35 Things Everyone Needs To Know If They’re Think Of Becoming A Personal Trainer

Picture this.

A life whereby you train a few people each day.

Then spend the rest training, educating yourself &/or creating content in coffee shops or idillic places.

Alluring right?

Nice as it sounds that’s not really how it works or at least not for many years.

The illusion that social media has created is quite easy to get drawn in by and easily lead astray as a result.

Since being in the industry for quite some time now and recently turning 35 I was feeling reflective.

These are some short observations I think anyone wanting to get into the industry needs to know.

Of course they’re not all encompassing and there will be plenty more considerations.

All that is below are those that I can pass on from my small slighter of experience from living the life of the fitness aficionado.

In no particular order:

1 – Unless you have not need for profit then you can’t run it like a charity.
2 – Sales skills are a must and you can’t be afraid of hearing people say no quite often.
3 – Your own training will suffer unless you set aside time for it and even then it still takes a hit.
4 – Leading by example goes a long way, make sure you enact the positive messages you espouse.
5 – Try where possible to have the visual match the audio (look, act, be that part and not all talk).
6 – You’ll lose elements of your old social life you once knew and loved.
7 – Friends will drift away because their values & priorities not longer align with yours.
8 – The gym will soon become a place whereby you find a second home and new family.
9 – Aim to create a community not a cult.
10 – When engaging with clients in consultations aim to listen more than you talk.
11 – Same as 10 although applied to sales because many a PT talk a potential client out of signing up.
12 – Same as 10 & 11 just applied to every aspect of fitness & business, make sure you Listen and learn.
13 – An objection usually means you’ve not displayed enough emotional value/benefit to the client.
14 – When people say no, smile and accept their choice (ask for feedback & why that’s their choice).
15 – Ask people what they want. Listen to the answer because many give you all the answers you need.
16 – Embrace new trends just don’t become a slave to them.
17 – Don’t try to help ‘everyone’ because noble as it sounds this is a recipe for disaster in business.
18 – Decide to work with a very specific people that fit a niche that plays to your strengths.
19 – Research what training methods have stood the test of time because there’s a reason they have.
20 – Results are what drive future business and build your reputation despite what the woke say.
21 – Clearly understand what constitutes ‘results’ in the eyes of your clientele and not just your bias.
22 – Ask for help when you need it, seriously.
23 – Many fall fait on their face due to big mouths and fragile egos, don’t make promises you can’t keep.
24 – Do a quarterly SWOT analysis (strengths/weakness/opportunities/threats).
25 – People won’t just hire you because you’ve qualified and they said they would – people lie, a lot.
26 – Focus on delivering an unforgettable training experience that adds value, not just entertainment.
27 – Don’t be scared to refer client on when your time with them has run its course.
28 – Ask for testimonials (written and video format) because this helps business tremendously.
29 – Avoid underpricing it makes you looks desperate to gain clients.
30 – You don’t need to be on every social media platform, just the right ones (where your clients are).
31 – Keep your training, content and message simple.
32 – Always remember you’re trying to appeal to patrons (what interests them?) not peers.
33 – You probably won’t be an overnight success so embrace the lost art of patience early on.
34 – Invest in your business skills, operations and systems sooner rather than later.
35 – Smile at everyone and ask them all this one question – “How are you doing?” – Then wait & listen.

Chances are you could have come up with most of these by yourself.

In fact there’s a very high chance you’re a lot wiser than I am because it’s taken many years to learn all of the above for myself and you’re taking the intelligent route of learning what to avoid (or know) before setting out on your fitness journey.

Being self employed is a good way to be although it’s not the easiest path you could take.

Despite all the glitz and glam people throw up to say their life is great, their reality is rather different.

You’ve got to have a keen business mind.

An open attitude towards accepting most of what you know about people and think is wrong 98% of the time.

Finally the patience to accept the knocks that will come from those petty, jealous and passive aggressive individuals you’ll meet along the way because while you might think you’re friends they’ll be quick to throw you under the bus to get a leg up and possibly say – “We’re just colleagues” or something similar.

It can be a great career provided you’ve got a thick enough skin and strong enough spirit.

Seeing clients change their lives or overcome obstacles they once thought impossible is reward enough.

