Search Results for: How to start my personal training career

Soccer is a game that is heavily reliant on the ability to change positions quickly and efficiently. Since the game is not a unidirectional sport,…

Any personal training or fitness coach relationship will start with a comprehensive fitness assessment. Conducting a great fitness assessment, or client intake session, is a…

Feldenkrais is one of many popular forms of mind-body exercise that could supplement your fitness training methods. Mind-body exercise techniques continue to shake-up the health…

The personal training industry has evolved dramatically since it formally began over 25 years ago. It originally was based on, and had its roots in, body building. Now, personal trainers have their choice of specialties and niche markets. For example, there are sport-specific training, medical exercise, seniors, over 40 baby boomers, etc. This has created numerous opportunities for trainers, which didn’t exist 20 years ago.

Many trainers have taken advantage of this, and have been successful at building a lucrative training business. Unfortunately, the majority of trainers have not been able to seize these opportunities to create a profitable business for themselves. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the average salary of a trainer is between $30 – $40k per year. There are many factors that contribute to this which are out of our control. But there are many other factors that are within our control. With a little bit of business know-how, marketing basics, common sense, and most importantly a plan, a trainer can easily generate a six figure income.

I have owned my own personal training business since 2001. I have done in-home training and have worked at numerous health clubs for years before deciding to take the plunge and open my studio. I have seen it all, and have made every mistake a business owner can make. Starting out, like most trainers, I had a lot of enthusiasm, but very little guidance. I have the scars on my back to prove it! My goal is to help trainers avoid the mistakes that I’ve made over the years, such as two of the most common I illustrate below.

In addition to the specialties and niche markets I mentioned earlier, there is also a wide variety of equipment and modalities to choose from to train clients. One of the biggest mistakes I made early on was to try and take advantage of ALL of this, and try to create my own “new and unique” workout experience for ALL of my clients. EVERYBODY got to use the Bosu and do walking lunges. I departed from what I consider to be the “new” #1 rule of growing a training business in this current environment – it’s called the ability to FOCUS!

The above example illustrates two common mistakes. One is assuming that one modality, or training system, is appropriate for everyone. Two, is focusing on more than one client demographic. Focusing on one or two client demographics, such as women over 40, or overweight teens, has several advantages. For example, marketing to a specific group is much easier and effective than taking a shotgun approach and marketing to everyone with two arms and two legs!! In this environment, where competition is fierce, it is imperative to focus and become an expert in a particular market or demographic. Without it, your business will not grow.

The personal training industry continues to grow and can help you achieve your financial goals. But it will take a new approach and new strategies.

The term “collateral damage” is typically a military term, one that denotes unintended damage to an area around a target. But as it applies to resistance training, collateral damage can be a good thing.

NFPT history It was 1978, Staff Sergeant Clark was leading his squad on a training exercise in a remote area of Camp Pendleton, California. Their…

If you’re looking for fitness challenge ideas, start by knowing a good fitness challenge is one that has a clear starting and ending point with…

The notion of wearing a weighted vest might occur to a fitness enthusiast for things like pushups and pullups, but what about for other goals?…

Developing farm worker strength is no longer an endeavor for those working a farm. Personal trainers can learn how this foundational strength is developed and…

In just about any aspect of life, dealing with high stress levels on a daily basis can generate a plethora of physical and emotional symptoms.…

Personal trainers have a bird’s eye view of the fitness floor where they work. They see the same members day in and day out, training the…

Some women still fear the weight room.  The existing myth is that women who lift weights will end up with big bulky muscles and look too manly.  Ideas like this are giving resistance training a bad name.  We as trainers have to remember that men and women are physiologically different in the fact that the increase in muscle mass that is acquired by men is due to testosterone.  Yes, women secrete and deliver testosterone just like men do, but at much lower rates and volume.  This allows for women to build tone lean muscle and increase metabolism to enhance weight loss.

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