Any trainers on ASF (in person) making good money?

[Reaper7]

I’m considering a career change and my first thought is personal training. I guess I wanted to inquire about cert recommendations, career path - did you start in a gym and go off in your own? Have you found you can be successful working in a commercial gym or independent gym? I’m sure there are answers to questions I haven’t even come up with. Any insight at all would be very helpful. Thanks!

 

[mackaveli23]

Whats up reaper. Its a great career as long as you have patience and a lot of it. I started off making $13 dollar a session at LA fitness to now charging $60 for a 45 minute session at a private gym i train at. Work hard and produce results youll keep them coming.

 

[beast405]

I thought about it as well

 

[Reaper7]

Whats up reaper. Its a great career as long as you have patience and a lot of it. I started off making $13 dollar a session at LA fitness to now charging $60 for a 45 minute session at a private gym i train at. Work hard and produce results youll keep them coming.

I missed this. How long has it taken you to progress to where you are now?

 

[Wiseguy]

I’m considering a career change and my first thought is personal training. I guess I wanted to inquire about cert recommendations, career path - did you start in a gym and go off in your own? Have you found you can be successful working in a commercial gym or independent gym? I’m sure there are answers to questions I haven’t even come up with. Any insight at all would be very helpful. Thanks!

I have couple of close friends that are very successful but it took them a while to build up that reputation. It takes lots of patients, flexible schedule and good understanding of individuals diet, training needs. Most of their clients (both) are 40 and up with money and are over weight or have health issues trying to deal with. They are not bodybuilders or young kids. That's where the money is IMO.

 

[Reaper7]

I have couple of close friends that are very successful but it took them a while to build up that reputation. It takes lots of patients, flexible schedule and good understanding of individuals diet, training needs. Most of their clients (both) are 40 and up with money and are over weight or have health issues trying to deal with. They are not bodybuilders or young kids. That's where the money is IMO.

Hey thanks for responding. Yeah this is what I kind of figured. I mean it makes sense, The demographic that’s likely willing and able to pay regularly for training is going to be at least mid career and likely focused on health and longevity.

 

[Bolan]

1st tip... Dont work for someone else... Take a biz loan and and build your gym... If you have street cred, you should have no problem getting people to train..
If your not a household name, then by all means.... Take all the courses as you can (Most are just fuckin bullshit) but will help you with getting clients.
There is $$$$ in training people.... lots of it... BUT Unk Sam takes a huge chunk every year.

 

[REHH]

I started working out in an underground warehouse gym owned by professional wrestlers in West Palm Beach Florida when I was 14, started working at a different gym at 16, became a gym manager at 18 and was also personal training. Gave it all up when I was about 30yrs old in year 2000 when they started taking half your pay, required to buy a membership and was forced to buy liability insurance. At that time I was working in Lex Luger and Stings gym and charging 60 an hour and keeping all the money for myself. I transitioned to professional skydiving as a secondary income, had to go off all PEDs and loose a bunch of weight for that, the money was very good, making 1,000 just on weekends but eventually it went the same way as gym training and they started taking half or more of our money so I quit doing that as well.

 

[Meetketchup]

In person coaching is not worth it in my opinion with social media.

I've had my online coaching business for over 15 years as a side to my real career and it's a very nice supplemental income, which I will do full time when I retire. As far as a full time thing...it takes years to build a clientele, referral system and gaining new faces. Start it as a side hustle and see what happens. You get killed with taxes as a business owner and there is no body contributing or paying for your health care/etc.

 

[GYMnTONIC]

I did for years. I was working in gyms in college, cleaning equipment and checking people in. Then got some shitty cert and started working for Bally. Even with like 3 years experience I had more experience then 90% of their trainers, aka most larger chains have shit trainers.

I did better in private settings and in person. After awhile of doing it, I was charging like $100 an hour and you can def make good money with a good clientele. But I find that you really need to have a way to stand out and be unique and special.

We also have THUMBTACK. ITs an app and you can advertise your services and reviews on there and it can do well.

It is a pain in the ass, but you can make good side money.