And provided you charge what your worth the earnings aren’t too bad either.

If you’re thinking of getting in to the fitness industry while I’d not discourage it, I would advise you give it some deep thought and reread the above.

After all, passion and the love of fitness will only take you so far in this world.

What will you use as fuel once those canisters have run dry I wonder?

If you’ve got any questions of just want to chat about the reality behind the idea then feel free to reach out because I’ll happily give you some of my time.

One more thing, I’d not choose to do anything else because despite the shit that come with all business.

There’s not many that allow you to disappear to a coffee shop to write a random blog no one will read on a whim, lol.

Enjoy,
Ross

What is fitness to you?

Pastime or priority?

Since asking some coaches recently what element of fitness they seem to neglect it got me thinking. 

Plenty mentioned about understanding the importance of their missing element.

Upon further reflection the only reason that logically fits as to why more effort isn’t made towards filling their fitness gap is this – it’s simply not a priority.

To a lot of average people fitness is not a priority, it’s a pastime.

This is fair enough, we can’t prioritise everything.

There will always be a hierarchy in every aspect of life and where things fall on that will vary. 

It doesn’t mean it’s good or bad, merely just a fact of life.

Something worth remembering as the general population have other priorities.

From a marketing/business standpoint it’s worth understanding what those are and describing/showing fitness in such a way that will be a benefit to what they truly find appealing. 

Maybe it’s gardening, stonemasonry, sculpting or a sport such as surfing.

Whatever the people you’re looking to appeal to love to do, fitness must benefit it in some way.

Caring about what others care about and providing services that facilitate value/benefit to it is a sure fire way to a successful business long term. 

Do you currently convey the benefits of fitness to what people consider to be a priority?

Many PT/Coaches don’t and they drone on about the features of fitness without connecting how it can benefit their ideal clients and what they feel is a priority.

Apply the above for a better return on your marketing investment and connections with clients. 

Enjoy,
Ross

Undiscovered Diamonds

Spin (indoor cycling) is arguably one of the most popular classes ever invented 

Who’d have thought sitting on a stationary bike could ever take things so far.

Good Morning ProZoners,

While doing some classic exploring to see what’s going on trend wise in commercial gyms it wasn’t a surprise to still see Spin being top of the tree 

The reasons why are quite understandable.

• It makes people hot and sweaty
• Everyone can do it (low barrier to entry)
• General expressions of feeling ‘fitter’
• A solid community is formed in each class
• Time efficient establishment/set up
• Multiple 30-45min classes can be run with ease
• Everyone has their own specific bike the use religiously
• THE TUNES 

If there was ever an easier business model to investigate and potentially pinch from I’ve yet to find it.

In commercial gyms I made a decent wad running ‘spin bootcamps’ 

£100 per person for 10 weeks of 2 unique sessions per week seems to go down well pretty much everywhere, we had 20 bikes btw 

Oh and that was for ‘early bird sessions’ at 5am on Mon/Thur, Tues/Fri & Wed/Sat and all fully booked.

People love being a part of something, remember this.

You’d be amazed that even when there’s plenty of free classes that people will pay you to sit on a bike and cycle with them.

Just be sure to offer an unforgettable coaching service whereby you give clients all the tools to succeed.

Many find the behaviour/nutrition coaching invaluable 

Adding in some extra benefits such as spin specific stretching sessions, cycling strength, HIIT++, nutrition cycling and anything else that would further provide them a ‘feel good’ factor which also aided in feeling fitter went down a treat.

As you can imagine one personal combination was kettlebells 

This meant they’re do a song on the bike, then a song on the bells.

Another element people like was the ‘bike & band’ sessions where by we added in resistance bands to the classic movements (waves, jump, hops, holds or whatever terms you use for the 6 things you can do on a spin bike ).

Challenge days always had people smiling.

In these we might have aimed for a crazy distance (the average being 15-20mile or 24-32k) such as 50k in one session, meaning it was filled with sprints and high cadence songs.

We’d also go for kcal targets and other metrics too 

We also did Tour De France courses as well, this means linking in the hills, flats, bends and overtaking people with the songs 

One piece of kit that this also worked well with was the rower.

Having a gym with 10 of them that literally gathered dust was a goldmine waiting to be uncovered.

