So, You Want to Be a Personal Trainer?

Many exercise science students do strength coaching internships, hoping the experience will help them land a full-time job. Unfortunately, paying jobs in strength coaching rarely present themselves quickly, particularly at the college and professional levels. Until that big break comes along, they often resort to Plan B: Personal Training. Things don’t always work out as expected.

One issue with Plan B is that health club managers expect their trainers to get clients by walking the gym floor and pitching their services to their members. This task is especially difficult because they must compete against other trainers who are going after the same members. Rather than “Welcome to the team!” the message may be more like, “It would be so nice if you were not here.”

Mike Carroll was a sales manager for several commercial health clubs, eventually owning a gym and coaching a weightlifting team that hosted the National Championships. He told me that the typical personal trainer at his health clubs “would last six months, so for a year, you would turn over your entire department.” When asked what characterized his job as a sales manager, Carroll replied, “More pressure! Now, I was responsible for not only my financial goals but also the financial goals of an entire department.”

If you survive the “initiation” period and recruit a significant number of clients to appease your boss, it may be quite some time before you earn the big bucks promised by many of the popular personal training certifications. Health clubs often start their trainers with a 60/40 split, with the gym taking 40 percent of the client’s fee. So, that $25 training session at 5:30 a.m. turns into $15, which in California is $5 less than the starting wage at McDonald’s. Further, many personal trainers work as independent contractors, so they lose out on health insurance and other benefits. Then there are the hours.

There is no such thing as working 9-to-5 in personal training. Just ask Nikki Gnozzio.

The Education of a Personal Trainer

Gnozzio was a scholarship field hockey player at Ohio University, earning First Team All Mid-American Conference honors. Sonny Sano was OU’s strength coach then, and Gnozzio’s work with Coach Sano inspired her to follow that path. Gnozzio got her chance in 2010 when she became an assistant strength coach at Providence College in Rhode Island under the direction of Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Ken White.

Providence College was unique in that it had two women strength coaches at a time when an estimated 85 percent of D1 strength coaches were men. The outlook is better now, but typically, their jobs are limited to “Olympic sports.”

Providence College was unique in that it had two women strength coaches at a time when an estimated 85 percent of D1 strength coaches were men, says Kim Goss. Click To Tweet

While in Rhode Island, Gnozzio joined my weightlifting team and achieved respectable success for being new to the sport. A few years later, she moved to New Jersey and became a personal trainer. Those early years were rough.

Gnozzio trained clients six days a week in three locations, commuting up to three hours daily. “The hardest thing was learning to deal with people who had never actually pushed themselves and had very little body awareness,” says Gnozzio. “I never had to teach an athlete how to breathe or engage a muscle to use it. The general population requires so much more coaching for things athletes don’t have to think to do—their bodies naturally do it.”

After paying her dues on the road for five years, she opened The Junction Bodyworks, a massage and personal training facility in Livingston, New Jersey. Gnozzio made it, but the challenges associated with making a living wage in the personal training industry often cause many former strength coaches to quit the industry and seek employment elsewhere.

The challenges associated with making a living wage in the personal training industry often cause many former strength coaches to quit the industry and seek employment elsewhere, says Kim Goss. Click To Tweet

If you’re a strength coach and want to improve your chances of not just surviving as a personal trainer but thriving, I have some practical advice. Why should you listen to me? I was a D1 college strength coach, ran several private gyms in the public sector, and was a writer for several companies that offered certification courses for personal trainers. Along the way, I’ve had the opportunity to talk to many of the world’s most successful gym owners and personal trainers, along with many who failed miserably. That’s my sales pitch—let’s get started.

How to Grow a Personal Training Business

Many personal training certification organizations promise big bucks to personal trainers who take their courses. Unfortunately, these courses often focus on training and offer little insight into how to succeed in the business. Below are ten suggestions to put your PT business in the black.

1. Look Like a Personal Trainer

You are a walking billboard for your business and your credibility will be questioned if you are not fit and dressed professionally. When I first met legendary Canadian strength coach Charles R. Poliquin in the early 90s, I asked him why he paid so much attention to arm training. He said he believed in “walking the talk” and shared a story to prove his point.

Poliquin told me about a time early in his coaching career when he was hired to consult with a pro hockey team. When he arrived at their training facility, Poliquin said the athletes appeared apathetic about anything he had to say…until he took off his coat. That’s when they saw a pair of monstrous, bone-crushing pythons bursting out of his shirt sleeves. Their attitude changed immediately because, after all, someone with arms that huge and freaky must know what they were doing in the weightroom. I’m not saying you must look like the Incredible Hulk (or Wonder Woman) to get clients, but be lean and look athletic.

You must be well-groomed and dress appropriately even when training, as you will always be selling yourself. Also, don’t dress like a pirate or a scrub nurse—and don’t even think about those psychedelic clown pants!

You must be well-groomed and dress appropriately even when training, as you will always be selling yourself, says Kim Goss. Click To Tweet

2. Know Your Target Market

Several years ago, I audited a seminar attended by dozens of successful personal trainers, many earning six-figure salaries. The instructor began by asking each participant to describe their typical client, and most responded with “Affluent women, ages 29 to 49.” No one said, “20-year-old Olympic hopefuls” or “5-star high school basketball players.”

