Should You Choose a Female Personal Trainer?

Does a personal trainer's gender matter? What the research says

Less than people expect, and the evidence is thin. The real variable is comfort, not competence. Comfort decides whether you turn up, and a coach you are at ease with removes some of the fear of judgement that puts women off.

Neither men nor women showed a preference for the trainer's gender. Both said a trainer of the opposite gender might make it harder to concentrate.

That 2013 study in the International Journal of Exercise Science is small, and students rating trainers they had not met says little about a mother of two training at home.

Sport England's This Girl Can research, at the campaign launch in January 2015, found a fear of judgement, on appearance, ability or how they chose to spend time on themselves, puts women off exercising.

When does a coach's gender genuinely matter?

It matters when it changes whether you train. If you would not let a man into your flat while you are alone, would not discuss leaking or a caesarean scar with him, or your faith or family set the rule, a female coach is the difference between starting and not.

1. 01Home aloneA stranger in your living room at 7am is a real consideration. A female coach removes it for many women.
2. 02Prenatal and postnatalPelvic floors, bleeding and scars come up, and many mums find that easier with a woman.
3. 03Faith or cultureA straightforward requirement, and reason enough on its own.
4. 04Hands-on cueingCoaching sometimes means adjusting your hip or shoulder. Would you only accept that from a woman? Reason enough.
5. 05Past experienceA male coach or a gym floor put you off before? Do not relitigate it. Pick what lets you start.
6. 06Booking for someone elseFor a wife, a mother or a teenage daughter, her comfort is the whole question. She has not chosen the coach.

How do comfort and privacy change a session?

Most of the privacy comes from the venue, not the coach: a session at home or in a condo gym has no audience, whoever coaches it. What a female coach adds is the conversation.

When does it not matter?

Gender does not predict coaching quality. A male coach with a prenatal qualification and years of postnatal clients will serve you better than a female coach who has never trained a mum, and a female coach who specialises in powerlifting will not automatically be gentler or more patient than a male one.

Menopause, fat loss, strength and IPPT prep are all coached well by both. If your reason for wanting a woman is an assumption about style rather than comfort, ask about the coach's actual experience with your goal instead. You may find the right person is not who you expected.

What should you check on any coach's profile?

Whatever the coach's gender, check the same four things, then treat the first session as the real test. Choosing a personal trainer goes deeper on the questions to ask.

Gender helps with that last question, and a session answers it faster than any profile.

Want a woman? Female personal trainers in Singapore covers how to ask, what our women coaches charge and where they train. Strength goal? Strength training for women is the next read.

After a birth? Postnatal personal training names the women coaches who list pre or postnatal training, their rates and when to start.