With the growth in the personal training industry – and a mass of professionals based in north London – how do you find the one who best suits you?

Belsize Park entrepreneur Dale Sims, 27, has come up with a dating-style website to match clients with compatible personal trainers.

Still in its early days, ukfitbase.com has successfully created five pairs and signed up 67 PTs nationwide.

Sims, who qualified as a personal trainer four years ago through lifetimetraining.co.uk has always taken an interest in what made good personal trainer/client relationships.

“I was curious as to why my clients had chosen me to work with, and instead of listing my qualifications or workouts, most said simply because I seemed like a nice guy who they could get on with. My personality was the deciding factor.

“I believe there’s a fundamental mismatch in the industry between trainers and clients, who are not always having their expectations met.

“While some want a friend and coach who is fun and supportive, others want an army sergeant major type screaming in their faces and rubbing their nose in the dirt – either is perfectly fine as long as you get what you want.”

Both client and PT fill out a simple online questionnaire. The client inputs their location, states what they are looking for in a training session and what their goals are. The PT answers a few questions about how they operate, and based on the answers the computer algorithm delivers a compatibility percentage. “This is certainly not a one size fits all industry,” adds Sims. “There are different ways people like to exercise and it’s a personal business. I wanted to try to build a service for the industry, to create a site where users can find someone in their location who can not only help them reach their fitness goals but who has the personality to meet their expectations.”

Exercise for all

Ultimately Sims believes personal training is not just for celebrities or the super-rich. “It’s not just a luxury, it should be a necessity for anyone looking to get fit because trainers can give an in-depth education to people – making them see the value in exercise.”

That’s also the belief of local PT Jason Doggett, of Muddy Plimsolls, who has devised a free online guide to outdoor fitness trails in some of north London’s loveliest green spaces.

Highgate Wood, Parliament Hill Fields and Primrose Hill all feature in the guide at www.muddyplimsolls.com/outdoor-fitness.

Jason, who has been in the personal training business for 10 years, writes: “Fitness trails are designed for bodyweight exercise (pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups), which is enjoying a resurgence at a grassroots level, but it’s rare to find online information about London’s trim trails.

“The sites, which feature traditional calisthenics equipment, are dotted around London, mostly funded by local councils, the City of London Corporation, or The Royal Parks – but they’re rarely publicised or trumpeted and the locations are shared mostly by word-of-mouth through a community of users.

“My wife and I founded an outdoor personal training company around Primrose Hill more than five years ago. We decided to create this resource to encourage outdoor exercise – introducing Londoners to new fitness destinations on their doorsteps.

“We’ve awarded the fitness trail at Primrose Hill a top rating and reviewed a further 12 sites around London, including Highgate Wood.”

Each entry includes location, a star rating and tips on how to incorporate the surrounding environment into a full body workout.

“With this project, we’re excited to be at the forefront of a grassroots interest in outdoor bodyweight exercise.

By creating this map of our findings, we hope to give back to the outdoor fitness communities of London.”

Based around Primrose Hill and Regent’s Park, Muddy Plimsolls champions a four-week outdoor training plan of 60-minute sessions at £62.50 per session.

“I believe most people can improve their physical fitness radically on a simple set of bodyweight exercises,” says Jason, whose aim is to simplify and create a jargon-free but effective training system that clients can learn and take away.

Find out more about Dale’s personal training business at ukfitbase.com