Becoming an Online Personal Trainer

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Mandy has been with Starpeak Insurance Solutions since 2018, starting in sales in the consumer department and mov...

While the number of fitness professionals in the UK is on the up, so too is the allure of becoming an online personal trainer. But while the traditional method of helping clients reach their goals isn’t risk-free, relying on a web-based delivery of your expertise is something worth doing with certain precautions.

Of course, the benefits and attractions of starting a career as an online fitness coach are obvious. By going online trainers can not only build their programmes at a time that suits them, but it also means they can maximise the number of clients paying for your services at any one time.
However, by posting your training and workout advice on YouTube or other social media channels, personal trainers are leaving themselves open to a potentially very costly legal case.

Insurance and online training

The first thing to note is that many insurance providers will not cover personal trainers for sharing their workout videos on line.

The concern for insurers, and therefore so to personal trainers, is two-fold. Firstly, by simply sending your clients (or other third parties) a workout video and plan over the internet, a fitness instructor has no control over how exercises are performed. If a client is attempting an exercise they have seen on a video online, but are executing it poorly, without face-to-face instruction, there is no chance for the PT to correct the exercise. That then, leads to a higher chance of injury.

Secondly, and more relating to personal trainer insurance, is that simply sharing your workout videos online mean that anyone, anywhere can see them. Should a member of the public attempt an exercise you have demonstrated and go on to injure themselves, they could attempt to sue you for your negligence.

The problem really comes if that person has seen your workout guide whilst in another country. Most standard personal training insurance policies will not cover you for claims coming from outside of the UK. Therefore, if legal action was brought against you, with no cover from an insurance policy, the costs of defending themselves would fall at the feet of the trainer themselves.

The steps to take whilst online training

At Protectivity, we ask that any of personal trainer cusatomers to comply with the below requirements for remote training/coaching/instruction (live or prerecorded):

In respect of any coaching or instruction that is undertaken remotely, it is strongly recommended that the Insured should:

1.At the commencement of the session, advise participants

that by participating they are doing so at their own risk;
a suitable, non-slip floor space is required and any potential obstructions in the vicinity are removed before they participate;
to avoid activities if they have, or suspect they may have any current health concerns, injuries, aches and pains;
avoid the use of blades, weapons or sharp instruments of any description;
avoid physical contact with other participants and where appropriate, adhere to social distancing guidelines;

2. Ensure that sessions are conducted for the benefit of existing members/participants/contacts only who have demonstrated sufficient suitability to participate; at the commencement of the session, advise participants:

3. Continue to only instruct activities in which you are qualified to do so;

4. Record the session. Retaining the recording for a period of up to thirty-six (36) months may assist in any claim made against you

5. Maximum class size is 16

We also require individuals to ensure that all videos and content are delivered only to their clients. This could be enforced by the use of a paywall or by simply delivering the videos via email.

By restricting the viewing of such training videos to the clients they are intended for, it also means that in theory, personal trainers can ensure that all viewers have completed a PAR-Q (Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire). This means that the physical health of those that the video training is taking into account before they are presented with a workout routine.

Regardless of whether it is shown to previously-known clients or not, it is always worth stating that any exercise undertaken without supervision is done so at that person’s own risk.

With those steps taken and other safety precautions followed, the prospect of a client injuring themselves is reduced. So to then, is the potential for a costly claim on your insurance policy.

*Disclaimer – This blog has been created as general information and should not be taken as advice. Make sure you have the correct level of insurance for your requirements and always review policy documentation. Information is factually accurate at the time of publishing but may have become out of date.

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