5 problems Personal trainers and online coaches keep running
I read what Personal trainers and online coaches are complaining about on Reddit, X and YouTube. These are the 5 problems that came up most, with the posts they came from.
Under each one is a product someone could build for it. If you are one of these people, you will recognise the problem. If you build things, pick one.
The 'duct-taped' business stack: spreadsheets, macros, Zoom, invoicing, and messaging glued togetherPain Index 80
Coaches running their own online business are stitching together a macro calculator, a group chat, Zoom, an invoicing tool, and spreadsheets because no single tool does it all under their own brand. This creates constant admin overhead that pulls them away from actual coaching and makes it hard to look professional to prospective high-ticket clients.
“The problem I kept hearing from online fitness coaches: they either duct-tape their business together across spreadsheets, a macro calculator, a group chat, Zoom, and some invoicing tool. So the whole product is built around one idea: the coach gets an app that wears THEIR brand.”
Read the post on reddit ↗
“thinking that you can disrupt the digital landscape without a dedicated software package would be one of the worst online personal trainer mistakes you could make.”
Read the post on google ↗
- Programming, macro calculator, check-ins, Zoom links, billing in one branded workspace
- One dashboard instead of switching between four apps nightly
- Competitors slowed features and raised prices without adding nutrition or billing
Client retention collapses because check-ins feel like 'data collection' not coachingPain Index 80
Coaches repeatedly identify that clients churn not because of bad programming but because check-ins feel thin, generic, and transactional ('looks good keep it up'). Coaches know retention is the #1 revenue lever but have no systematic way to make every weekly check-in feel personally attentive at scale.
“They didn’t feel like they were making progress even if they were. They didn’t feel connected to me as their coach. They looked at what they were paying every month and couldn’t justify it because the experience felt thin.”
Read the post on reddit ↗
“I find myself spending more time figuring out ways to motivate my clients for everything - from tracking progress to updating workouts, following nutrition plans etc.”
Read the post on google ↗
- Drafts personalized check-in replies from raw weight, photo, adherence data
- Coach edits in 30 seconds instead of writing from scratch
- Existing platforms capture data but don't synthesize a reply
Solo coaches are drowning as marketer + salesperson + bookkeeper + trainer with no teamPain Index 70
Across dozens of threads, trainers describe the shift to online coaching as trading physical labor for an unbounded, always-on workload: content creation, DM sales scripts, sales calls, bookkeeping, and tax prep, all stacked on top of actual coaching. Several describe burnout and business collapse (including one explicit ADHD-driven burnout post) from trying to run every function solo.
“My online personal training business for women with a history of eating disorders or a difficult relationship with exercise is basically dead.”
Read the post on reddit ↗
“Personal training can be a rewarding and fulfilling career, but it's not without its challenges. One of the most common problems faced by personal trainers is burnout.”
Read the post on youtube ↗
- Logs expenses by category and auto-tags coaching-specific deductions
- One report at tax time ready for an accountant
- Built for coaching income unlike generic QuickBooks setup
Market flooded with uncertified / low-quality online coaches, making it hard for good trainers to differentiate or charge what they're worthPain Index 60
Multiple threads describe a credibility crisis: 'half a BILLION online coaches worldwide,' generic 1600-calorie template programs sold as personalized coaching, and buyers who can't tell a real coach from a templated one. Good coaches struggle to prove differentiated value and are losing pricing power to a sea of low-quality competitors.
“A lot of the “successful” coaches seem to move away from in-person training and instead sell very generic online programs. These programs are often barely personalized”
Read the post on reddit ↗
“Look at how many online fitness coaches there are. Look at the total addressable market. How does your slice of the pie look?”
Read the post on reddit ↗
- Turns check-in data into a verified, timestamped per-client results page
- Can't be faked like a copy-pasted testimonial screenshot
- Reviews and profiles can't prove outcomes like verified data can
Online coaching loses the real-time form-correction and accountability that in-person training providesPain Index 60
A structural, repeatedly cited limitation of online coaching: no one is physically present to catch bad form, stop an unsafe set, or provide in-the-moment accountability. Clients and coaches both flag this as the core trade-off versus in-person training, and some clients explicitly return to in-person or abandon online coaching because of it.
“No interpersonal benefits such as in depth assessment, real time analysis of performance, technique, and form. No real time feedback on what you’re doing right or wrong.”
Read the post on google ↗
“bespoke fit where a real person just stays on a zoom-style call with you while you work out to check your posture ... This Zoom style call is exactly what I am looking for.”
Read the post on reddit ↗
- Flags frames where joint angles deviate from a saved reference rep
- Coach voice-annotates flagged frames in under 2 minutes
- Replicates in-person form assessment asynchronously, unlike text coaching
Questions people ask
What is the problem with the 'duct-taped' business stack: spreadsheets, macros, zoom, invoicing, and messaging glued together?
Coaches running their own online business are stitching together a macro calculator, a group chat, Zoom, an invoicing tool, and spreadsheets because no single tool does it all under their own brand. This creates constant admin overhead that pulls them away from actual coaching and makes it hard to look professional to prospective high-ticket clients.
What is the problem with client retention collapses because check-ins feel like 'data collection' not coaching?
Coaches repeatedly identify that clients churn not because of bad programming but because check-ins feel thin, generic, and transactional ('looks good keep it up'). Coaches know retention is the #1 revenue lever but have no systematic way to make every weekly check-in feel personally attentive at scale.
What is the problem with solo coaches are drowning as marketer + salesperson + bookkeeper + trainer with no team?
Across dozens of threads, trainers describe the shift to online coaching as trading physical labor for an unbounded, always-on workload: content creation, DM sales scripts, sales calls, bookkeeping, and tax prep, all stacked on top of actual coaching. Several describe burnout and business collapse (including one explicit ADHD-driven burnout post) from trying to run every function solo.
What to do with this
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