Although there’s great demand in the fitness industry, you should follow these tips to build a successful personal training career. The world needs more personal trainers. And, this need is only expected to grow in the coming years. Of course, this is in part due to America’s obesity epidemic. But, it’s also because not many people know how to be a successful personal trainer. Having a love for fitness and an education in exercise science are the prerequisites. However, there are secrets a newly certified personal trainer should do to get the best personal trainer salary and grow their career.
Lionel University prides itself on the most reputable exercise science education available, regardless of your degree program. More importantly, Lionel’s invested in making sure they turn out successful personal trainers with a bright career path ahead of them. Follow these tips whether you’re new to the industry or trying to do more as a personal trainer.
Especially if you’re in the middle of getting your certification or degree, an entry level position is valuable. Even if you already have your personal training certification,, this is important. When you know the ideal place where you want to start training, take an entry level position if needed. An entry level position at a major gym or elite health club is an excellent way to get your foot in the door with hiring managers and others.
More importantly, though, you'll get exposure to members who can be a potential client. Consider it a form of marketing where you get to be in front of a prime prospect for every shift. This could mean working the front desk, helping out on the gym floor, or other. Even if you only pick up a few shifts a week, you’ll learn the department policies and have the opportunity to build a professional fitness reputation.
If you’re currently working as a personal trainer, make sure everyone who works at the facility knows who you are. More importantly, make sure they know you’re a quality fitness professional. This is never more true than with the gym membership sales team. These individuals get to know a member before you do. And, they’ll have a good idea of what their fitness goals are and what they’re willing to spend. If a membership associate knows that you’re a great trainer that can get client results, they’ll be more likely to recommend the highly qualified, prospective client to you.
You can improve these chances if they like you. So, it’s important to develop good relationships with these personnel. You can do this by taking them through an all-star workout. Experiencing what you can do first-hand is more valuable than you telling them about your personal training certification or specialty certification. In your spare time, give them a fitness assessment, design a workout program, offer a training session to them, and continue to follow up. It’s one of the best ways to grow your clientele base in a fitness facility.
The intention here is the same as accepting a job like a front desk associate. When you clean equipment on the gym floor, you position yourself to talk to members who might be interested in your personal training services. Further, it’s less intimidating for them. You aren’t correcting their form (unless they ask for help or putting themselves at injury risk). Instead, you’re just “hanging out”, being professional, and making small talk. It’s common for a new or experienced personal trainer to want to stay in the fitness office or at a desk. Sometimes it’s because it’s where more interesting things happen. But, never let cleaning equipment be beneath you. And trust the management team when they say it’s a good way to reach a potential client. It’s the truth, not just a way for free cleaning labor.
Group fitness has changed a lot in recent years. So, if you have any negative perceptions, check out some classes. Attending a group fitness class with other members is similar to cleaning equipment. It’s an easy way to meet members and develop relationships without pitching a personal training package to them. Plus, you get a workout while doing it.
And, consider becoming a fitness instructor. As an instructor, you further elevate the ability to market yourself to a large group of potential personal training buyers without the “sales experience”. Participants in group training classes form relationships with the instructor and come to know, like, and trust them. Therefore, it’s invaluable even if it’s just one class a week. You can get your group fitness specialty certification as you go through your degree program at Lionel University. This makes it even easier to hit the ground running when you graduate.
As you start working as a personal trainer, there are things you can do to increase your likelihood of accelerating your career growth. Call or text to confirm new appointments the day before. Especially if it’s a free assessment provided by the fitness center. Many times, if something is free, people assume it to be less valuable. But, meeting with a new member is one of the best ways to get a new client. By calling ahead, you show your professionalism and increase the chances that the potential client will attend the training session. Further, if someone cancels or reschedules, it gives you the opportunity to book another appointment or find ways to use your time valuably.
Getting a personal training certification can help get your foot in the door. But, getting fitness specializations help you take your career to the next level. It can apply to your certification requirements for continuing education. But more importantly, you learn how to cater to unique populations or provide different services. For example, a nutrition certification allows you to provide nutrition coaching to clients (depending on your place of employment and state). Nutrition and fitness go hand in hand. This is especially true when you’re working with weight loss clients. Weight loss fitness goals are impossible to achieve without the guidance of healthy nutrition behaviors.
