Personal Trainer With a Private Studio in London: A Guide
There are three ways to get 1-1 coaching in London: a trainer who works inside a big commercial gym, a mobile trainer who comes to your home or a park, and a trainer with their own private studio. A private studio gives you a full set of kit, nobody else in the room and a session that runs exactly as planned, at the cost of travelling to it and booking ahead. A gym trainer is cheapest to combine with solo training. A mobile trainer saves the journey but brings only what fits in a car. The right choice depends on what usually derails your training.
Option one: a trainer in a commercial gym
In many UK gyms the trainers are self-employed: they pay the club for the right to coach on the floor, and you pay them on top of your membership. Your trainer is working in a shared space they do not control.
The kit range is usually wide. At busy times, typically before work and from about 5.30pm, the equipment your plan depends on may be in use, and the trainer has to reorder or substitute. And the room is full of other members, which some people do not mind at all and others find makes them hold back.
The big advantage is what happens between sessions. You already have a membership, so the plan your trainer writes for the other days of the week can be done in the same building with the same equipment.
Option two: a mobile trainer at home or in the park
A mobile trainer removes the commute, which for a parent with young children can be the difference between training and not. You are in your own space, with nobody watching.
The limits are physical. A trainer can bring kettlebells, a set of dumbbells, bands, a suspension trainer and a mat. They cannot bring a squat rack, a barbell with a full set of plates or a cable stack. That is fine for general fitness and early strength work, but once a pair of dumbbells is no longer heavy, the big lower-body lifts get hard to load. Space is the other constraint. Plenty of flats in Crouch End and Archway do not have a clear area long enough for a lunge pattern, and a park session in a north London January is a test of commitment rather than technique.
Mobile trainers also have to build travel and parking into their day, so their fee usually reflects time on the road as well as time with you.
Option three: a trainer with their own private studio
Here the trainer controls the room, and a good private studio books one client in at a time. This is how we run the lower ground floor at The Highgate House on Archway Road: about 1,000 sq ft, booked to you alone during your session.
Because nothing is shared, the plan for the hour is the plan you actually do. If the session says squats, then a cable row superset, then intervals on the air bike, the squat rack, cable station and bike are all free and set up when you need them.
The trade-offs are honest ones. You need to get there, so the studio has to be on a route you already use; ours is about five minutes from Highgate tube on the Northern line, which suits people living or working in Highgate, Archway, Muswell Hill and Crouch End. You train at booked times rather than whenever you like. And a private studio set up for coaching is often not available for solo use: ours is for coached sessions only, not for hire or open access.
How the three options compare in practice
| Commercial gym PT | Mobile PT | Private studio PT | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kit | Widest range, shared | What fits in a car | Focused range, all free for you |
| Waiting for kit | Common at peak times | None, but limited options | None |
| Who else is there | Other members and trainers | Your household, or the public in a park | You and your coach |
| Travel | You go to the gym | Trainer comes to you | You go to the studio |
| Measuring progress | Depends on the trainer | Usually tape, scales, photos | Can include in-house testing, such as an InBody scan |
| What you pay for | Membership plus PT fee | PT fee, often reflecting travel time | One fee covering space and coaching |
| Solo sessions in between | Easy, same building | At home with the same kit | Elsewhere, from a written plan |
How sessions are planned and measured
The format matters less than whether someone is keeping score. Expect a written programme, a log of what you lifted and how it felt, and a scheduled point at which the plan is reviewed.
A studio has one practical advantage here: it can keep measuring equipment on site and use it the same way every time. We use an InBody body composition scanner, which estimates muscle and fat mass separately rather than giving one number on a bathroom scale. It is useful because it is repeatable: same time of day, same conditions, every few weeks. If you are curious how it works, our guide to what an InBody scan measures covers it plainly. Strength numbers from the log sit alongside it.
What to check on a studio visit
Use a studio visit to look, not just listen.
- Is there a rack and barbell? Without one, heavy squats and presses are limited once you get stronger.
- Are there small plates or small dumbbell jumps? Upper-body progress often comes in small increments.
- Is there a cable or pulley station? It allows rows, pulldowns and controlled single-arm work.
- Who else will be in the room at your time? Ask for a direct answer. Booked to you alone is different from usually quiet.
- Can you see a sample programme and session log? It tells you how the coach thinks.
- How and how often is progress measured? Listen for a method and a schedule, not just reassurance.
- What are the coach’s qualifications and insurance? In the UK, a Level 3 personal training qualification is the usual standard; CIMSPA, the chartered body for the sector, publishes the professional standards these courses are built on.
- What is the notice period for cancelling? Find out before your first busy week, not during it.
- How long does the journey take at the time you would actually train? Try it once, at that hour.
Who each option suits
A trainer in a commercial gym suits people who already enjoy gyms, want to train four or more times a week and only need coaching once or twice of those.
A mobile trainer suits people for whom the journey itself is the obstacle: new parents, carers, anyone whose working day leaves no slack either side. It also suits general fitness goals that do not need heavy loading.
A trainer with a private studio suits people who want every minute of a booked hour to count, who dislike training in front of others, or who want to build serious strength with a barbell without the waiting. If self-consciousness is part of the picture, we have written about gym anxiety and private training separately. And if you are weighing a remote option too, there is a piece on online versus in-person personal training.
Many people mix the options: one or two studio sessions a week, plus walking, running on Hampstead Heath or a membership for the rest. The NHS physical activity guidelines ask adults for muscle-strengthening work on at least two days a week alongside regular aerobic activity, and they do not specify where.
Whichever route you choose, if you are coming back after a long break, are pregnant, have a heart condition or are recovering from an injury or operation, check with your GP first and tell your trainer what they said.
Questions we get asked
What equipment does your private studio have?
A squat rack, barbell and plates, a dumbbell rack, a two-stack cable station, lat pulldown, seated row, an air bike and an InBody body composition scanner. Details are on the personal trainer in Highgate page.
Can I use the studio on my own between sessions?
No. The studio is for 1-1 coached sessions with Artem, who has been coaching for more than ten years. Keeping it to one client and one coach is what keeps it private.
Is private personal training more expensive than gym PT?
Compare the totals rather than the session fee. Gym PT sits on top of a membership; a private studio fee covers the space and the coaching together. Which works out better depends on how often you would actually use that membership.
How do I book?
By email for now, with online booking coming soon. Training runs early mornings and evenings, with exact hours announced at opening. You can enquire about private 1-1 training or use the button below.
Book with The Highgate House
Ready to start training properly? Email us at [email protected] with the service and the day that suits you, and we will come back to you with times.
Visit The Highgate House · Private personal training
The Highgate House, Archway Road, Highgate, London N6.
