Being a Personal Trainer - advice?

Being a Personal Trainer - advice?

Author
Discussion

captain jack

Original Poster:

191 posts

227 months

Monday 21st April 2014
quotequote all
Hi,

My wife is embarking on a course to become a personal trainer - the course seems very extensive (and medical!) so no issues with that!

She has spoken to various trainers at the gym we attend and that has helped her make the decision to go down this route. I was just wondering if any PH'ers had also become personal trainers and if they had any advice on both the lifestyle and more importantly the business side - what worked/what didn't?

Thanks in advance!

rog007

5,748 posts

223 months

Monday 21st April 2014
quotequote all
I have insight in to this industry but I would counsel that it should be approached in the same way as any career (if she's looking to be employed (by a gym for example)) or business venture (if she's looking to be self employed); do lots of research in to the market, pay levels and any local competition. How she will market herself and what her USP will be could be important to gain that competitive advantage. Final note is that many enter the industry, but few remain for long. Good luck!

dfen5

2,397 posts

211 months

Monday 21st April 2014
quotequote all
Saturated market round here. Saw a grubby Ford Focus with "Personal trainer on call" written all over it drive past this morning. Smacks of the new "Feng Shui consultant" to me. Prices approx' £25 per hour plus you're travelling around. It must be pretty hard to scrape a living from this line of work,
unless you're the PH legend that is Scott Alexander, of course.

Seems the people providing the PT 'trainer' courses are the ones making the money, taking advantage of the latest fad before moving onto the next business.


Edited by dfen5 on Monday 21st April 09:28

Eleven

26,271 posts

221 months

Monday 21st April 2014
quotequote all
captain jack said:
Hi,

My wife is embarking on a course to become a personal trainer - the course seems very extensive (and medical!) so no issues with that!

She has spoken to various trainers at the gym we attend and that has helped her make the decision to go down this route. I was just wondering if any PH'ers had also become personal trainers and if they had any advice on both the lifestyle and more importantly the business side - what worked/what didn't?

Thanks in advance!
As an external observer, based upon my membership at David Lloyd, there are very few successful PTs. It seems that they obtain their business through marketing themselves, but almost all of them are spectacularly bad at doing this. Added to which they are working in a notoriously low-paid industry so income is likely to vary between poor and disastrous.

Some advice to your missus:

1. If you're going to do this for a job, cultivate a body to die for. It's the single biggest marketing tool you have. Many PTs seem to overlook this.

2. Be nice to EVERYONE. Men, women, fat people, thin people, black, white. Be friendly, stop for a chat and don't act like you're trying to sell them something.

3. However cool you think you are, looking cool and unapproachable will ensure that you will not get business.




Hoofy

76,253 posts

281 months

Monday 21st April 2014
quotequote all
Wot 'e sed.

I do know one successful PTer and this is pretty much his persona all over.

Otherwise, it's a saturated market so you do need to have a USP. It might be that she gets an additional qualification in a sport she enjoys. I know someone who is a PTer and a climbing coach so I expect she combines the two skills for a fairly unique offering.

V8mate

45,899 posts

188 months

Monday 21st April 2014
quotequote all
dfen5 said:
Seems the people providing the PT 'trainer' courses are the ones making the money, taking advantage of the latest fad before moving onto the next business.
I was quite shocked recently, seeing an ad running on the screens at my gym by such a firm, advertising that you can 'become a PT in 6 weeks!'.

Reading this thread has got me to pondering... do these guys require any form of professional indemnity insurance? Surely there's significant scope for them to do you some damage?

My PT is ok - he makes me work harder than I could/would on my own. But I do push him to explain why he makes me do certain things and explain how I will benefit from certain exercises. But that's me. Most of the girls at the gym just choose the hunky black PT hehe

944fan

4,962 posts

184 months

Monday 21st April 2014
quotequote all
I agree with what Hoofy and Rog007 said about needing a USP.

