What People Abroad Want From an Indian Fitness Coach: Questionnaire Study

In a sample of coaching questionnaires completed between 22 June and 17 September 2026, 21% came from people outside India. 62% of them were asking for a woman, and half of those women ticked PCOS, thyroid imbalance or insulin resistance. We compared the answers from abroad with the answers from India, then added what our coaching case studies show about training from another time zone.

Where they asked from

51% of respondents outside India came from the United States. Within the US, California and Texas led.

Women abroad: the hormone picture

PCOS was ticked about as often abroad as in India. Insulin resistance or pre-diabetes was not: 29% of women abroad ticked it against 19% in India, and thyroid imbalance was 22% against 17%. A questionnaire cannot tell us why. It does tell a coach what to plan for from the first week.

Among women in the US in the sample, 32% ticked insulin resistance or pre-diabetes and 76% picked fat loss as a goal. See the PCOS coaching for Indian women in the USA page and the PCOS diet guide for women abroad.

Goals: muscle as often as fat loss

People abroad picked muscle building exactly as often as fat loss, and 84% picked two or more goals. Strength was not a side goal.

Pain, sleep and training history

People abroad were less often complete beginners and more often people who had trained before and stopped. That usually means the problem is not knowing what to do, it is keeping it going around work, family and travel.

What happens once they train

Clients training from abroad took part in 14% of the coaching sessions we reviewed as case studies, from the USA, Germany, Canada, Dubai, the UK and Central Africa. Travel or jet lag came up in 19% of sessions and was the most common reason for a missed or late session. One client trained at 6 AM on a Sunday because it was the only slot that fit his family's week.

Online coaching for NRIs explains how sessions are scheduled across time zones.

Quick answers

What do Indians abroad want from a fitness coach?

Of people in our sample who asked us for coaching from outside India, 68% picked fat loss, 68% muscle building and 59% strength, and 84% picked two or more goals.

Is insulin resistance common in Indian women abroad?

In our questionnaire sample, 29% of women outside India ticked insulin resistance or pre-diabetes, against 19% of women in India. It is self-reported, not a diagnosis.

Can online coaching work across time zones?

Yes, with planning. Clients abroad were in 14% of our coaching case studies. Travel or jet lag was the most common reason for a missed session, so schedules need a backup slot.

Where this data is used

• Online coaching for NRIs
• PCOS coaching for Indian women in the USA
• Senior fitness coaching in the USA
• Online personal trainer for Indians in the USA
• NRI health hub

How we counted

• Questionnaire: a sample of YourTrainer coaching questionnaires completed between 22 June and 17 September 2026, counted once per person. 21% of the sample was outside India.
• Country comes from the connection location. We do not ask about nationality.
• Conditions are ticked by the person, not diagnosed. Country shares are of respondents outside India in the sample, and US state shares are of US respondents. Very small groups are not shown.
• Case studies: a sample of YourTrainer coaching sessions from 17 August to 7 September 2026, names removed.

More in the NRI health hub.