Your health and fitness is a big deal, and we take it very seriously! So, in this blog, we’ve laid out the key differences to be aware of between our Group and Personal Training programmes so you have all the knowledge you need to make a decision and start making progress.
Goals
Let’s begin with the most important part…
What is your goal? What is it that you want to achieve with all that effort and investment you put into your training?
Our GroupTraining is best for those looking for a blend of strength and fitness progression. The programme is written with a greater consideration for skill and athletic development. The class structure is broken out into different types of sessions across the week: Strength, Capacity, Mixed Modal and Skill.This means that members can attend classes that give them specific focus in each session, but variety across the week. The programme includes more dynamic movements (think: burpees, box jumps, olympic weightlifting and gymnastics) and more options for conditioning or cardio work than you may find on the Personal Training programme.
For those with an interest in competitive functional fitness, our Group Training fits the bill (though competition isn’t by any means essential for training with us). We regularly have individuals and teams from our Group programme entering Turf Games, Ath X Games and Hyrox races(with some going as far as Copenhagen and Malaga to compete over the last year). And every Saturday, have a team workout class to help develop theability to compete in events like that. If you’ve tried Crossfit before and like the competitive element, we’ve got you covered.
Within Group Training, we’ll always try and adjust or amend things for individuals as needed. However, if you’ve got specific goals that require personalised programming, Personal Training is the place for you.
Personal Training is perfect for those looking to make significant body composition changes. Whether it’s fat loss or muscle gain, we have a proven track record of helping to generate the physical transformation results that our members are after.
The Personal Training programme itself has a greater focus on hypertrophy (increasing lean muscle mass) than Group Training. The programme is centred around building strength in three key compound movements - back squat, bench press and deadlift - and dedicates the rest of the sessions to resistance training on accessory movements targeting different muscle groups and movement patterns.
You’ll work with our in-house Nutritionist, Jamie, on the Personal Training programme, whether it’s 1-2-1 or in a group setting. Either way, you’ll receive expert, tailored nutrition advice to support your training and ensure you achieve your body composition goals. Anyone who’s tried to change their body composition before will know that the work you put in atthe gym is only one part of the puzzle, and getting your nutrition right is absolutely crucial in order to get results.
We recommend Personal Training as the best training route for those rehabbing injuries too. This setting allows us to createbespoke programme adjustments for those that need them and ensure that those with a history of injuries are actually able to thrive and progress with theirtraining, as opposed to simply working around the injury.
If you’re not that experienced or brand new to the gym and strength training, Personal Training is a great place to build confidence. Smaller groups and more focused attention from the coach mean get to know the environment and the movements at your own speed and your experience can be even more tailored to where you are on your training journey. We understand that walking into a gym for the first time can be intimidating for some, but hope that everyone that trains with us gets to a point where they feel confident that they could walk into any weights room and know what they’re doing.
You can, of course, still change your body composition or rehab an injury in our Group Training programme, or improve your fitness in our Personal Training programme. But we like to be clear on what’s optimal so we give people the best chance of success with the things that matter most to them.
Schedule
Our full programme of Group Training classes can be found here. We have morning, lunchtime and evening classes every weekday, with open gym slots available too. At the weekend there are two classes on a Saturday and open gym availability on a Sunday morning.
In Personal Training, there are seven available time slots to train on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday (6am, 7am, 8am, 9.30am,5pm, 6pm or 7pm). You simply check in to the one that fits your schedule. For those on our Gold and Silver memberships, there are also two training slots available on Saturdays (8.30am and 9.30am).
Group size
Our Group programme allows for larger groups to train together, with groups of up to 16 people in our Strength classes, and 18 in our Capacity and Mixed Modal classes.
In Personal Training, you’ll train with up to five other people. That means these sessions become less like classes and more like personal training sessions shared with other people (this helps keep costs lower for you and means you can train more than most 1-2-1 personal training options would likely allow).
Membership options
For Group Training, your membership allows you unlimited access to classes. You just choose how long you’d like to commit for(we offer an annual membership that gives you the lowest weekly cost). For anyone who wants to give classes and try and see if they like them, we offer a 21 Day Trial.
In Personal Training, we have tiered membership options for Gold, Silver and Bronze levels. This means you have the flexibility to choose a tier and a price that suits you. Different tiers come with different training frequencies. The Bronze tier gives you access to three Personal Training sessions per week. Silver and Gold allow access to four sessions. The tiers also include various features such as open gym access, physio assessments, different levels of nutrition support and InBody scans for detailed body composition analysis. You pay for what you need to get the results you want.
Full details of what all the Personal Training tiers include can be found here.
What they both have…
It’s not all about the differences though. There are commonalities between our two main programmes. In both programmes, you’ll have a coach in the room to explain the session to you, both practically and the intent behind it. You’ll be coached on how to perform the movements correctly and safely so you nail the technique and get the most out of them.
In both Group and Personal Training, all the thinking about what to do in your workout is done for you. Our Head Coach Matt writes both programmes, ensuring that you’re always progressing and everything in a session is there for a reason.
And whichever programme you go with, you’ll benefit from the camaraderie of training with others! It can be massively motivating to train with a group of people with similar goals. Everyone is there to support each other and cheer on each other's successes.
With any membership at GroundWork Training, you’ll get to join a community that pushes you to achieve your goals, and be supported by an expert coaching team.
Still struggling to decide what’s best for you? Fill out our contact form here and we’ll be in touch to arrange a time for you to visit the gym and chat through all the options in person.