When asked their primary reasons for seeking a personal trainer, many women answer surveys with “getting toned” and “building confidence.” However, the preponderance of surveys I’ve seen conclude that the primary reasons most women seek the services of a personal trainer are to lose fat or maintain their bodyweight. The takeaway is that much of your continuing education as a personal trainer should be on nutrition and exercise protocols to lose fat. Also, study corrective exercise and stretching methods, particularly when training older clients who often have postural issues and past injuries.

3. Network with Healthcare Professionals

Cross-referrals are incredibly effective for getting new clients and expanding your value. In Utah, Colorado, Texas, and Rhode Island, I developed relationships with sports medicine facilities and would refer my clients for their services. In turn, they would refer their clients to me. Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Cross-referrals are incredibly effective for getting new clients and expanding your value, says Kim Goss. Click To Tweet

Networking also includes attending personal training conventions—not just listening to lectures and seeing all the new cool training gizmos, but mingling with other trainers about how to improve and expand your business. Unlike your coworkers, you’re more likely to get good advice from someone who does not directly compete with you for clients.

What about franchises? Having the marketing power of a large organization behind you might help you attract new clients, but there are franchise fees and you often have to follow their business model and purchase equipment from their suppliers. After working under a franchise for several years and building a strong clientele, I’ve talked to many trainers who dropped the franchise tag, changed the name of their business, and ran their business their way.

4. Stay Abreast of Fitness Trends

Billionaire Warren Buffett is credited with the saying “The more you learn, the more you earn,” and it was one of Poliquin’s favorites. Again, walking the talk, Poliquin read at least 100 books annually and had a remarkable (perhaps even photographic) memory.

Poliquin learned German to study the research of the top German sports scientists and built an extensive library of all things muscle and strength. When I first met him in the early 90s, I saw his nearly foot-high stack of research papers. Poliquin would pay grad students to collect these papers and then would study them on flights. Beyond reading, Poliquin also spent at least 24 days a year attending seminars to learn from others. In December 1994, he told me he had achieved his goal of making a million dollars in a year—learn more, earn more.

Along with studying scientific publications about health and fitness, reading trade journals and books on the personal training business is invaluable. One journal I found especially helpful for personal trainers (now online and free!) is Certified by the American Council on Exercise. You won’t find hardcore research papers discussing oscillatory isometrics for improving knee stability in alpine skiers, but you will find practical, readable articles on business management and how to attract and retain clients. I also believe you should pay particular attention to articles on how to write business and marketing plans, as I found these can be valuable tools for running your business.

Along with studying scientific publications about health and fitness, reading trade journals and books on the personal training business is invaluable, says Kim Goss. Click To Tweet

Many years ago, I passed the NSCA exam along with several certification programs from personal training organizations. Two valuable benefits of these organizations are that, after you pass their exams, you can access their trade journals and they put you on a trainer/strength coach contact list. If someone in your area is looking for an ACE-certified trainer and you have that credential, they will have your contact information.

What about all those YouTube ads that promise six-figure salaries by following the “proven money-making strategies” in their personal training business courses? Having looked at a few, I found they can offer valuable advice, but probably nothing you wouldn’t find in the trade journals. 

5. Develop Fair, Consistent Policies

Time is money in personal training, so you must develop policies that don’t cut into your bottom line. Insist that your clients tell you 24 or 48 hours ahead if they plan to cancel, as often you can fill that time slot if given notice.

Clients may take advantage of you if you don’t set strict policies. They might call just before their training session to delay it by 15 minutes so they can pick up some items from a local store or perform some other errand. If a client is late and you have an appointment immediately afterward, their session needs to be cut short—the tardiness of one person shouldn’t inconvenience your other clients. And this policy works both ways. If you must cancel at the last minute, compensate the client with a free workout.

6. Use Surge Pricing

Just as movie theaters offer discount matinees, establish separate rates for the most popular training periods. This approach is called surge pricing, a method Poliquin told me about in the 90s. For example, distinguish your training sessions as “red” and “blue” hours. The red hours are when most clients want to train, particularly between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., so you charge more. When you fill all the time slots for the red hours, if a client quits, you charge more for the new clients taking that time slot.

A colleague in Canada told me he had clients prepay up to three weekly sessions for six months or more to reserve their favorite time slots. He also had the gym set up a service with a bank that would automatically withdraw money from their account every month for their convenience (plus, this system doesn’t remind them how much they are paying).

7. Sell Training Packages

Giving away a free training session to attract new business is fine, but your business should be based on packaged programs. Why? With pay-as-you-go single training sessions, you give your clients more opportunities to say “No,” and you have to keep reselling your services.

Giving away a free training session to attract new business is fine, but your business should be based on packaged programs, says Kim Goss. Click To Tweet

Let’s say you just started your personal training business and established a rock-bottom price of $25 for a session, which can be anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes. After a free training session, offer multiple training session deals, such as the following packages that decrease from $50 per session to $25.