What’s more is that it was easy to use the same philosophy that people connected with in spin – the music (plus distance/kcals).

All of this though isn’t new, it’s ETM (exercise to music).

People have loved and will continue to love this forever more.

While we can’t touch music, music can touch us.

If you’re finding it a struggle to create something new and unique then perhaps it’s worth taking the pressure off yourself and simply looking to add a new spin on something that’s already there 

One last thought for you – how about opening a Spin Studio 

Chances are there isn’t one in your area, and there’s plenty of people that only want to do spin for all their fitness related needs.

Perhaps this is your areas undiscovered diamond mine 

Just make sure your music taste is good (mine’s terrible, hence why my niche was kettlebells and not spin ).

Give some thought to the above and fire across any questions.

Enjoy,
Ross

Commitment has its rewards

Investing in health isn’t something to be placed on the list known as ‘short term’.

Realistically it’s a life long endeavour, or at least 3-12months at a minimum.

Of course for people to be interested in this the offer needs to be of high value, hopefully you’ve already gotten your ducks in a row with that for your specific audience.

What you’ll find below is a potential set up for the services you offer in your business.

Starting out you can still have the option of a monthly payment option or low barrier offer so that people genuinely strapped for time etc can still gain your valuable services.

Say that is £600 for face to face 4 sessions, nutritional coaching, behaviour change and a full training program.

Looking at a basic upsell, this might be your Silver Service (or whatever choice of words you like):

• 1 Training Session Per Week
• Online Programming/Training
• Nutritional & Behaviour Change Coaching

For keeping numbers simple we shall say this three month agreement that costs £1200 to be paid upfront.

This drops the free from £600 a month to £400, now from here you may not wish to offer any more money off and instead offer more services.

As an example the next step up may the Gold Service.

Which is a 6 month commitment costing £2400 to be paid upfront.

Included in this is:

• 2 Training Sessions Per Week
• Online Programming/Training
• Nutritional & Behaviour Change Coaching
• 3 Sports Massages

A client using this level of the service gains an extra training session each week plus 3 sports (or other style that can re offered/referred) massages alongside the digital element of coaching.

Finally there might be the Platinum Service, yes it’s cheesy however these service levels are just to get you thinking about what you’d like to call yours.

A 12 month commitment costing £4800 to be paid upfront.

Included in this is:

• 3 Training Sessions Per Week
• Online Programming/Training
• Nutritional & Behaviour Change Coaching
• 12 Sports Massages
• Free Admission To Workshops/Seminars (run by you or a guest you hire in)

Hopefully you can again see that there has been no compromise to your overall fee as you put a £200 reduction of the monthly fee from those that wish to pay for a single month (£600) when they committed to a minimum of 3 months.

From here this reduction in fee was unchanged.

What did happen is that added value came from more sessions, the addition of sports massage and finally free admission to all extra workshops/seminars (or events you put on for your business).

True enough the above is overly simplistic however it’s just an example to paint a picture for you.

The key takeaway being this – instead of lowering prices offer more value & benefits via services.

One extra option is to make people aware that these upfront fees can be paid for using companies that offer staggered payments such as Stripe, Sezzle, PayPal etc, as you will have your full fee from day one and these allow the clients to make manageable payments to the companies in the middle.

Alternatively there’s the option of having 2,3,4 or more people share the 12month fee, although they’d have to divvy up the massages among themselves and only one person could have free admission to events at a time.

4 people sharing the cost for 12 months comes out at £1200 for the year, that’s only £100 per month.

Now for 72 training sessions plus all the extras that is a true bargain.

Commitment brings with it many rewards, be sure to make people aware that when they choose to invest in you then you too will invest everything you possibly can in them too.

Enjoy,
Ross

Give this notion away to start making progress.

Balance, it’s overrated.

The notion of finding balance is a popular one because it’s easy to picture.

You’ve got something on one side of a scale and then you put another thing of equal value there to create balance. 

A pound of coal weighs the same as a pound of feathers, they create balance. 

Simple right?

This is then taken to mean the same in fitness.

Take a moment to think of the pound of coal and the pound of feathers, then more specifically their overall volume/mass. 

If you were to measure these to find balance the side of the scale the coal is on will be much smaller than the one required for the feathers due to the vast difference in mass requirements.