I would train at gyms all over and I would pre negotiate a fee. Many of the gyms thought they were gonna get 50%. Thats common. But that's if you allow it. I would have the clients join there and also I would pay them a fee, but it was never 50%. The ones that didnt negotiate, and some didn't. I said fine, I will find another gym down the road to take my 30%. And I always would.

That would be my advice. Or align with a good gym, Starting at a shitty gym may get your foot in the door like club24 etc, etc.

You can even be fat and useless and be a trainer at Planet Fitness. They will say wow my trainer is phenomenal. He has like 40% bodyfat levels. He can max out 2 plates on the smith machine bench press. He is worth the $75 dollars I pay an hour even if he has only been working out for 3-4 weeks longer then me

 

[Nobodyishere]

I’ve done it. It’s way more about sales than actual training. And like wise said it’s usually fat pieces of shit that with loads of money who need a babysitter to tell ‘em to do one more rep or stop eating deep fried food and drinking beer. The fitness industry is the worst imo.

 

[Matt88]

Geographical area is everything and rather or not you are willing to relocate if the area you're in isn't right for it. Some states and some cities just don't have any money. Everyone is scraped for cash just trying to afford their next trip to the grocery store while you have other states, cities that have money to burn.

 

[Meetketchup]

Geographical area is everything and rather or not you are willing to relocate if the area you're in isn't right for it. Some states and some cities just don't have any money. Everyone is scraped for cash just trying to afford their next trip to the grocery store while you have other states, cities that have money to burn.

Yup. You need to be where the money is when doing in person/in home training. I grew up in the Hamptons and during the summers home from college would make $100-150 an hour doing in homes. This was in the late 90's/early 2000's.

Working in a gym forking over 40-50% of your training fee is a waste. Go out on your own if you're going to do it.

 

[Wardamn]

Being a trainer at a commercial gym like crunch or planet fitness would be a nightmare for me. I couldn't do it. But if it helps you get your foot in the door you've got to do what you've got to do for the time being.

All of my clients I train/coach in person are competitors. It limits potential clients, but it's what I find the most enjoyment in doing.

Training out of locally owned gyms is the way to go. Some gyms might not charge you anything for training clients if you can bring them members and exposure.

 

[Reaper7]

Thank you everyone for your replies. So currently, I’m fine to stay in my field, I’m just looking 5-10 years down the line (im 37) and I think I’d like to begin making a transition out of my current career.

I was thinking I’ll get a cert for marketing purposes and begin to slowly build a client list on the side and hopefully be able to transition eventually. I live in an affluent suburb outside of a large city, so my geographic location would actually be ideal.

Unfortunately, although I’ll probably hate it, I’ll likely need to start at a commercial gym and to get my name out there. I wouldn’t want to invest in my own space for a side business. Anyone know Which certifications are respected/preferable for clients?

 

[GYMnTONIC]

I had a Bally Total Fitness Cert way back. Then I got W.I.T.s. The funny thing is that these companies try to sell you on their "cert" as if its a good thing and gonna make you money. It is not. They are shit certs. BUT. The point being. It's a piece of paper. It's like my college degrees. A fucking waste of money but it is a key to open a door and nothing more.

If you get NASM or some 4-6 year actual degree in training, chances are you can probably make more and start out in a better gym and demand better clientele and those actually create an intelligent educated trainer.

If you are a good trainer from say 10-20 years experience and even just teaching people on your own in that time frame, you can just get a shit cert so you can train. They may require you to get Insurance which is cheap.

So depends on your goal. If you know what you are doing and you only need the piece of paper, no matter what CERT you get, whether it is online or 4 weeks in person, etc etc. IT's gonna be you that sells. The cert WILL NOT sell for you.

My other piece of advice. Get great at sales. I worked w my buddy Eric. He was a PT and I was. Kid was 125 soaking wet. But the kid had the gift of talk. He could sell a blind person sunglasses. I mean this kid was fucking amazing. He sucked as a trainer. And he was weak as hell. Meanwhile I was a competitive bodybuilder. Average at selling at best, and benching 4-500lbs and Eric sold 2-3x what I did annually.

At which point I had him teach me sales. And that it truly is built on emotions in such a setting.
If you are a great trainer and a great sales man, you will do well.

Heres a shitty cert alot of people get, and they make it sound like this is Gold. It's more like Bronze. But it works.

