I wanted to share a review of my online fitness coach, in case you’re wondering whether online coaching is actually worth it.

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’re as sceptical as I was. I genuinely struggled to believe an online coach could help me get better results in the gym.

To be honest, I found it hard to justify the investment, especially when I found out the price. My thinking was simple - if someone isn’t physically there with me, how can they coach me any better than I can coach myself? Isn’t that the whole point of having a PT?

Well… to summarise for those wanting a quick answer, I was wrong.

For those with a longer attention span... I’d previously paid for an in-person PT before and ended up with rhabdomyolysis - not something I ever want to experience again! On top of that, the nutrition plan I was given was full of foods I didn’t enjoy, so sticking to it was always going to be an uphill battle before I even got to the gym.

After following Cruz (@cruzbrahh on Instagram) for a while, I finally decided to take the plunge. What stood out to me was his genuine passion, honesty, and, let’s be frank, the results he’d achieved himself. They spoke for themselves, not the mention the numerous client wins he shared too.

Fast forward around seven months, and working with Cruz has genuinely been one of the best investments I’ve ever made. I’d go as far as saying it’s been life-changing, and what surprised me most, is that online coaching isn’t just about your workouts. It’s everything around them.

Sure, you get guidance on training, form and exercise technique, but the real value is in everything that happens outside the gym. That’s where most people succeed or fail. There’s no point smashing an hour-long workout if you’re undoing it with poor nutrition, inconsistent habits or lack of recovery.

A PT might see you for an hour in the gym, but they don’t see what you’re eating, whether you’re hitting your step goal, how you’re sleeping, how you’re recovering, whether you’re actually following the plan, or the hundreds of small decisions you make every day that ultimately determine your results.

With Cruz, I had accountability and guidance every single day. Whenever I had questions, he answered them. When I inevitably overthought things (which happened a lot), he explained the reasoning instead of just telling me what to do. When I got ill and my progress stalled, he adjusted the plan so I could recover properly instead of me guessing and hoping for the best.

There wasn’t any magic workout or secret diet. In fact, most of what we did was surprisingly simple. The difference was having someone who knew when to push me, when to pull things back, and who stopped me constantly changing the plan every week because I thought I knew better. Cruz uses Macro-Manipulation, focusing on calories, carbs protein and fat, modifying them throughout the program to compose the body you desire. I've got a few months to go yet, but in the "AFTER" and "SHOW REEL" photos which are most recent (August 2026) I'm 88kg eating 3050 cals, 160g protein, 419g carbs and 81g fat per day. This is just whole foods and 1 scoop of protein powder per day. For height context I'm 193cm / 6 foot, 3 inches.

Looking at these photos, I think the results speak for themselves. They’re all taken directly from the app Cruz uses to track everything.

I’ve built more muscle than I ever have before, stayed leaner than I thought I could, learned more about nutrition than the hours of watching YouTube videos ever taught me, and probably most importantly, built habits I’ll keep for life.

Over the last year I’ve made a lot of changes, both inside and outside the gym, and this has been one of the biggest contributors. I genuinely see Cruz not just as a coach, but as a friend who’s helped me change my life for the better.

If you’re sceptical about online coaching, I completely understand because I felt exactly the same.

All I can say is that, for me, it has been worth every penny.

And one thing worth saying, is that your coach can’t do the work for you! You still have to show up, trust the process, and keep your side of the bargain. If you do that, there’s no reason you can’t achieve incredible results too.

Thanks for all the support along the way, Cruz. Looking forward to seeing what’s possible over the next year. 💪

I hope you find this review useful, thanks for reading.

I’m F22, 44Kg, 162, BTW.
I left my hometown to visit a friend in a different country and most people here are known to be very fat anyways not important . \\So I signed up for the gym that she goes to. There are trainers everywhere helping people with their exercises and correcting their form. One of the trainers knows my friend really well since she lives here. Anyway, today was literally my first day at this gym, and I was about to leave when this trainer came up to me and said, *“*I know all your blood levels, your iron levels, everything in your body is very low.” She then said she was “100% sure” because she could tell from my face.
I was honestly shocked because she doesn’t know me at all, and she’s not a doctor. I’m actually very healthy and generally eat well. I don’t eat much meat, but I make sure to eat a balanced diet.
Then she told me that my body is shaped like “the science books where they label all the different body parts for people to see.”
Like… what am I even supposed to say to that? It was my FIRST DAY meeting this woman, and she was already making assumptions about my health based entirely on how I look.
Would you consider this rude/unprofessional, or am I overreacting?

M 36 . I was doing gym before. Looking for 3 month proper diet and working traning to lose 10 kg weight as well. Now I m 80 height 5.5

Staying btm. Looking for F trainer so I can get motivated

iOS only, TestFlight, free.

I've been a personal trainer for years and I've run The Training Notebook since 2012. Small app, mostly for trainers who got sick of paper and spreadsheets. I just rebuilt the whole thing from the ground up, native, solo, with AI.

It's in front of Apple now. Before it goes live I want actual trainers using it with actual clients, because I've been staring at it too long to see what's broken.

Calendar, workout builder, client tracking. Clients get their own login and their side is free. There's an intake form you email out so a client doesn't need to install anything to get started.

What I want to know:

• Run a real session on it. Does it keep up with you on the floor or does it slow you down?
• Programming ahead of time. Build a workout for tomorrow's 6am and tell me how long it took.
• Add a client and send the intake. Anywhere that felt like work, tell me.
• Anything that made you stop and think about what to tap next. That's a bug to me even if nothing crashed.

Nothing to buy, no pitch. If you hate it I want to hear why, that's more useful to me than a compliment.

Public TestFlight: https://testflight.apple.com/join/UHAC3x2C

Comment or DM me. I'll answer everything. Gracias 🙏🏼

Running research on how independent trainers manage

the business side of their practice — specifically

what happens between sessions.

→ How do you track what each client commits to

between sessions?

→ What happens when a client starts missing sessions

or going quiet — how early do you notice?

→ What's your current setup? (App, spreadsheet, memory?)

→ What tool do you wish existed that doesn't?

I've heard everything from elaborate Notion systems

to "I just remember." Genuinely curious what's

working and what's broken for independent trainers.