What 124 Five-Star Google Reviews Reveal About What People Value in Personal Training
We analysed every written Google review left on Riddlock Mobile Personal Training’s Google Business Profile between June 2022 and August 2026.
What came through wasn’t quite what we expected.
Weight loss mattered. Fitness results mattered. But they weren’t the things people talked about most. Again and again, reviewers came back to accountability, enjoying their training, knowledgeable coaching, personalisation, becoming stronger and more capable, and removing the friction that so often stops exercise from happening.
Written by Greg Lock · Published August 2026 · Research and analysis by Riddlock Mobile Personal Training
Written reviews analysed
Review period
All reviews in the export were five-star
The headline findings
The four most frequently mentioned themes across the entire dataset.
mentioned motivation, accountability, encouragement or support
mentioned fun, enjoyment, humour or looking forward to training
mentioned knowledge, experience, professionalism or reliability
praised personalised, tailored or adapted coaching
Reviews could be coded against more than one theme, so percentages do not add to 100%.
What did we analyse?
In August 2026, we exported the written reviews from Riddlock Mobile Personal Training’s Google Business Profile and analysed all 124 reviews published between 2 June 2022 and 17 August 2026.
Rather than looking only at star ratings, we wanted to understand what people actually chose to talk about when describing their experience of personal training.
Each review was coded against a predefined set of themes. A review could be included in more than one category. For example, someone might mention that their trainer kept them accountable, adapted exercises around an injury and made the sessions enjoyable.
We only assigned a theme where the reviewer explicitly mentioned it or clearly described the concept. We did not infer motivations, demographics or outcomes that weren’t present in the review.
On this page
Important limitation
This isn’t a survey of every person who has ever trained with Riddlock. It is an analysis of people who voluntarily chose to leave a written five-star Google review, so it naturally represents a highly satisfied group of clients.
Some of the earlier reviews also came from people Greg and Krissy had coached prior to operating the current Brisbane mobile personal training service.
For those reasons, these findings should be read as “What themes appeared in Riddlock’s written Google reviews?” rather than “What percentage of all personal training clients believe X?”
1. Accountability was the most common theme
60 of the 124 reviews — 48.4% — mentioned motivation, accountability, encouragement or support.
That made it the most frequently identified theme in the entire dataset.
People talked about having someone push them, encourage them, keep them on track, provide structure and help them continue when their own motivation wasn’t enough.
That stood out because fitness information isn’t particularly difficult to find anymore. There are thousands of workouts online, apps, programmes, YouTube channels, watches and AI tools that can tell someone what exercise to do.
But knowing what to do and consistently doing it are two very different problems.
Twenty reviews specifically discussed building better habits, routines or consistency. Of those 20, 13 also mentioned motivation, accountability or support. Review data cannot prove that one caused the other, but the overlap is notable.
I have a weekly voice-note checkin with Greg, which is a game changer for my total accountability.
Hope Shaw
Google review, 2026
2. People talked about enjoying training almost as much as accountability
55 reviews — 44.4% — mentioned fun, enjoyment, humour, laughter or looking forward to training.
For something people often approach because they feel they should exercise, that was one of the findings that surprised us most.
And enjoyment wasn’t separate from getting the work done. 34 reviews mentioned both accountability/support and enjoyment.
That paints a very different picture of effective personal training from the stereotypical trainer shouting while somebody suffers through a workout.
The reviews repeatedly described coaches who challenged people while still making sessions something they enjoyed.
Training still needs to be effective. But effective doesn’t have to mean miserable.
I look forward to every session!… So much more fun and enjoyable!
Jodie R
Google review, 2023
3. Knowledge and professional expertise came through strongly
52 reviews — 41.9% — mentioned knowledge, experience, professionalism or reliability.
People were not simply praising friendliness. They repeatedly described trainers as knowledgeable, experienced, professional, dependable and capable of making appropriate decisions during sessions.
That matters because good coaching is not only about knowing exercises. It is also about judgement: knowing when to progress, when to modify, when to push and when to pull back.
For us, this theme reinforces the value of experienced coaching rather than generic workout delivery.
They know their stuff and are genuinely motivating, pushing me when I need it and backing off on days that I need a lighter session.
Jason Bary
Google review, 2024
4. Personalised coaching was mentioned more than twice as often as weight or body composition
48 reviews — 38.7% — specifically praised personalised, tailored or adapted coaching.
By comparison, 20 reviews — 16.1% — specifically mentioned weight, physique or body-composition outcomes.
Personalised coaching therefore appeared in the reviews roughly 2.4 times as often as weight or body-composition outcomes.
Reviewers talked about exercises being modified, programmes changing as they progressed, trainers listening, sessions being built around individual goals, and coaches knowing when to push harder or pull things back.
Personal training isn’t particularly personal if everybody receives essentially the same workout.
Adapting both my program and our PT sessions to what I can manage at any given time.
Millie M
Google review, 2023
5. Strength and physical capability appeared more often than weight loss
38 reviews — 30.6% — explicitly mentioned improvements in strength, fitness, mobility or physical capability.
Again, only 20 reviews — 16.1% — explicitly discussed weight or body composition.
That doesn’t mean weight loss is unimportant. It means the outcomes people chose to celebrate were broader.
People talked about becoming stronger, moving better, being fitter, doing things they previously struggled with, returning to activities and having more confidence in what their body could do.
It’s a useful reminder that progress isn’t always best represented by a number on a set of scales.
Basic things I took for granted in my everyday life are becoming easier and normal again. I even did a bush walk and played tennis last weekend!
