Our reasons and goals might be different, but most of us want to improve some part of our health or wellness. Getting started can be overwhelming, even if we know what we need to do. You know the drill of New Year's goals fading out by February. Want less stress and easier progress? Getting the help of a pro is the way to go.
Trainwell and Future are virtual personal training services. They provide 1-on-1 fitness training with live personal trainers. Accessing support from the comfort of your own home or having your trainer in your pocket at the gym makes getting healthier easier.
While both programs offer high-quality training, they take very different approaches and serve totally different groups of people. Read on to learn more about trainwell and Future. We’ll dig into their services, how they work, benefits, cost, compare the apps, and explore which program is the best match for your goals.
Trainwell is a virtual fitness service that doesn’t care about weight loss as a measure of success. Instead, their mission is to help you create healthier habits that increase your quality of life. Pretty much a breath of fresh air in the broken fitness industry.
Through their app, trainwell provides 1-on-1 holistic fitness coaching with a certified personal trainer, where you’ll get support around exercise (movement), nutrition, mindfulness, and sleep. They use a habit-based approach focused on what you can do today and celebrate those daily wins.
When you sign up, you’ll complete a short intake questionnaire about your goals, preferences for coaching style, and topics that are important to you. Trainwell will use your answers to pair you with the perfect trainer. But no worries, you always have the option to choose another trainer.
You’ll set up an hour to meet with your trainer before you get started. They will talk with you about what you hope to get out of the program, your current fitness and nutrition routine, and any health concerns or issues you’re dealing with. Then your trainer will create a totally customized healthy habit program for you, including workouts, nutrition guidance, and other healthy habits!
You’ll use the app to access your workouts or habits for the day. It's super simple. All workouts include video and written demos and guidance through the moves in your trainer's voice (cool, right!).
If you have an Apple Watch, you’ll also receive form corrections in real-time so you can ensure you’re doing your exercises correctly (and safely). No watch? No problem. The app still works great. There are just some extra benefits the watch adds to your experience.
Support is one click away. You can message your trainer any time within the app by sending text messages, videos, or pictures. You can also schedule unlimited live video calls with your personal trainer and get all the accountability and guidance you want. After each workout or task, you can provide feedback for your trainwell trainer and let them know if you want something tweaked or if the plan was just right.
Future is a virtual training app focused on providing elite-level coaching. They place a lot of emphasis on sports performance and athletics for working professionals. A lot of their program is focused on cardiovascular workouts.
Through their app, Future provides 1-on-1 performance coaching. Their trainers create weekly workout plans based on your goals and the equipment you have access to. Performance is tracked in the app, and your trainer provides regular communication to support your progress.
When you sign up, you’ll complete a short questionnaire about your goals, how you like to be coached, and any special needs that your trainer should know about. Future will use your answers to pair you with a trainer. Like trainwell, you can change trainers at any time.
After enrolling, you will schedule a Facetime call with the performance trainer. They will talk about your goals history with exercise and develop a training plan during this call.
You’ll use the iPhone app and Apple Watch to access your workouts. Like trainwell, the app and watch work together. If you don’t have an Apple Watch, Future will lend you one for a $199 deposit. You can pay the difference to purchase the watch if you decide to keep it. Your workouts will display in video form on the app with voice prompts from your trainer.
Within the app, you can message your trainer through voice and text. As for live calls, after your introductory call, you will need to wait for 30 days before your next live call. After that, you can meet weekly, every other week, monthly, or quarterly with your trainer.
Trainwell: You can try trainwell for free with a 14-day trial. You’ll get full access to everything (not a watered-down version of the app). Trainwell will run you $99 a month, which is a steal compared to in-person personal training.
Future: There is no free trial with Future, but they offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. Future costs $199 per month. The Apple Watch loan is a one-time fee of $199, so this would make your first month $398 if you want the watch. Keep in mind you’ll also only have access to one Facetime call during those first 30 days.
Trainwell: The fitness trainers at trainwell are all pros, like we mentioned earlier, with college degrees, personal trainer certifications from respected bodies, and Precision Nutrition Coach certifications. Their fitness trainers take a body-positive approach and always support members in a judgment-free space.
Future: The performance trainers at Future are, as the name implies, performance-based. They place a heavy focus on sports performance and athleticism. Future does have a wide variety of trainers to match your coaching preferences, from drill sergeant to calm and cool. Their trainers all have a minimum of a bachelor's degree in a health science field and at least one year of experience in sports coaching. Still, it’s not a requirement to have personal training or nutrition certifications.
Trainwell: Trainwell is unique. While they’ll help you reach your ideal weight (if that’s something you want), their focus is NOT on weight loss or using the scale as a measure of success. Instead, they support clients in creating quality of life changes by developing healthier habits in fitness, nutrition, mindfulness, sleep, and more.
Trainwell knows what really matters is how you feel about yourself, the impact even small changes can have on your daily life, and the positive shifts in your overall physical and emotional health. Losing 30 lbs is great, but the ability to keep up with your kids or feel confident going out to lunch with your friends is what matters. Even if that means you’re the same weight and simply a healthier, stronger version of yourself.
Future: Future wants to help you reach your peak level of strength and performance. Their goals are centered around helping you physically feel great, lose weight, increase strength and endurance, and reduce injury during training.
There’s a strong emphasis placed on sports psychology and sports performance. Based on their website and marketing, they are geared towards athletes or individuals with strong backgrounds in fitness and exercise looking to optimize their performance. While this is perfectly okay, it’s not everyone’s jam to be the fittest person at the gym.
Trainwell:
Future:
Trainwell: All of the fitness trainers at trainwell are certified personal trainers and certified Precision Nutrition Coaches. They provide holistic support in multiple areas connected to fitness, including exercise, nutrition, mindfulness, and sleep.
Future: Future’s app and coaching centers around workouts. The app provides details about the number of calories you burn, exercise metrics, and weight tracking. But the trainers are not certified in nutrition or health coaching.
Trainwell: While trainwell honors your health goals, including weight loss, they are not focused on weight or weight loss as a measure for success. You will not use daily or weekly weigh-ins, measure BMI or inches, count calories, or log food.
Instead, your trainwell trainer creates weekly plans based on your goals and the impact they will make in your life. These weekly plans will be further broken down into daily tasks. The focus is on what you can do today because that is really all that matters. They want you to improve your quality of life, not just reach an arbitrary number on the scale.
Future: The trainers at Future are highly experienced and knowledgeable in sports and athletics. Future has a strong focus on individuals who are already into working out. They can help you create an optimized routine to reach your fitness goals, prep for races or sports events, and increase your physical health.
Honestly, there isn’t one clear choice. It comes down to your personal preference. If you’re interested in optimizing your sports performance or really enjoy seeing metrics, Future might be the best choice.
But if you’re tired of diet culture and the broken model of “getting healthy,” then trainwell is a great option. They’re more than a fitness service. They are your lifelong partner in creating real and lasting changes in your health and life.
Written by Rachel Wadsley, PhD