• Bronze: 5 sessions for $250
• Silver: 10 sessions for $400 (save 20%)
• Gold: 20 sessions for $500 (save 50%)

When potential clients see this price list, they might get excited to see they get half off when jumping from the Bronze to the Gold package. If a new client is a hard sell and settles for a Bronze package, you could offer them an upgrade to the Silver or Gold package after their first training session.

8. Expand with Online Training

The hottest trend in personal training is online training, which has seen a big boost after COVID-19 forced many gym goers to invest in home gyms. I have a few online training clients and I know two colleagues earning a six-figure salary from this business.

The hottest trend in personal training is online training, which has seen a big boost after COVID-19 forced many gym goers to invest in home gyms, says Kim Goss. Click To Tweet

Poliquin offered online training in the early 90s, charging $350 for six-week workout packages—you had to commit for a year. The arrangement included two in-person assessments, and clients would pay in full for an entire year or give him post-dated checks of $350 each. He increased his fees significantly in the intervening time, increasing his rate by $5 every time one of his athletes won a medal in the Olympics or World Championships. In 1994, he told me he had 120 of these distance clients. Poliquin also did phone consultations, and one of his clients was Ben Patrick, the Kneesovertoesguy.

Canadian strength coach and Posturologist Gagné was featured in Freelap Friday Five and is shown in the lead photo coaching Justine Dufour-Lapointe, 2014 Olympic Champion in moguls skiing. Gagné was forced into online training with COVID-19, and now his daily schedule is packed with online clients. Gagné has given seminars in 22 countries, and this exposure enabled him to attract online clients from other countries.

Finally, before COVID-19, one personal trainer who worked in a gym where I trained athletes combined in-person and online training. She would train several athletes in a group session while training one client online with her webcam. When COVID-19 hit, this approach gave her a head start for online training as she already had clients online and her former in-person clients knew she offered this service.

9. Supplements and Merch

Selling merchandise such as T-shirts, jackets, and water bottles with your company logo can provide a nice revenue stream. Unquestionably, the most significant way a trainer can increase their non-training revenue is by selling supplements.

Unquestionably, the most significant way a trainer can increase their non-training revenue is by selling supplements, says Kim Goss. Click To Tweet

While working for companies that offered personal training certifications, I’ve met many trainers who earned $10,000+ each year selling supplements. I know one personal trainer with a private gym in a small town with maybe three dozen clients, but his yearly profit from supplement sales exceeded $20,000! “Hey, everyone could use a good multivitamin, right? And have you heard about the many benefits of fish oil and Vitamin D3?” Yes, the money is tempting, but you must also be careful about supplements.

I know one personal trainer who faced a significant lawsuit because of adverse reactions to the supplements he sold the client. There is also the risk that a supplement, unless it is an NSF Certified for Sport® supplement, can be tainted and cause an athlete to fail a drug test. My understanding is that NSF-certified supplements are the only ones many professional sports teams will endorse. There is a risk in selling supplements if you are not a nutritionist—especially if you claim those supplements have specific benefits.

10. Buy Insurance

We live in a litigious society, and a personal trainer is in a risky business if they don’t have personal trainer’s insurance. Dr. Marc Rabinoff is a sports liability consultant who has worked on over 600 litigations in the fitness industry. I’ve written dozens of articles with Dr. Rabinoff, and he will tell you that a waiver or assumption of risk form is no guarantee that you will not get sued if you injure a client, especially if that injury is due to negligence. Basic insurance plans are only a few hundred bucks a year, but it’s a must-have investment.

How about one bonus suggestion: Don’t Get Cocky! A colleague of mine had a successful personal training business and a private gym, often giving 30+ training sessions a week. He charged $35 an hour but figured he could dramatically increase his income and work less by charging everyone, even current clients, $65. He figured wrong.

He promptly lost two-thirds of his clients. Not only did his income take a horrific hit, but so did his ability to attract new clients, as his gym was in a remote area. He relied on word-of-mouth marketing to attract new clients, and doubling his rates so abruptly didn’t get him any new referrals.

In another case, I know a D1 strength coach who was part of a college football team that went undefeated the previous year. He left the school to spend more time with his family and thought his reputation as a college strength coach would put him in big demand as a personal trainer. It did not, and after a few months, he went back to teaching high school, a profession he had worked in before becoming a strength coach.

The ultimate goal of many strength coaches is to work with athletes, but the market is saturated, especially at the college and professional levels. The solution may be to earn enough money from personal training to open a gym where you can train athletes and the general population. Who knows, maybe after spending time in the private sector, you might find that personal training is your true calling.

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References

Goss, Kim. “Confessions of a Hardcore Gym Owner,” BFS magazine, July/August 2005, pp 18-22.

Hennessy, Kristin. “AB-5 Law Requires the California Fitness Industry to Convert 1090 to W2.” Band of Hands, ND.

Carrasco, Laanna. “Breaking Barriers: Women in Strength Coaching.” BFS magazine, July/August 2012, pp. 44-47.

Goss, Kim. “Lawsuits: Give Yourself a Sporting Chance.” BFS magazine, September/October 2004, pp. 62-65.