W.I.T.S

W.I.T.S

witseducation.com

 

[CoffeeS]

I did for years. I was working in gyms in college, cleaning equipment and checking people in. Then got some shitty cert and started working for Bally. Even with like 3 years experience I had more experience then 90% of their trainers, aka most larger chains have shit trainers.

I did better in private settings and in person. After awhile of doing it, I was charging like $100 an hour and you can def make good money with a good clientele. But I find that you really need to have a way to stand out and be unique and special.

We also have THUMBTACK. ITs an app and you can advertise your services and reviews on there and it can do well.

It is a pain in the ass, but you can make good side money.

I would train at gyms all over and I would pre negotiate a fee. Many of the gyms thought they were gonna get 50%. Thats common. But that's if you allow it. I would have the clients join there and also I would pay them a fee, but it was never 50%. The ones that didnt negotiate, and some didn't. I said fine, I will find another gym down the road to take my 30%. And I always would.

That would be my advice. Or align with a good gym, Starting at a shitty gym may get your foot in the door like club24 etc, etc.

You can even be fat and useless and be a trainer at Planet Fitness. They will say wow my trainer is phenomenal. He has like 40% bodyfat levels. He can max out 2 plates on the smith machine bench press. He is worth the $75 dollars I pay an hour even if he has only been working out for 3-4 weeks longer then me

I was at Planet Fitness a couple of months ago - this way older looking than me guy, 6' tall, pear shaped, and at least a rough 65 years old. He was training this late 30's woman. I could not believe that was a real thing.

 

[Bolan]

I’ve done it. It’s way more about sales than actual training. And like wise said it’s usually fat pieces of shit that with loads of money who need a babysitter to tell ‘em to do one more rep or stop eating deep fried food and drinking beer. The fitness industry is the worst imo.

I dont take those people on as clients.
Just the serious guys.

 

[Bolan]

Thank you everyone for your replies. So currently, I’m fine to stay in my field, I’m just looking 5-10 years down the line (im 37) and I think I’d like to begin making a transition out of my current career.

I was thinking I’ll get a cert for marketing purposes and begin to slowly build a client list on the side and hopefully be able to transition eventually. I live in an affluent suburb outside of a large city, so my geographic location would actually be ideal.

Unfortunately, although I’ll probably hate it, I’ll likely need to start at a commercial gym and to get my name out there. I wouldn’t want to invest in my own space for a side business. Anyone know Which certifications are respected/preferable for clients?

I didnt open my gym till I was 49..............You can do it. IF I CAN DO IT.... anyone can, just have to follow your passion... Bodybuilding/powerlifting is what I like to do. After I got divorced, I said fuck it, started looking for commercial property and asking the banking systems in place what my best options for a biz loan and amount.
If you really have a passion for the sport... do it. YOU'LL love going to "WORK"

 

[Knarfster]

I haven't seen much in the way of certs. Any you recommend?

 

[NDflowback]

I didn’t read every comment so I apologize if someone already mentioned this but….. I recently asked ChatGPT similar questions because I’m just tired of working in the oilfield and being away from the family so much. Chat had some decent advice I think however it didn’t seem to say anything eye opening compared to what these guys have already said.

 

[Meetketchup]

My two cents:

Absolutely zero money with (in person) training anymore, which about 2 decades ago was very lucrative. The field is saturated by clueless broccoli heads with a weekend certification. You only go that route if you are tight with people in the industry who will help you get started, competed and made connections that way or have built up a clientele online first. You also have to live near or close to a city for sheer volume. You can't be in East Bumble F.

Recommend offering free training online for about 6 months. Get a bunch of good results and before you know it you have referral after referral. Of course, you have to know what you are doing. It's alot of work. People are constantly contacting you throughout the day, shows, questions, problems. you name it.

Just my opinion.

 

[Sector.]