In fitness people see achieving balance as drinking a bottle of wine (about 800-1000 calories) can be cancelled out with expending the same amount of calories from exercise. 

Most will see running as their payment to balance out the wine. 

How much running is needed though?

It’s going to take you about 60-90 minutes running at 4-6miles per hour to burn 1000 calories, and that is if you weight around 170lbs and have the ability to run for that length of time without injury or sever fatigue. 

We also have how efficient you are at running if you do it all the time, meaning you’ll use less energy meaning you either have to run faster or longer to achieve the calorie balancing act you’re trying to master. 

All the while keeping in mind you can neck a bottle of wine in less than 20min.

This isn’t balance, it’s bias. 

In fitness balance isn’t ‘like for like’ a ‘one for one’ exchange or remotely fair. 

We’ve not even factored in age, total mean lass, available time to burn said 1000 calories from the wine or any life elements that may creep in the way. 

You’re better off putting the notion of achieving balance to bed. 

instead seeing it as a sliding scale that has locks which require keys to keep sliding upwards towards positive outcomes.

Sliding back down the doors are all open however as you do slide down they shut and lock behind you. 

Meaning you’re going to then have to invest more time, effort and resources to unlock something that you’d already done once before.

This means you’re able to be at one end or the other at  specific time, you can’t be in the two different places at the same time due to the vast difference in lifestyle requirements, habits and overall time available.

You can slide up the scale positively, or slide down it negatively.

You also won’t be able to stay in one place because a sliding scales default setting is baseline, zero or more accurately put – it’s back at square one where you started.

Therefore aiming to slowly keep the scale going up a little, you know two steps forwards, then the natural step backwards will happen when you take your focus off of progressing.

This isn’t fair, its just reality. 

It’s easy slide down the scale, however remember sliding it back up has far more requirements that must first be unlocked.   

Avoid the trap of seeking balance because that denotes it’s a fair exchange when it’s not. 

You must give more to get beyond the point at which you’re currently at, whereas to go backwards is a free ride that collects debt. 

Give this some thought. 

Ready Made Targets & Rewards

Providing a ‘goal’ for clients to aim for 

How can you do this?

Offer the client an outcome that rewards them for their efforts.

A simple yet tested method is to offer a photo shoot to all clients that sign up for your service (on say a 6 months agreement) 

This means you put up the cost for it as a part of the service.

What you’re doing is providing a target for people to aim at that also comes with a gift/reward.

It gives people a reason to give 100% and has their training gain a sense of purpose, if they don’t have one already.

Is there anything else you can think of offer as a gift/target?

You don’t need to offer a photo shoot, although people like them.

It might be the case you’re working with a group and you’re going to take them in 6 months from Standard Office Workers to Spartan Race Warriors (you pay their entry fees) 

You might even have a charitable event at the end such as helping your client(s) raise money and then running a marathon.

Again this isn’t a new idea, it’s one that works and well.

Go look up https://www.ultra-mma.co.uk/ 

The ‘Ultra’ brand has boxing and a few others sports as well and while the big difference is the participant trains for free in exchange for raising money for charity, what’s key is that ultra is offering them a goal.

It’s giving them something to aim at, it gives them a purpose 

What other goals/targets could you offer people?

Have a good think on the above because factoring this in will allow you to offer some unique services.

Alternatively you might offer the niche of using peoples big days (wedding focused) whereby you provide a 16-24 week training offer that has them becoming a bride no one every forgets due to how amazing they looked at their wedding.

 a similar thing can be true for grooms too.

Anyway, go have a think and please do share your ideas below.

Enjoy,
Ross

Lesson From The Naysayers

Fitness is rife with people that like to tear others businesses down and take swipes.

Don’t get me wrong there’s a lot in fitness that I personally see that hurts my very soul and leave a red hand print on my face from the face-palm that often follows viewing.

In saying that I can still appreciate good business.

Do you find yourself frustrated by the success other have that you feel they don’t deserve?

^^ Don’t feel bad for this pang of envy, it’s a mortal sin after all.

Yes this frustration isn’t as benevolent as the masses may try to project its slathered in jealousy.

Now we’ve gotten that out of the way it’s time to learn how to use this sin for the greater good.