Other specializations like corrective exercise or strength and conditioning allow you to add more to a client’s training program. There will be members who know how to workout and get to their general fitness goals. But, they might get an overuse injury or related pain along the way. When this is the case, you can use your education in corrective exercise to improve muscle imbalances and faulty movement patterns. Very few members know how to do this. And, when you can help an avid exerciser return to fitness, pain free, you’re worth your weight in gold.
Of course, there are other specializations you can consider like senior fitness, youth fitness, transformation and behavior change, and strength and conditioning. So, do the research and seek out the one that serves the population where you work or adds to the services you can provide.
It’s common for a fitness professional to grow complacent. While unintentional, it tends to happen because they view their role as the minutes they spend with a client. However, the client isn’t paying for time or even a workout. Instead, they’re paying for results. When you make results the number one priority for how you work each day, you’re on your way to becoming a successful personal trainer. You might see it changes how you interact with your clients. The training session might become more professional or focused. You might reach out to them when they’re not with you to make sure they’re sticking to their meal plan and workout program you gave them.
And, when results are the most important thing in your fitness business, you’ll see it accelerates your personal training career and, consequently, your salary. You’ll get more client referrals. This is a great way to scale because you don’t have to work in marketing. Your clients are proud of what they were able to do and will tell everyone about it. You’ll also gain a positive reputation at the gym when other members are able to see the transformation of the people around them. Always prioritize the end outcome, and you’re able to also increase your hourly rate.
Learn everything you can about online personal training. The fitness industry was slow to evolve to a virtual and technology driven environment. But, it’s catching up. Online fitness coaching shifts the way the personal training industry should view a fitness role. Like the other tip, it prioritizes the success of clients rather than minutes in the gym. So, if you don’t provide online personal training services now, at some point you’ll need to. Clients will start turning to remote opportunities for health and fitness as they see their friends doing the same. So, you don’t want to fall behind.
And, who wouldn’t want to do online fitness coaching? Online personal trainers can work anywhere in the world. And, because the focus is on program oversight, fitness motivation, and goal accountability, you’re able to scale a fitness business and even make more per hour. This is because the services aren’t based on an hourly rate. Instead, they’re based on the features and services like running fitness challenges, nutrition coaching, and more. Therefore, you can add even more to your product offerings. This allows you to provide low cost and easy entry offerings. And, you can also have high touchpoint and coaching offerings.
Even if you’re working in a gym and not on your own, you should do a personal training business plan. This is like a roadmap to being a successful personal trainer. Going through this exercise will help you map out exactly who your target market is, how you can help them, and key client acquisition activities you should be doing. It’s a recipe for success, and you don’t have to spend hours on it or have experience in business to put it together. You can consider it like how you assess, design programs, and set goals for clients. You’ll look at where you’re starting, what success looks like, and calculate exactly what you need to do each week to be that successful trainer you want to be.
When you get a degree in exercise science from Lionel University, you learn it all. You don’t just get a personal trainer certification (although, you get that too!). Instead, you’ll learn all the factors related to health, fitness, and wellness. This includes learning the ins and outs of the fitness business. Built into the education program is elective fitness specializations which will earn you a master trainer certificate too. This allows you to work as a personal trainer (and a top paid one) as you finish your degree program. You could almost consider it a well-paid internship. Plus, with all the peer and experienced faculty interaction, it’s like a personal trainer development center. You can’t get that with just an online personal training certification.
And, if you decide you want something more than just being a great personal trainer, you can! You’ll see the doors to fitness job opportunities are wide open once you have a degree in exercise science. Regardless of whether you’re pursuing an associates degree, bachelor’s degree, or master’s degree, specialists in exercise science are in demand.
And, with the help of financial aid, earning your exercise science degree is even more of a possibility. All of this means you can be learning from the best right away. And, in as little as six months, you can be a top personal trainer with the information you learn. It’s the best way to kick start your dream personal training career.
Check out our programs and contact Lionel today!