I use a PT but he is a specialist triathlon and swim coach. He used to be a competitive swimmer and and age grouper. There as few who specialise like that and this one is particularly good. His swim quad is full, his individual swim sessions are booked out 4-6 weeks in advance. When he enters triathlons he usually wins so it shows he knows what he is doing.

Hoofy

76,253 posts

281 months

Monday 21st April 2014
quotequote all
V8mate said:
I was quite shocked recently, seeing an ad running on the screens at my gym by such a firm, advertising that you can 'become a PT in 6 weeks!'.

Reading this thread has got me to pondering... do these guys require any form of professional indemnity insurance? Surely there's significant scope for them to do you some damage?
REPS Level 3 means you are a qualified PTer and can get appropriate insurance cover.

MajorProblem

4,700 posts

163 months

Monday 21st April 2014
quotequote all
You know the sort of people who sign up for the gym go once or twice then you never see them again, that's what happens with most PTs.

I've seen about 20 freelance PTs jack in, usually in well under 12 months, don't get me wrong I've seen people who make it a success but they usually have a lot more qualifications than level 2 fitness or whatever.

Hoofy

76,253 posts

281 months

Monday 21st April 2014
quotequote all
Level 2 only allows you to do group fitness classes. That said, perhaps you could go further focusing on fitness classes if you specialised?

You could maybe charge £30 an hour for a one-to-one PT session. OTOH a bootcamp or zumba or body wombat class, you charge £5 a person, get 10 people, that's £50 an hour. Build a class based on word of mouth, get 20 people per session, that's £100 an hour with each client thinking you're good VFM and enjoying the class. To charge £100 an hour for 1-2-1 PT you have to be pretty amazing or hit a target that's rich or stupid.

Check these guys, for instance: http://www.1000caloriebootcamp.co.uk/
The only reason I might go is to meet single women. I'd rather burn fewer cals playing a sport of some sort.


Edited by Hoofy on Monday 21st April 15:52

lamboman100

1,445 posts

120 months

Monday 21st April 2014
quotequote all
The average UK salary today of a personal fitness trainer is just £18k.

Few, if any, people are getting rich from it.

My buddy, who did it for 3 years in the home counties, reckons PT is more a lifestyle choice for 20 to 50 yearolds. Get a hot bod, bang a few clients, hope the older ones leave you some cash in their wills, that kinda thing.

Edited by lamboman100 on Monday 21st April 16:02

944fan

4,962 posts

184 months

Monday 21st April 2014
quotequote all
Hoofy said:
You could maybe charge £30 an hour for a one-to-one PT session. OTOH a bootcamp or zumba or body wombat class, you charge £5 a person, get 10 people, that's £50 an hour. Build a class based on word of mouth, get 20 people per session, that's £100 an hour with each client thinking you're good VFM and enjoying the class. To charge £100 an hour for 1-2-1 PT you have to be pretty amazing or hit a target that's rich or stupid.

Edited by Hoofy on Monday 21st April 15:52
The coach I mentioned above is charging £45/hour for 1-2-1. Swim squad is £4/hour and the entire pool is full, probably 40 people.

Hoofy

76,253 posts

281 months

Monday 21st April 2014
quotequote all
944fan said:
Hoofy said:
You could maybe charge £30 an hour for a one-to-one PT session. OTOH a bootcamp or zumba or body wombat class, you charge £5 a person, get 10 people, that's £50 an hour. Build a class based on word of mouth, get 20 people per session, that's £100 an hour with each client thinking you're good VFM and enjoying the class. To charge £100 an hour for 1-2-1 PT you have to be pretty amazing or hit a target that's rich or stupid.

Edited by Hoofy on Monday 21st April 15:52
The coach I mentioned above is charging £45/hour for 1-2-1. Swim squad is £4/hour and the entire pool is full, probably 40 people.
QED. biggrin

condor

8,837 posts

247 months

Monday 21st April 2014
quotequote all
Organising Nordic walking sessions seems to be a bit of a money earner. Round our way they are charging £3 or £4 a person ( typically for an hour) to walk in country parks on public footpaths and bridleways. Seems all you need is to learn how to Nordic walk yourself, organise routes and supply a few cheap walking poles as the equipment.


