How to pick a personal trainer here

Most gyms sell personal training the way they sell memberships: a price list, a few packages, and whoever is on the rota that week. It works differently here, and the difference is worth understanding before you book anything.

The trainers work for themselves

The personal trainers at the Haus are independent. They are self-employed coaches who train their own clients on this floor, not staff the gym assigns to you. The manager describes them as a wide range of certified trainers, men and women, with rates that vary so there is somebody for most budgets.

That has two consequences. There is no single price for a session, because each trainer sets their own. And you are choosing a person rather than buying a package, so the choice deserves a little care.

Start with the free first session

The first session costs nothing, and it is not a workout. It is a conversation about what you want out of training, what you have done before, and anything that hurts or has hurt. It can lead into a look at where you are starting from, including a body composition scan and a check of how you move.

Ask the manager or the front desk to set one up. They know the trainers, and they will match you with somebody who suits what you are after. The personal training page has what the first session covers, and the contact page has how to reach the desk.

What to listen for

A good trainer asks more than they tell in that first conversation. Before any plan comes up, you should have been asked about your history and your injuries. The plan itself ought to sound like it was made for you rather than read off a card, and by the end you should be able to say why each part of it is there.

Ask the practical questions too: what they charge, how long their sessions run, and when they are usually on the floor. Thirty and sixty minutes are the common lengths. Half an hour suits one specific job, like fixing a lift. An hour leaves room to be coached through a whole session, and it is the usual choice for somebody starting from scratch or coming back from an injury.

If it is not the right fit

Because the trainers are independent, you are not tied to the first one you meet. If the conversation does not click, say so and ask about somebody else. The aim is a person you will keep turning up for, and that is worth a second conversation to find.

Not a member yet? A free pass gets you onto the floor first, which is where the trainers work.