I think a lot of people get into the in person training with the mindset that they’re going to help someone build their dream physique, maybe work with some bodybuilding athletes doing their first show or looking to work their way up the ranks in NPC. To a national show, to a pro card

The reality—it rarely works like that unless you get a spot in a hardcore bodybuilding gym. More often than not you’ll end up at a commercial gym like la fitness training obese people with an A1C of 7.1% who can barely stand up or function, so you’ll have to resort to a lot of bullshit stabilizing excersises because they’ll probably tear a tendon if they try to touch a 20lb dumbbell. Seen a lot of people try to touch this route, and they hated it. Hell even the trainers in my gym look absolutely miserable 99% of the time

It’s different If your names built and you’re working with actual bodybuilders.

 

[Meetketchup]

I forgot to mention, regardless of money, that if you've never coached before then training people in person for a while will teach you a lot of things. You will see patterns of similar lifting/form issues and need to correct, you need to explain what you are doing, the purpose and why, learn to program training splits, nutrition plans (if they want), track metrics, what type of people to push and which ones to be more laid back. An obvious one is you should look the part. Most "trainers" at rando gyms now don't look like they lift and/or either overweight.

Just things off the top of my head.

 

[CompoundLifts31]

I’m considering a career change and my first thought is personal training. I guess I wanted to inquire about cert recommendations, career path - did you start in a gym and go off in your own? Have you found you can be successful working in a commercial gym or independent gym? I’m sure there are answers to questions I haven’t even come up with. Any insight at all would be very helpful. Thanks!

Great post & question @Reaper7

I'm surprised I've never seen this brought up in all my time here at ASF.

I'm thinking about taking $500 of my tax return money and getting certified myself.

It's something I've actually wanted to do for over a year, but I have a few surgeries to knock out first. I'd hate to not be able to show someone how to properly squat myself because my knees are busted.

From what I've learned, it does take time to get to where you want to be. You have to put in the time and effort, building clientele and perfecting your craft.

I think one of the more important things I learned was to have a second form of income while you build up your personal training profile. I fully intend on working about 30+ hours per week serving tables for a while after I first get certified.

I'm interested to see what others have to say.

I know a couple guys here at ASF seem to have quite a few "online" clients. I won't call them out specifically because I don't want to put them on the spot, but maybe they'll chime in voluntarily.

Sent from my moto g 5G (2022) using Tapatalk

 

[Reaper7]

Thanks for responding. So since posting this thread, I decided to stay put in my career, however I started training clients early mornings and on weekends. I didn’t have a lot of clients - maybe 5, and my prices were reasonable. What I found was that I genuinely enjoy it. I trained mostly bodybuilders from my gym who actually pursued me in a sense. I’m speaking in the past tense bc I was kind of flying under the radar training people at my gym without approval, but they put that to rest after about a year. I also do online lifestyle coaching, again prices are low and client volume is low - maybe between 5-8 clients regularly. I don’t do any marketing, it’s really just been word of mouth, however I do enjoy it. I have a couple bodybuilders, a couple dad types, a couple morbidly obese people etc.

 

[Reaper7]

I forgot to mention, regardless of money, that if you've never coached before then training people in person for a while will teach you a lot of things. You will see patterns of similar lifting/form issues and need to correct, you need to explain what you are doing, the purpose and why, learn to program training splits, nutrition plans (if they want), track metrics, what type of people to push and which ones to be more laid back. An obvious one is you should look the part. Most "trainers" at rando gyms now don't look like they lift and/or either overweight.

Just things off the top of my head.

Also, I agree here. It seems the vast majority of trainers look like they need a trainer. Ass backwards. I do find that online coaching complemented the training, and vice versa. Both have taught me patience and acceptance. For instance a client racking the weight when they clearly are nowhere near failure, or a client eating off plan far beyond what’s reasonable. I tend to get frustrated, which I internalize and do not direct towards clients. I’ve come to accept that you can’t push someone to success unless they want it and are willing to do the work. It seems Most people (outside of body builders) aren't willing to live a strict disciplined lifestyle, so building a sustainable flexible plan can be the difference between client success pulling my hair out every week.

 

[Meetketchup]

prices are low and client volume is low - maybe between 5-8 clients regularly. I don’t do any marketing, it’s really just been word of mouth, however I do enjoy it.

That's how you do it. 8 turns into 16, 16 turns into 32, and so on. Before you know it you have more than you can handle and be super picky on who you bring on and can hire another coach to take on the people you don't want to if needed.

I'm sure you will do well! Wish you the best man.