other classes at Planet Fitness.
Can you bring your own personal trainer to gyms like LA Fitness, Planet Fitness, etc.?
There are also plenty of independent personal trainers out there who don’t work for a specific gym.
You can hire someone on your own to help you work out or meet you at an independent gym if you don’t want to go to any of the big box locations.
Since most gym brands have their own in-house trainers, outside trainers usually aren’t allowed inside unless they are members themselves.
However, plenty of individual clubs make exceptions to this rule and it could be a negotiation point for you while signing up for your membership.
Wrapping Up
By no means do you need a personal trainer.
There are plenty of paid and free workout plans out there for any athletic or fitness goal you might have.
But if you need some extra motivation to get to the gym, and can spare the cash, then working with a trainer can get you exceptional results.
Most of the time, there are extra fees associated with getting a personal trainer on top of what you already pay monthly — usually somewhere between $35-100 per hour depending on the gym and service. You need to decide what budget works for you and what you’re comfortable with.
For more on this, check out:
- How to pick the right gym according to personal trainers
- How to crush your first day at the gym
- How to go to the gym alone (no workout buddy and no trainer)
And for more gym amenity guides, see the best gyms with pools, gyms with showers, and gyms with rowing machines.
Hope this helps!