Tarita Botsman
Google review, 2026
6. More than one in four reviews discussed injury, pain or physical limitations
35 reviews — 28.2% — discussed an injury, pain, recovery, health limitation or the need to train around a physical issue.
Of those 35 reviews, 20 also specifically praised personalised or adapted coaching.
We think that relationship is important. When somebody isn’t starting from a completely blank medical or injury history, simply telling them to “push harder” isn’t particularly helpful.
They need exercise that can be adapted to where they are now.
This doesn’t mean personal training replaces physiotherapy, exercise physiology or medical treatment. It doesn’t. But it does show that a meaningful proportion of reviewers valued having a trainer who could work appropriately within their individual circumstances.
Working very closely with my physio to build a program to support through the recovery phase with a knee injury.
Melissa Ansford
Google review, 2022
7. Mobile personal training appears to solve more than a location problem
28 reviews — 22.6% — explicitly mentioned mobile, home or location-based personal training.
Of those 28, 18 also specifically discussed convenience or fitting training around life, while 13 also discussed motivation, accountability or support.
That suggests the value of mobile personal training isn’t simply “the trainer comes to your house”. It can remove two different kinds of friction.
Practical friction: travelling to a gym, parking, adding another journey to the day, arranging training around children, fitting exercise around work, or finding somewhere to train.
Behavioural friction: the difference between “I’ll try to exercise later” and “My trainer is arriving at 6:30”.
Review analysis cannot demonstrate cause and effect, but the combination of convenience and accountability appeared often enough to be noticeable.
So convenient having a mobile personal trainer as I am incredibly busy and having her come to my home really holds me accountable.
Alisha Lynch
Google review, 2023
The full results
A review could appear in multiple categories. Percentages therefore do not total 100%.
| Theme | Reviews | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Motivation, accountability, encouragement or support | 60 | 48.4% |
| Fun, enjoyment, humour or looking forward to training | 55 | 44.4% |
| Knowledge, experience, professionalism or reliability | 52 | 41.9% |
| Personalised, tailored or adapted coaching | 48 | 38.7% |
| Improved strength, fitness, mobility or physical capability | 38 | 30.6% |
| Injury, pain, health limitations or training safely around them | 35 | 28.2% |
| Mobile/home/location-based delivery | 28 | 22.6% |
| Improved habits, routine, consistency or adherence | 20 | 16.1% |
| Weight, physique or body-composition outcomes | 20 | 16.1% |
| Convenience or fitting training around time/life | 18 | 14.5% |
| Exercise/gym aversion, nervousness or low initial confidence | 14 | 11.3% |
| Busy/time-poor work or family context | 13 | 10.5% |
| Mental wellbeing or confidence improvement | 13 | 10.5% |
| Nutrition or food support | 11 | 8.9% |
What we think the reviews are telling us
There’s an obvious temptation for a personal training business to look at research like this and search for whatever supports its marketing.
We wanted to do the opposite.
The most interesting part of this analysis was looking at what reviewers chose to talk about without being prompted.
The overall picture wasn’t:
weight loss + harder workouts + physical transformation.
It was much closer to:
accountability + enjoyable training + knowledgeable coaching + personalisation + becoming stronger and more capable + removing friction from exercise.
That has challenged some of our own assumptions about how we should talk about personal training.
Perhaps the role of a good personal trainer isn’t simply to know the best exercises. Perhaps a large part of the value is creating an environment in which somebody can actually keep doing those exercises for long enough for them to matter.
What this research does not prove
There are some important limitations to acknowledge.
- It only includes people who voluntarily left a written Google review.
- All 124 reviews in this export were five-star reviews.
- It is specific to reviews left on Riddlock’s Google Business Profile.
- It does not represent every person who has ever trained with Riddlock.
- It does not prove that one theme caused another outcome.
- It does not establish that these percentages apply to personal training clients more broadly.
- It includes some reviewers who worked with Greg or Krissy prior to the current Brisbane mobile PT service.
The findings are therefore best understood as an analysis of the language and themes appearing in Riddlock’s own Google reviews, not as population-level personal training research.
Why we're publishing this
We’ve coached people for a long time.
Like most businesses, we’ve developed opinions about why some people stay consistent with exercise while others struggle.
But opinions and customer evidence aren’t the same thing.
Analysing these reviews gave us a chance to compare what we thought mattered with what clients had actually chosen to talk about publicly.
Some findings confirmed what we’d seen. Others genuinely surprised us.
We’ll be using this research as the starting point for further articles exploring accountability, exercise adherence, mobile personal training, training around physical limitations and what makes personal training sustainable over the long term.
About the author
Greg Lock
Co-founder & Coach, Riddlock Mobile Personal Training
Greg Lock has spent more than 14 years coaching people across the UK and Australia. He began his career in a London health club before moving into a strength and conditioning environment working around everyone from everyday gym members to competitive fighters, rugby players and strength athletes.
Today, Greg co-runs Riddlock Mobile Personal Training in Brisbane, specialising in coaching people over 40. His work increasingly focuses not simply on exercise programming, but on the practical problems that determine whether busy people can stay strong, fit and consistent over the long term.
Research and analysis: Riddlock Mobile Personal Training
Written by: Greg Lock
About Riddlock Mobile Personal Training
Riddlock Mobile Personal Training provides one-to-one personal training across Brisbane, with trainers travelling to clients at home, local parks, workplaces and suitable apartment or building gyms.
We specialise in working with people over 40 who want expert coaching and greater consistency without having to build their life around travelling to a gym.
Want to talk about your own training?
Our first step is a free phone consultation. There’s no workout and no hard sell. It’s simply a conversation about where you’re at, what you’re trying to achieve and whether we’re likely to be the right fit.
