The online coaching industry exploded during COVID. Anyone with an Instagram account and an iPhone became a coach overnight.
Some of it is legitimate. Most of it isn't.
Most "online coaching" is automation pretending to be coaching. A template program with your name on the cover, delivered through an app, with maybe a weekly check-in if you're lucky.
That's not coaching. That's program access with a friendly face.
Here's how to tell the difference.
What Coaching Actually Is
Coaching is a relationship between two people where one person uses their knowledge and experience to accelerate the other person's growth.
It's not access to a program. It's not access to an app. It's not access to a community. Those things can be part of coaching, but they're not coaching themselves.
Coaching requires someone watching what you're doing, understanding where you're trying to go, and making real-time adjustments based on what they see.
If nobody is watching what you're actually doing, you don't have a coach. You have a subscription.
The Tell-Tale Signs
Real coaching has these markers:
- A real human reviews your data regularly. Not an algorithm. A coach who looks at your check-ins, training logs, and progress photos and notices things.
- The plan changes based on what's happening. Your knee hurts? Plan adjusts. Travelling next week? Plan adjusts. Sleep was terrible all week? Plan adjusts. If the plan never changes regardless of what you report, you're not being coached.
- You can ask questions and get answers from a person. Not "watch this video in the app." An actual response from your actual coach.
- The coach knows you. They remember your goals, your situation, your history. Each interaction builds on the previous one.
Fake coaching has these markers:
- You get a 12-week plan upfront. The plan doesn't change unless you ask for a new one.
- Check-ins are automated forms. You fill out a survey, you get a generic email back.
- Questions go to a Facebook group or a chatbot before they reach the coach.
- The coach has 200+ clients. They couldn't possibly know your situation in detail.
Why The Industry Is Like This
Real coaching doesn't scale. One coach can coach maybe 20-40 people well. Beyond that, quality starts dropping fast.
The online coaching business model doesn't work with 20-40 people unless you're charging premium prices. So most coaches take 100, 200, 500 clients. They have to automate everything. The "coaching" becomes a content delivery system with a coach's face on it.
The math means most online coaching can't be coaching. The numbers don't work.
What Real Online Coaching Looks Like
Smaller client lists. Higher prices. More attention per client.
Real online coaches review your check-ins personally. They notice patterns. They write you back with thought. They adjust your program based on what you reported. They have a relationship with you.
This kind of coaching costs more because it has to. The coach is doing more work per client.
It's also dramatically more effective. Because it's actually coaching.
How To Tell Before You Sign Up
Before paying for online coaching, ask these questions:
- How many clients does the coach currently have?
- How does the program adjust if my situation changes mid-block?
- Who reviews my check-ins, and how quickly do I get a response?
- Will I be talking to my coach directly, or to a customer service inbox?
- Can I cancel anytime, or am I locked into a year-long contract?
If the answers feel evasive, generic, or automated, you're being sold software with a coach's face on it. Don't pay for that.
Our Approach
We do online coaching as part of our hybrid program. We keep client numbers small. The coach reviewing your check-ins is the same coach who designed your program. The plan adjusts weekly based on what you report. You can text your coach directly.
This is more work per client. We charge more for it. We work with fewer people at a time.
That's not a flex. That's the only way real coaching works.
If you're shopping for online coaching, look for these signals. Real coaching is rare in this market. It exists. It costs more. It's worth it.
Don't pay for a PDF with a login. You can buy a programming book for forty dollars and get the same outcome.