Would You Pay Someone to Make Sure You Go to the Gym?

A New York trainer is launching a new "fitness concierge" service to help clients stick with their fitness goals. Excessive, or awesome?


Truth: You can find almost anything in New York City. Like, a cafe where all they serve is rice pudding, or a bookstore where all they sell is one book. (Yes, one book—singular.) Or, of course, a god-awful, weirdly entrepreneurial (almost-) Naked Cowboy, who strums a guitar and poses for photos with tourists all day long.

I’m on the fence about the Big Apple’s latest Big Idea, which I read about over at Well+Good NYC. It’s this: a personal trainer whom you can hire to eliminate your “I don’t feeeeeeeel like working out” excuses by making your fitness routine a no-brainer. Vanessa Martin, creator of SIN Workouts, will find and schedule classes that “match your personality,” create a weekly calendar with your workout plan, and even show up at your classes to make sure you actually go. Not a morning person? No problem. Martin will give you a wakeup call to make sure you get out of bed for your early morning sweat sessions.

Sounds … interesting? Excessive? Awesome? I can’t decide. The article doesn’t specify the price of the service, but says it adds a “triple-digit monthly fee onto the cost of the classes themselves” and that exact pricing is determined on a case-by-case basis, depending on the client’s needs. Obviously, Martin is catering to a very specific person—one with little motivation and a lot of disposable income—but it makes me wonder: What happened to the good ol’ days of setting an alarm in the AM and just doing it? Where has all our motivation gone? Do we really need to shell out big money in order to get it back?

I’ll be the first to admit that there are days when I feel like I’m scraping the bottom of the motivation barrel. It’s hot. I’m tired. I’m hungry. A Law & Order: SVU marathon is on. But there are a few things I can count on to help me find the motivation I’m missing. Like, I’ll read blogs by people who motivate by example (i.e. “If she did her long run before work, I can certainly do my measly three miles today”). Or I’ll listen to some tunes to get me pumped up. Or, heck, I’ll even convince a friend to meet me for an after-work sweat session if I’m really desperate. The point is I know what works for me. And more important, I’ve found ways to help me stick with a workout routine that don’t eat up half my paycheck. Gym memberships are expensive enough.

How do you get motivated (for free!) to stay fit? What great tips or advice can you share with other Be Wellers? Any funny tricks you use to make sure you get out of bed in the morning? Like, sleeping in your running clothes? (Hey, I’ve totally done it before.) Share in the comments!