ChasW

2,135 posts

201 months

Monday 21st April 2014
quotequote all
Eleven said:
captain jack said:
Hi,

My wife is embarking on a course to become a personal trainer - the course seems very extensive (and medical!) so no issues with that!

She has spoken to various trainers at the gym we attend and that has helped her make the decision to go down this route. I was just wondering if any PH'ers had also become personal trainers and if they had any advice on both the lifestyle and more importantly the business side - what worked/what didn't?

Thanks in advance!
As an external observer, based upon my membership at David Lloyd, there are very few successful PTs. It seems that they obtain their business through marketing themselves, but almost all of them are spectacularly bad at doing this. Added to which they are working in a notoriously low-paid industry so income is likely to vary between poor and disastrous.

Some advice to your missus:

1. If you're going to do this for a job, cultivate a body to die for. It's the single biggest marketing tool you have. Many PTs seem to overlook this.

2. Be nice to EVERYONE. Men, women, fat people, thin people, black, white. Be friendly, stop for a chat and don't act like you're trying to sell them something.

3. However cool you think you are, looking cool and unapproachable will ensure that you will not get business.
I have no insight into this industry at all other than being a customer. I belong to quite a large sports club and I notice that the busiest PTs are the really friendly guys and gals with personality. They seem to know everybody and always acknowledge you. Seems to me that a large part of the job is making the punters feel good even if they keep looking rubbish.

Quattromaster

2,904 posts

203 months

Monday 21st April 2014
quotequote all
This is my brother in law

www.kb3training.com

As well as gym training he does kettle bells and Nordic walking, seems to make a good living, does early morning lessons from 6 am, home by midday, back out by 5 pm for evening classes.

Very well known in the world of kettle bells

GG89

3,526 posts

185 months

Monday 21st April 2014
quotequote all
condor said:
Organising Nordic walking sessions seems to be a bit of a money earner. Round our way they are charging £3 or £4 a person ( typically for an hour) to walk in country parks on public footpaths and bridleways. Seems all you need is to learn how to Nordic walk yourself, organise routes and supply a few cheap walking poles as the equipment.
People pay to go walks?

amazing!

2.5pi

1,066 posts

181 months

Monday 21st April 2014
quotequote all
Eleven said:
As an external observer, based upon my membership at David Lloyd, there are very few successful PTs. It seems that they obtain their business through marketing themselves, but almost all of them are spectacularly bad at doing this. Added to which they are working in a notoriously low-paid industry so income is likely to vary between poor and disastrous.

Some advice to your missus:

1. If you're going to do this for a job, cultivate a body to die for. It's the single biggest marketing tool you have. Many PTs seem to overlook this.

2. Be nice to EVERYONE. Men, women, fat people, thin people, black, white. Be friendly, stop for a chat and don't act like you're trying to sell them something.

3. However cool you think you are, looking cool and unapproachable will ensure that you will not get business.
Bang on advice

At my local DL there seem to be a few who have been there for yonks , almost all have a real niche , eg one large butch lady who seems to have the hefty women market to herself.

The youngsters who do it just seem to fall by the wayside as they can't identify their own type of market quickly enough.

There are a number who seem *appear* unable to get their own fitness sussed so unsurprisingly seem to spent a lot of time doing FA in the way PT work.

Good luck to her it is tough work

Eleven

26,271 posts

221 months

Monday 21st April 2014
quotequote all
2.5pi said:
The youngsters who do it just seem to fall by the wayside as they can't identify their own type of market quickly enough.
If there was a market for preening, skinny, up themselves, only talk to pretty women, too cool for school nitwits we'd have some multi-millionaire PTs at our David Lloyd.

Thankyou4calling

10,595 posts

172 months

Monday 21st April 2014
quotequote all
You don't require any qualifications whatsoever to be a Personal Trainer. There are associations and recommendations but it's an unregulated industry that anyone can work in. Many PTs have no qualifications, or insurance. As long as they aren't claiming to have they're not breaking any laws.