Frequently asked questions
The questions people actually ask before booking.
Most of what people want to know before hiring a trainer has nothing to do with training. It is whether they are locked into anything, what happens when a week falls apart, whether their insurance touches any of it, and whether they need to tidy the house first. So those are the answers below, in plain terms and with the actual policy rather than a softened version of it.
If your question is about programming, pricing detail, or the coaching itself, the in-home personal training page covers that ground, and the city pages carry local specifics.
Before you start
- Am I committing to anything by booking the free assessment?
- No. The assessment is free, it runs about an hour, and nothing follows it automatically. You get a movement and capability assessment and a written Capability Report whether or not we end up working together. I would rather you leave with a clear read on where you are and decide against coaching than sign up for something you were not sure about.
- I am looking into this for my parent. Can I arrange it for them?
- Yes, and it happens often. You can book the assessment, be there for it, and ask everything you want answered. One thing I will hold to: the coaching relationship is with the person training, so they need to want it. If they are being signed up rather than choosing it, we will find that out in the first twenty minutes and I will tell you honestly rather than take the booking.
- Do you have to be a certain fitness level before the first session?
- No, and the assessment exists precisely so nobody has to guess. I have started people who had not trained in fifteen years, people rebuilding around an old surgery, and people who could not get off the floor without furniture. The first session is me watching how you move, which does not require you to be ready for anything.
Money
- Does Medicare or my insurance cover personal training?
- Original Medicare does not cover personal training. Some Medicare Advantage plans carry a fitness benefit, and those generally apply to gym memberships and group classes rather than private in-home sessions, so your plan documents are the authority on what yours includes. HSA and FSA funds are usually not eligible for personal training either, unless a physician has provided a letter of medical necessity tied to a specific condition. Your plan administrator can tell you for certain, and I am happy to provide receipts and documentation of sessions if it helps you ask.
- How does payment work?
- Payment is due in advance of each billing period, and the accepted methods and your exact rate are set out in your engagement letter before anything starts. There are no equipment fees, no travel charges inside my service area, and no membership sitting underneath the rate. If a scheduled payment fails, training pauses until the method is updated rather than quietly accruing a balance.
- Do I have to sign a contract or commit to a minimum number of months?
- There is no minimum term on monthly coaching. You can stop future billing at any time and that stops the next month from being charged. What you cannot do is claw back an unused part of a month already paid for, because the time was set aside for you. Session packages work differently and have to be used inside ninety days, which is spelled out in the service agreement.
Scheduling
- What is your cancellation policy?
- Twenty-four hours' notice or more and the session moves or gets credited at no charge, no explanation needed. Under twenty-four hours it counts as a completed session against the billing period, because the slot cannot realistically be refilled that late. The policy is there to protect the schedule rather than to catch anyone out, and life happens, so tell me as early as you know.
- What happens if I am not home, or I am running late?
- A session you do not attend without notice counts as completed. If you are running late, the session still ends at its scheduled end time, since the slot after yours usually belongs to someone else. Text me when you know and I will do whatever the schedule allows.
- Can I pause if I travel, have surgery, or get sick?
- Yes. Documented injury, illness, pregnancy or travel freezes your window rather than burning it, and there is a formal pause and hold provision in the service agreement for longer breaks. A documented medical inability to train makes unused sessions refundable. Coming back after a pause is a programming question rather than a starting-over question, and we handle it as one.
In your home
- Do I need to clean the house before you come?
- Please do not. I have coached in living rooms with laundry on the couch and garages with half a project on the floor, and none of it slowed a session down. All I need is a clear patch of floor roughly the size of a yoga mat plus room to reach overhead and out to the sides. If tidying is genuinely a barrier to booking, that is worth saying out loud, because it is not one on my end.
- I live in an apartment. Will this be loud enough to bother my neighbours?
- It does not have to be. Nothing gets dropped, and I can program around a shared floor by keeping the work slow and controlled rather than explosive, which is often the better training decision anyway. If you are on an upper floor and worried about it, tell me at the assessment and I will build the plan with that constraint from the start.
- Will my dog or my kids be a problem?
- Almost never. Dogs generally lose interest in the third set, and kids being around is a normal part of coaching people with families. The only thing I will ask is that we have enough room to work safely, so if the space is tight, we might move to a garage or a patio for the session.
Scope
- Do you write meal plans?
- I hold NASM's Certified Nutrition Coach credential, so I coach nutrition inside that scope: protein targets, meal timing, food choices, hydration, and the habits that make those repeatable. What I do not do is medical nutrition therapy, which means no prescribed diets for a diagnosed condition and nothing that belongs with a registered dietitian or your physician. If what you need sits on that side of the line, I will say so and refer you.
- Are you insured?
- Yes. Professional liability insurance is carried for all coaching and training services, and I am current on CPR and AED certification through the American Safety Training Institute. Every credential I hold carries a public verification link on the about page rather than just a logo.
- What falls outside what you can help with?
- I am a coach and I am not a physician or a physical therapist. I do not diagnose anything, I do not treat injuries, and I do not give guidance on medication. If you are working around something a provider is already managing, I build inside what they have cleared and I am glad to work from their notes. When something belongs with your doctor, you will hear that from me in the first conversation rather than three sessions in.
Still looking
If your question is not here.
Ask it directly. I read every message myself and reply within three business days, usually inside a day. If it turns out to be a question other people are asking too, it ends up on this page.
For the coaching itself, start with in-home personal training. If you are training later in life or arranging this for a parent, personal training for seniors in Rio Rancho covers what changes. If you are outside the metro, online coaching runs the same programming anywhere in the U.S. And every credential named above has a public verification link on the about page.
Start here
Start with the assessment.
It costs nothing, it commits you to nothing, and you leave with a written read on where you actually are.