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How to Choose a Personal Trainer in Marbella

By Rob Hartley · 6 October 2026

There are a lot of personal trainers in Marbella. Most gyms have a few, every urbanisation seems to have one, and plenty more work from Instagram. The good ones are hard to tell apart from the rest on a first meeting, because everyone sounds confident.

I've coached for over ten years, in London, Saudi Arabia and now here. These are the questions I'd tell a friend to ask before they paid anyone, including us.

1. "What will we do in the first four weeks?"

A good coach can answer this before you've trained together. They should talk about an assessment, the main lifts or movements you'll build on, how the weights or reps go up each week, and what you'll do on the days you train alone.

If the answer is "it depends how you feel on the day", there's no plan behind the sessions. Progress comes from each session building on the last one.

2. "What happens on the days I don't see you?"

You might train with a coach two or three times a week. That leaves around 165 hours they don't see. Food, sleep, steps and your solo sessions decide most of your result.

Ask what they give you for those days. A written plan for your solo sessions, nutrition targets you can actually hit, and someone checking in each week are what you want.

3. "Have you got clients like me?"

Results are specific. Someone who preps bodybuilders may not be the right person for a 50-year-old with a bad knee who wants to play padel without pain. A running coach may not know how to get you strong.

Ask for examples of people with your goal, your age and your starting point. Before and after photos are useful. A conversation with a current client is better.

4. "How will we know it's working?"

Pick the numbers before you start. For fat loss that's body weight trends, waist measurement and photos every few weeks. For strength it's the weight on the bar. For a race it's a test run or a time trial.

A coach who can't tell you how they'll measure progress will struggle to tell you when the plan needs changing.

5. "What does it cost, all in?"

Get the full monthly number. Session price, how many sessions a week, gym membership or day passes, travel to your villa, and whether nutrition and check-ins are included or extra.

In Marbella, most gym-based sessions cost between €40 and €65, with premium gyms charging up to €100. Training at your villa usually costs more because the coach travels to you. We wrote a separate guide to personal training prices in Marbella if you want the detail.

Signs to walk away

• They promise a number in a timeframe, like 10kg in a month.
• They sell you supplements in the first conversation.
• They can't explain why you're doing an exercise.
• They push through pain you've told them about.
• They want a long contract before you've trained together.

Qualifications

Check them, but don't stop there. In Spain the formal route is a sports science degree or the TSEAS/TAFAD technical qualification. Coaches trained in the UK will usually hold a Level 3 personal training certificate. Any of these tells you someone has learned anatomy and the basics of programme design.

They don't tell you whether that person can coach. Questions 1 to 4 will.

Use the first meeting

Most good coaches in Marbella offer a free consultation. Use it to ask these questions. Notice whether they ask about your history, your injuries, your job and your week, or whether they jump straight into selling a package.

If you want to put these questions to us, that's what our consultation is for. It's 20 minutes, over a coffee in Marbella or on a call.