You’ve heard the stories. Trainers in California or New York are making $200 or more per session. Trainers in your gym or community who are so booked with clients they either have a waiting list or turn clients away. Personal Training is one of the Top Ten fastest hottest careers for 2007…and beyond. You have the fitness knowledge and the proper certifications, yet you are struggling to get clients and may need to get a part-time job just to make ends meet. Or maybe you are considering becoming a Personal Trainer. How can you build an extensive book of loyal training clients?
Let’s do an assessment of the skills and abilities needed to be successful as a Personal Trainer. Obviously, a background in fitness, anatomy and physiology, and proper certifications are required. An upbeat and gregarious personality is an absolute must. If you always see the jar as half-full, you meet this requirement. Empathy and compassion toward your clients plays a crucial role. If you are a Personal Trainer strictly to attain wealth, you are in the wrong business. Personal training is about helping other people improve their lives (or athletic performance with athletes) through fitness. While you can make a healthy income at the same time, the sense of fulfillment you get from helping people needs to be your primary motivation. Clients can tell if you are genuinely interested in helping them attain their goals and that creates client loyalty. If you are in the fitness business strictly for the money, consider another career path in fitness. Membership sales at a big gym might be the place for you. If life is all about the money for you, Personal Training is probably not a good career choice.
Are you always prompt, prepared, and on time? People are paying you to be to be all three, all the time. If you can’t do this part, look for another career. Do you treat the janitor and the bank president with the same esteem? Sincerity and respect for everyone you come into contact with each day says much about your personality, and your clients will notice. Honesty and integrity are vital ingredients to your success. Everyone makes mistakes. It’s a part of life. Do you admit the times you are wrong or just simply don’t know the answer to a question? People would rather have a mistake corrected or an answer researched than feel mislead. Your clients don’t expect perfection from you but you owe them candor and humility when you make a mistake or need to research a question.
Creativity is another major asset for the Personal Trainer. Many clients stop exercising purely out of boredom. They are tired of doing the same routine over and over again. Can you design and implement exercise programs that are creative, enjoyable, and imaginative and also fit the needs and limitations of the client? As the saying goes, creativity “is part inspiration and part perspiration.” It certainly helps to be able to think with imagination when designing a single workout session for a specific client. A large part of your imagination can be inspired by a thorough understanding of exercise physiology and an in-depth understanding of periodization. Fortunately, there is a wealth of information available on both topics. OK, you may not actually perspire while you’re reading but developing a knowledge base of exercise physiology and periodization is fundamental to your success as a Personal Trainer.
Knowledge of motivational psychology is also vital. Clients are paying you to inspire and motivate them. The good news is this too can be learned! Quite a number of books address exactly this topic. Be prepared to inspire and motivate every client during every session. They are paying you to be the person to get 100% of that day’s workout energy from them every time they see you. Some days 100% of available energy will differ from other days. They may have had a tough day at the office or perhaps not slept well last night. The workout will need to be toned-down to accommodate the circumstances. Conversely, they may have completed a big project that day and be roaring to go. You will need to ramp-up the workout to get the best effort possible. How do you know which days are up, down, or average? The answer is communication. You have to ask the client how they are feeling that day at the start of each session. Communication, or a lack of it, is among the single biggest factors in determining which Personal Trainers are rich and happy and which Trainers who are struggling and worried about finding their next client.
If you have the skills mentioned above, you may have what it takes to be successful as a Personal Trainer. If you’re already a Trainer and struggling, I hope this article gave you some ideas to help improve your business. If you are considering a career change to Personal Training, I’ve listed some things you need to consider about yourself before making the leap. If you are successful, you’ll find Personal Training to be among the most fun, fulfilling, and lucrative careers in the world!
Cliff Wiese has been active in fitness, sports, and sport psychology since 1981. He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, as well as a Sports Performance Coach. He works with a varied international clientele, ranging from world-class athletes to pre and post rehabilitation patients to Special Olympians. A speaker and writer in high demand, Cliff can be reached by email at cwiese@lycos.com or by telephone in the USA at 979-229-6276. Cliff attended Schreiner University on athletic and leadership scholarship and has done graduate studies at the University of Oklahoma. He is active in Special Olympics as a Powerlifting Coach and is a volunteer grant writer for a number of charities, primarily organizations involving at-risk children. Cliff is also personally active in sport and has won championships in five different sports. He is currently finishing his first book, aimed at creating and sustaining successful and life-long workout routines for non-exercisers.