First we must understand it.

The dictionary definitions:

Noun – a feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else’s possessions, qualities, or luck.
“she felt a twinge of envy for the people on board”
Verb – desire to have a quality, possession, or other desirable thing belonging to (someone else).
“he envied people who did not have to work at the weekends”

In short, it’s wanting something someone else has that you don’t.

What makes envy the ugliest of sins is that instead of learning how one can acquire that which is sought for themselves the opposite action is taken and destruction of it is the path.

Inaction sets in and the jealous crowd won’t do what is required to attain their prize.

At least in a business sense that is.

There’s enough business to go around and the reason those at the top are in a surplus of opportunity is because of the following reasons:

• Offering a great service that people want/need (solving problems)
• Setting up excellent marketing, online content, copy and relevant/likeable/sharable info
• A referral system that rewards existing customers and new ones alike
• Displayed value/benefits that warrant the fees charged
• Asking for the business
• 10+ years in business (not always, just often)

Of course there is a lot more that goes on here, this is the tip of the iceberg and surface level info.

There’s nothing magic about it and it doesn’t answer the big question of – What am I supposed to do?

This is where circling back to the naysayers comes into play.

Use social media or even google and search for a company, brand, individual (whatever) that has epic success that you personally can’t fathom.

It’s unfathomable, like without fathom – two points for guessing that quote without google.

Take a moment and write down a list of all the reasons you THINK they’re terrible, not feel as emotion has no place in this business element because we’re interested in tangible things at this point.

• Why is their information, services or offerings not up to your standards (even though they’re more successful than you)?
• How is their info etc not good, useful or true?
• What are they doing that you don’t agree with & why?
• Is there anything you would improve or think they need to do differently?

Really give some time to these answers and once you’ve written them down ask yourself if they re coming from a pragmatic rational mindset or one that is merely fuelled by envy.

Next flip those questions and take another look at that which irks you.

• Why are their information, services & offerings appealing to their desired clientele?
• How is their info not only good, useful & true but what problems does it address and solve for its clientele?
• What are they doing that people are raving about and sharing?
• Is there anything they are doing well that you can also do?

It’s easy to bitch and moan while taking swipes as those standing leagues above us although it’s not very useful and only serves to massage our fragile ego that also wants a slice of that delicious pie yet won’t get off it’s ass to go get it.

Yes that’s one key element in business everyone must accept – you’ll need to go after it.

A few more lessons from the naysayers.

They’re quick to tear down the aesthetic of something because they don’t like it.

Not too hard to understand as not everyone has the same visual tastes, yet even in saying this there’s plenty of people that will love the aesthetic and knowing exactly how/why it appeals to the clientele is does is once again something highly necessary.

If you’re really looking to delve deep search for responses from their customer services team.

• Are they helpful?
• Do they always solve/resolve the issues and problems having the disgruntled customer leaving feeling satisfied, listened to and cared for or are they British Telecoms? (BT jokes aside, millions still use them, why?)
• Is their social media customer service filled with humour and also professional too?
• What are they doing that is working 99/100 times?

Yes this is a lot of R&D, it will take time to sift through and most certainly is a pain in the ass.

Even so, it’s something that is worth doing because despite what naysayers will say towards those that have carved out a pathway to the top one undeniable fact still remains – they’re at the top.

In this life we can become two things in the end, bitter or better.

The choice is entirely our own just be sure you choose wisely because there will come a time whereby you’re going to have to stick with that choice and there will be no chance of ever changing it.

Give some serious thought to the ramble above.

While it may only scratch the surface it’s the best you’re likely to get without paying someone for more.

This is where my final piece of advice comes into play.

Naysayers won’t admit they need help, nor will they ask for it and none will ever pay for it so if you don’t want to become one of these people then hire someone to help you succeed.

Approach successful people, companies etc.

You’ll find there’s a great many that will be willing to help and mentor you, for the right price (or perhaps even as a gesture of good will to give something back to those they feel are like them in their early days).

One truth is undeniable though, you won’t get anything unless you ask for it.

Apply the above or don’t, although the latter will have you ending up like me and writing drivel on the internet that probably won’t be read.

Don’t become bitter, become better.

Enjoy,
Ross