Online coaching for Indians living abroad
The short answer
Coaching with Brijesh Joshi from Surat, wherever you live: 8 coached sessions a month for ₹6,000, about $63. In Gujarati, Hindi or English, with a food plan built around the dal, paneer and rotli you actually eat, not a Western diet chart. You need access to a gym with a barbell and a phone that can film your sets.
The problems this is built for
A diet plan that ignores how you eat. Most coaching abroad hands you chicken breast and rice. If your kitchen still runs on dal, shaak, rotli and curd, that plan lasts a fortnight. Here the plan is built from photographs of what you already cook, with the changes made inside those meals. A meta-analysis found soy builds muscle as well as whey, so a vegetarian diet is not the obstacle. Reaching the total protein usually is, and that is set out in protein for Indian vegetarians.
Coaching in your language. Brijesh coaches in Gujarati, Hindi and English. For many families that is the difference between a parent who will join the calls and one who will not.
A coach who has been on one floor for decades. Brijesh has coached at S R Gym in Surat since 1999, judges bodybuilding to national level and teaches on a trainers' certificate course. His certificates are photographed on the credentials page, so you can check the person before paying a stranger online.
How it works
- 8 coached sessions a month, roughly two a week. You train more often than that; the sessions are when your lifts are watched and the programme is corrected.
- Live or recorded. A video call while you train, or videos of your sets sent with the weights written down. With the time difference to North America, recorded usually works better.
- What you need: a gym with a barbell, a rack and dumbbells, and a phone that can film from the side.
- Food: three days of photographs of your normal meals to start, then adjustments inside the food you already cook.
The full explanation of the sessions, and the reasons online coaching fails when it does, is on the online coaching page.
What it costs
₹6,000 a month, about $63, for 8 sessions, which is ₹750 a session. The same rate in Surat, the US, the UK or the Gulf. The dollar figure moves with the exchange rate; the rupee figure is the price. No supplements are sold, and there is no gym membership to add because you train where you live.
Payment is by UPI, bank transfer or card. From abroad, a bank transfer or a card is usually the simplest; say which suits you when you message. Every rate, including the in-person ones, is on the fees page, and a food-only diet plan is ₹1,500 if that is all you need.
If you visit Surat
When you are home for a wedding or Diwali, you can train in person at either branch on a day pass at ₹300, or a month at ₹1,700 if you are staying longer. Six day passes cost more than the month.
Who this is not for
Anyone without access to a barbell, unless you are content with a slower, lighter programme. Anyone who wants a meal plan without the training. And anyone who will stop sending videos after two weeks, because coaching a person you cannot see is worth nothing to either of you.
Questions from abroad
- Can I get an Indian online personal trainer while living abroad?
- Yes. S R Gym's online coaching with Brijesh Joshi is ₹6,000 a month, about $63, for 8 coached sessions, the same rate wherever you live. Sessions are live video calls or recorded videos of your lifts, whichever suits your time zone.
- How much does online coaching cost in dollars?
- ₹6,000 a month, which is roughly $63. The rupee figure is the price; the dollar figure is approximate and moves with the exchange rate.
- How do I pay for online coaching from abroad?
- By UPI, bank transfer or card. From outside India a bank transfer or a card is usually simplest.
- Can the coaching be in Gujarati or Hindi?
- Yes. Brijesh coaches in Gujarati, Hindi and English, so the conversation can happen in whichever your family speaks at home.
- How does the time difference work?
- Live sessions are booked at an hour that works at both ends. From the US or Canada, recording your sets and sending the videos usually works better, because Surat's working day falls during your night. Anything you need answered before a session is best sent the day before.
- Can I follow an Indian vegetarian diet and still build muscle abroad?
- Yes. A meta-analysis found soy protein builds muscle as well as whey, and the challenge for a vegetarian diet is reaching the total amount of protein, not its source. Dal, paneer, curd, chana and soya are all available abroad, and the food plan is built around what you can actually buy and cook where you live.
Tell us where you are and what you train
Your country, your gym, and what you eat in a normal week. You will be told plainly whether this suits you.