Club or coaching: which is right for you?
"So is this coaching, then?"
It's one of the questions I’ve been asked over and over. And it's a fair one, because in the fitness world everything gets called coaching. A free PDF is coaching. An app that shouts at you is coaching. Someone on Instagram doing a thumbs up is coaching.
So let me be straight with you. The PKS Training Club isn't personal coaching. Coaching does exist, but it lives inside the Club, as an upgrade for members who want personalised support to hit a specific target. And for almost everyone, my advice is the same: start with the Club.
Here's the thing I've learned from 16 years of starting and stopping: most of us don't fail because we had the wrong plan. We fail because we stop. I had plenty of plans. I had a cupboard full of trainers. What I didn't have, until I started posting online in 2023 and holding myself accountable, was a reason to keep turning up when I didn't feel like it.
So the real question isn't "Club or coaching?" It's "What's actually stopping me?"
The Club: the tools, the rhythm and the people
The PKS Training Club is an online community, built for people who want to get fitter and stay that way. It's for the person who knows roughly what to do but keeps falling off the wagon(Which, for the record, was me for about 16 years), and it’s for someone who has absolutely no idea where to start.
Here's what you get:
A weekly rhythm. A focus for the week, a promise on Monday, a daily log, and highs and lows every Saturday. It takes about ten minutes a day.
The Strength Library. Follow-along sessions of 10 to 20 minutes, no kit needed. Press play, copy me.
Short courses and guides. Choosing your first race, buying running shoes, picking a plan, and more.
Me. I'm in there every day, and you can ask me anything.
The people. Ordinary people working on the same stuff as you, who'll notice when you go quiet. Honestly, this is the bit that makes the difference.
What the Club isn't: a plan written around you. I won't be looking at your diary and telling you to do 5 x 800m on Thursday. You choose your training, and the Club helps you stick to it.
It's £29 a month, or £20 a month for the first 15 founding members. Cancel any time.
1:1 coaching: personalised support for a specific target
Coaching is for Club members who've got a clear goal in mind and want me in their corner to get there. Losing a stone by the summer. Getting to the start line of their first half marathon. Finally breaking that time they've been chasing for years.
It's an upgrade to your Club membership, not a separate thing. You keep everything in the Club, the people, the rhythm, the Strength Library, and on top of that you get:
A 30-minute online consultation. Where you are, where you want to get to, what's got in the way before, and what your week actually looks like.
A plan written around you. Training you can do on your own, plus calorie and macro targets if body composition is part of your goal.
Weekly one-to-one check-ins. You log your training and food, send me a check-in every week, and I reply with written feedback and adjust things as we go.
It's less about the perfect workout and more about the habits around it: food, sleep, routine, and what happens when life gets busy. That's where most people get stuck.
Coaching is £109 a month, and that includes your Club membership.
PKS Training Club
Best for building habits that stick
- You choose your training, the Club helps you stick to it
- Monday promise, daily log and Saturday highs and lows
- The full Strength Library: 10 to 20 minutes, no kit
- Short courses and guides
- Me in the community every day, ask me anything
- Ordinary people who notice when you go MIA
£20 a month for the first 15 founding members
Club + 1:1 coaching
Best for reaching a specific target
Everything in the Club, plus:
- A 30-minute online consultation to start
- A plan written around your life and your goal
- Personal calorie and macro targets
- A weekly one-to-one check-in
- Written feedback from me every week
Club membership included
Think of it like this. The Club is a running club that never closes. Coaching is a personal trainer who lives in your phone, minus the shouting.
Start with the Club. Seriously.
I'm going to push this one hard, because I believe it. For most people, the Club is the right place to start.
Here's why. The thing that stops most of us isn't the lack of a perfect plan. It's turning up, week after week, when life gets in the way. I know that because I had plans for 16 years. What changed everything was a rhythm and people to answer to. That's exactly what the Club gives you.
And there's a practical reason too. Coaching works best when we already know each other. A few weeks in the Club and I'll have seen how you train, what trips you up and what keeps you going. You'll know how I work. If you then decide you want more, we're not starting from scratch.
Join the Club if:
You know roughly what to do, you just don't keep doing it
You've started and stopped more times than you can count
You want people around you who get it
You want some structure without being told exactly what to do
Add coaching once you're in, if:
You've got a specific target, with a date or a number attached
You want a plan built around your life, not a general one
You want someone looking at your training and food every week
You've found your rhythm in the Club and you're ready to aim at something
What I won't do is sell you coaching you don't need. If the Club will get you there, I'll tell you. Most of the time, it will.
Ready when you are
I'm opening 15 founding places in the Club at £20 a month, yours for as long as you stay a member. Get on the list and you'll be the first to hear when the doors open.
Once you're in, and you've got a target you want to chase, you can upgrade to coaching whenever you're ready. Just drop me a message and we'll have a chat about whether it's right for you. No hard sell. I'm far too British for that.
Either way, you don't have to work it all out on your own. That's rather the point.
Have a great week, folks.
Paul
The information in this post is general guidance. If you have pain, an injury or a medical concern, speak to your GP or a physio before starting something new.
