For personal trainers thinking about transitioning to online coaching, few stories are more instructive than Mark Ross’s. Mark has been in the fitness industry for 15 years. He started as a personal trainer on a gym floor, became a studio owner, scaled a group transformation program to 500 participants, and built one of the most recognisable high-ticket online coaching brands in the UK. Today, Lifestyle Lean employs 8 coaches, operates globally, and is targeting 1,000 clients by the end of the year.
My PT Hub has been in Mark’s corner throughout all of it.
We sat down to learn how he used the platform to evolve a coaching business through every stage of growth; from in-person sessions to online transformation programs, and from solo operator to a full team business run remotely from Dubai.
From gym floor to global reach
Mark’s fitness career started the way most do: personal training in a commercial gym, managing the floor, helping clients get results session by session. He opened his own personal training studio, and that’s where he first encountered My PT Hub to track his in-person clients.
“I used it to track metrics, create workouts, and give clients their own hub to track progress. At the time, that felt genuinely cool.”
But Mark had bigger ambitions. He wanted to extend his influence beyond the session itself and start driving results through what clients were doing with their nutrition and their time outside the gym. The face-to-face model, he realised, had a fundamental limitation: clients valued the session over the result.
“I wanted clients to value the transformation, not just the hour they spent with me.”
Why simplicity was the deciding factor
Before fully committing to transitioning to online coaching, Mark explored developing his own custom coaching app for Lifestyle Lean. He invested in development, but it didn’t make the cut.
“It just wasn’t good enough. We came to My PT Hub because it’s simple, it works, and it looks great. That’s what you need when you’re running a serious coaching business.”
This is one of the most overlooked decisions coaches face when going online: whether to build custom or use proven software. Simplicity isn’t a consolation prize in Mark’s world; it’s a strategic requirement. When you’re managing 8 coaches, hundreds of clients, and a sales and marketing team, every unnecessary point of friction in the client experience is a problem. My PT Hub removed that friction.
“It makes the logistics of online coaching feel the same as in-person work. It’s easy for clients. It’s easy for coaches. That’s what keep your business running smoothly.”
The pivot to online coaching
Mark’s transition to online coaching didn’t happen overnight. It moved through several distinct phases, each one teaching him something new about what actually produces elite transformations.
After leaving his studio, he launched “8 Week Lean,” a group transformation program that rapidly grew to over 500 participants. It was high-volume, it was exciting, and it worked. But it also had limits.
During the pandemic, he doubled down on automation, creating a lower-cost, streamlined program delivered entirely through My PT Hub and Stripe. The automation capabilities of the platform were key. Clients received their group workout and nutrition plans without manual intervention, and the business ran efficiently at scale.
“It was a simple product, and it ran itself. But I realised that low-ticket, short-term programs don’t produce the best transformations.”
That realisation brought Mark back to where he’d always delivered his best work: high-end, private, one-to-one coaching. Lifestyle Lean returned exclusively to the 1-to-1 model, dropping the group program altogether and repositioning as a premium coaching brand.
For coaches considering a similar pivot, this is a useful takeaway: the model you start with online doesn’t have to be the model you keep. Mark used group coaching as a way to test his systems and build volume, then refined his offer once he understood what actually drove long-term results.
Building and scaling with a team
Mark didn’t build Lifestyle Lean alone. His partner, Jess, transitioned from marketing into fitness and became integral to the business. Together, they took on a period of intense growth, managing enormous client volumes manually during the lockdown period before investing in mentorship and building out a proper team structure.
Today, Lifestyle Lean employs 8 coaches, each managing between 70 and 100 clients. Supporting them is a full sales team, marketing team and design function.
“The biggest shift was realising you get more satisfaction from watching your team succeed than from coaching every client yourself. You’re passing on systems that work. That’s genuinely rewarding.”
For coaches thinking about scaling in a similar direction, Mark’s path shows a clear framework: master the craft, build a system that delivers consistent results, then hire people who can execute that system at scale. My PT Hub sits underneath all of it, giving each coach their own operating environment within the same brand.
How Lifestyle Lean uses My PT Hub day to day
Mark is deliberate about which features he uses. He’s not trying to use everything; he’s trying to use the right things consistently and at a high standard.
Nutrition and workout plans
The foundation of Lifestyle Lean’s coaching is its programming. Mark values the simplicity of the meal plan structure, which generates excellent client results without overcomplicating the process. On the workout side, the ability for clients to track their history and monitor progressive overload is a key part of the client experience.
Mark has recently started using the Program Builder for Lifestyle Lean’s muscle-building program, which runs as a structured 16-week cycle with built-in testing weeks. For a premium online coaching product, having that structure available inside the platform is a significant asset.
Voice note check-ins
Lifestyle Lean runs its client check-ins via voice notes, and they run them on Thursday mornings. The timing is intentional; coaches and clients review progress, make any necessary adjustments, and ensure clients have everything they need before the weekend.
“Voice notes are more effective for our clients than video. It’s personal, it’s direct, and clients respond well to it.”
The check-in cadence is built around a high standard of same-day responses. Every client gets a reply. Every client goes into the weekend with a clear plan.
Chat and communication
The in-app chat is central to how Lifestyle Lean maintains its premium service feel. For a brand that charges high-ticket prices and promises elite-level transformation, the quality and speed of coach communication isn’t optional. It’s part of the product.
The marketing and client acquisition engine
Lifestyle Lean’s primary acquisition channel is Instagram. The strategy is built around volume; high-frequency posting designed to increase visibility, with the assumption that once people see a world-class product, they’ll want in.
“The best clients come from referrals and organic growth. But Instagram is where they first find us.”
Once someone engages with the account, a VA team handles the initial conversation and qualifies leads for sales calls. From there, prospects enter the Lifestyle Lean coaching system.
The targeting in paid activity is specific. Mark focuses his boosted posts on UK men over 35, the demographic he knows best and relates to most. The results speak for themselves; Lifestyle Lean has a large client base in Manchester and London, but also strong communities in places like New York and Norway, built entirely through referrals.
Coaching from Dubai, serving clients on multiple continents, with no physical location. That’s what a well-run online coaching business looks like in practice.
Building community that wins awards
One of the things that sets Lifestyle Lean apart from a purely transactional coaching service is the community it’s built around transformation.
Mark organises physical meetups, photo shoots, and hikes in Manchester and London. These events bring clients together, reinforce the brand’s identity around serious lifestyle change, and generate a level of loyalty that no advertising campaign can buy.
“The pride I get is from seeing clients who were out of shape regain their fitness and confidence, and then share that with their family. That’s what it’s all about.”
That community-first approach contributed to Lifestyle Lean winning Manchester’s Best Fitness Company three years ago. It’s not a coincidence; it’s what happens when you build a business around genuine results and genuine relationships.
What’s next for Lifestyle Lean
Mark is clear about where the business is going. The goal is 1,000 clients by the end of the year. The focus isn’t purely on revenue; it’s on building the best possible team, tightening the systems, and ensuring every coach and every client is achieving results at the highest level.
“New levels bring new challenges. We keep our heads down. We focus on the product.”
For a coach who started on a gym floor and built a globally recognised online brand across 15 years, that mindset says everything about why Lifestyle Lean is where it is.
Ready to build a brand like Lifestyle Lean?
Whether you’re just starting out in online coaching or you’re looking to scale an existing team, My PT Hub gives you the tools to deliver world-class programming, manage clients at scale, and build a brand your clients are proud to be part of.