obé Fitness now offers personal training — and you don’t even have to leave your home
This program may have just eliminated all my excuses to ever skip a workout.
Every few months, I feel inspired to develop a consistent workout routine. However, it’s not long before my visits to the gym taper off, and I’m right back to where I started. During my rollercoaster of a fitness journey, I’ve learned that I am way more likely to stick with a routine, overcome motivation slumps, and reach my goals when someone holds me accountable. Unfortunately, spending an outrageous amount of money for a personal trainer and commuting to a gym multiple times a week isn’t realistic for my lifestyle.
Knowing this, I was intrigued to learn that the popular online fitness platform obé Fitness would be launching a new personal training add-on, and I got the chance to try it out myself. As someone looking for an accessible approach to personal training, here are my honest thoughts about the program.
What is obé Fitness?
obé Fitness is a digital fitness platform that offers members a full schedule of live workout classes, plus a vast library of pre-recorded classes — all accessible through the obé app or its desktop site. Sculpt, strength, dance, yoga, endurance, and barre are just a few of the dozen-plus class types available. Many classes follow the platform’s classic 28-minute format, however there are also classes that last as long as 60 minutes (mostly yoga and pilates). And there are “express” classes that are five, 10, or 15 minutes long.
With obé, you’ll find classes for all fitness levels, from beginner to advanced; there are even classes designated for prenatal and postnatal workouts. Whether you have access to a complete at-home gym or you have no equipment at all, chances are you can find workouts that accommodate your lifestyle.
What is included with obé Personal Training?
obé Personal Training eliminates and addresses just about every excuse to skip a workout, including but not limited to: “I don’t know what exercises to do. I don’t want to drive to the gym/I don’t have a gym. I don’t have the time. I don’t have the motivation.” The program itself includes:
- A personalized training plan customized by your coach
- An introduction call with your coach
- Daily chat support for motivation and guidance
- 30-minute monthly progress calls
When you sign up, you will first take a 22-question onboarding quiz about your fitness background, current lifestyle, and fitness goals. Then, you’ll get matched with a coach based on your responses. The great thing about obé Personal Training is that your customized training plan accounts for every detail, including what kind of equipment you have and how often you would like to work out. I noted that I had access to a small gym at my apartment with basic equipment and free weights, so my plan was tailored with that in mind.
The program matched me to my coach, Ryan, whose teaching style is described in his obé profile as “playful but precise and sharp.” Within the next few hours, Ryan had reached out to introduce himself and had the first week of my workouts planned so I could get a feel for the program before jumping in. From there, I scheduled a 30-minute call with him where we would further personalize my plan.
During the call, we used the entire 30 minutes to discuss lifestyle habits, nutrition, and even set some goals together. The call felt very personalized, and Ryan really showed an interest in my background, lifestyle, and any concerns or reservations I had. I did explain how I was drawn to the idea of a personal trainer for the accountability factor and for guidance on when to up my weights and what workouts I needed to be doing. He assured me that’s what he was there for.
With your Personal Training membership, you’ll get one 30-minute call with your coach per 30-day billing cycle to assess your progress. For any questions that come up during the week, you have access to your coach via an in-app chat.
What are the actual workouts like?
With obé’s selection of over 10 class types across a near-daily schedule of live classes and 10,000 on-demand classes, it might seem overwhelming to find the ones that are best for you. Thankfully, your personalized plan takes the guesswork out of the picture — and, for me, this was a huge relief.
Because my goals included toning and strengthening, almost all of my workouts were 28-minute strength classes. My weekly workout schedule included one day of upper body strength, one day of lower body strength, one day of cardio (dance HIIT or kickboxing), and one full-body strength day. All my workouts for the week were easily accessible on the iOS app under the schedule tab.
If you’re already familiar with the platform, you know all about obé’s live fitness classes (the hype is real, by the way). You’ll still have access to these too, of course, and can easily incorporate them into your schedule. You also will receive recommended classes for your rest days (typically some form of yoga or stretching).
In terms of difficulty, this is personalized, too. I started the program at the intermediate level, so my classes were a step up from beginner. Each 28-minute strength class includes a warm-up and activation round before getting into the heat of the workout — which goes by very quickly, in fact, almost too quickly. Without having ever tried obé Fitness in the past, I was a bit skeptical about the length of the classes when I first joined the program. While a 28-minute workout sounds fantastic for people on the go and probably feels less intimidating for beginners, I was worried that it wouldn’t be enough time to see results or feel any sort of “burn.”
Nonetheless, the workouts were still a challenge. I was focused on progressive overload and trying to lift as heavy as I could without failure; this was something my coach pushed me to do. If I did not have a coach recommending that I up my weight or reps, I wouldn’t have known to do so and might have been settling for a less challenging workout. I also expressed to my coach that I felt like I had the time and the energy to do more than one 28-minute class a day. With this feedback, he started tacking on express classes to the end of my regularly scheduled strength workouts.
How hands-on is obé Personal Training?
Your weekly workout classes are a part of the platform’s on-demand library and taught by different obé instructors. While your coach likely won’t be the one instructing these classes, they can see when you complete a class. This was a huge plus for me — I needed someone on the other side to show me “tough love” for skipping a class. Your coach is also there to help you track your progress.
An in-app exchange with my coach, Ryan.
Depending on your individual goals, your coach will determine the best way to do this, typically through movement assessments and benchmark tests. For me, this also meant filling out the notes section at the end of the workouts with the amount of weight I was using and the overall difficulty of each exercise. With this information, my trainer can adjust my plan as I progress. If you’re comfortable with it, you can also give your trainer access to your “wearable data” by linking your fitness watch to the app, so they can monitor your progress that way.
How much does obé Fitness with Personal Training cost?
Personal Training is only available as an add-on to an existing obé subscription, so you must start there. The standard obé membership fee is $169.99 billed annually or $24.99 billed monthly. In addition to your current membership, there is a $75 monthly fee for Personal Training. That comes out to around $89 to $100 per month. If you have ever hired an in-person trainer like I have, then you know that’s usually the price per session.
If you’re totally new to obé Fitness like I was but aren’t ready to take the full leap into the personal training feature, I recommend taking advantage of the seven-day free trial for the basic membership first to get a feel for obé’s classes. If you find these workouts to be enjoyable, challenging, and engaging enough, you can decide to add on the Personal Training element. While personal training is considered a luxury, it’s also an investment in your health. For me personally, it’s really the determinative factor on whether or not I stick with a routine.
