Book Excerpt

Chapter 1

There has never been a more exciting time to be involved in the fitness industry. The opportunities for qualified professionals who also understand how to run a business are virtually unlimited.

Take a look around. Obesity is an epidemic. People of all ages are spending too much time in front of computers and televisions, and this increasingly sedentary lifestyle is taking a tremendous toll on their health. The good news is that baby boomers and even senior citizens are seeing the value of getting in shape and are doing something about it. Parents are looking for ways to provide positive role models for their children. Doctors and managed care organizations have recognized that diet and exercise are an important part of keeping people healthy and avoiding unnecessary health-care costs. Even companies are realizing that healthy, fit employees are more productive. These are all reasons why more and more people are turning to personal trainers to help them develop, implement and stick to a fitness program.

Personal training is one of the top professions of the 21st century and the fastest-growing segment of the fitness industry. With rare exception, personal trainers love what they do. After all, they’re not working on a production line or sitting in front of a computer—they’re helping people get and stay healthy and fit. And for their efforts, they’re earning $40 to $150 or more per hour.

“The industry is continuing to grow,” says Tony Ordas, director of certification for the American Council on Exercise (ACE). “There has been a steady increase in growth in the number of health and fitness facilities. More and more clubs are in dire need of personal trainers.” While some of those clubs want their trainers to work as employees, many others are hiring independent contractors or contracting with personal training companies to meet their needs—and that means opportunity for you.

Just how many health clubs are there nationwide? According to recent information from the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA), there are some 16,983 health clubs and 32.8 million health club members. IHRSA also reports that the health club industry as a whole generates total revenue of $11.6 billion.

What Do Personal Trainers Do?

Personal trainers work with clients who need instruction and coaching in the areas of exercise physiology, kinesiology, nutrition, supplementation, fitness assessment, exercise programming, sports conditioning, flexibility techniques and more. More often they work with individuals one-on-one, but sometimes also work with couples and small groups.

Typically, personal trainers begin their work with a particular client by doing an assessment. Through conversation and by completing forms, they gather information about the client’s health and medical status, lifestyle, expectations and preferences. Then they are able to establish realistic and measurable short- and long-term goals and develop an exercise program.

As they work with each client, personal trainers teach safe and effective exercise techniques; they monitor, record and evaluate progress; they make adjustments in the program as necessary; and they provide support and motivation to help their clients stick to the program and reach their goals. Personal trainers may also serve as consultants when their clients are setting up training equipment in their homes or offices.

Personal trainers who have studied nutrition may also offer nutrition and weight management counseling. Trainers who are group fitness instructors may incorporate popular group fitness trends into small group training sessions. For example, your clients may not want to participate in a crowded class at the gym but may want you to lead very small classes in areas such as yoga, kickboxing and body sculpting for themselves, their family and friends.

Some personal trainers work with people who have suffered an illness or injury and need assistance transitioning back to a physically active lifestyle. This is an area known as “clinical exercise” and is an important part of the rehabilitation process. Trainers work in conjunction with their clients’ medical doctors and physical therapists to establish an appropriate exercise program; then they instruct the client as necessary to implement the program.

Trainers work with amateur and professional athletes to help them maintain their conditioning during their off-season and be prepared for in-season competition. They work with performers who may or may not be celebrities, but who need to stay in top physical form.

Jennifer B.’s New York City-based company offers one-on-one training, as well as group training in exercise and yoga. Jennifer and her trainers work in homes, offices, schools and gyms. Lynne W., also in New York City, is a sole proprietor with no employees who works with clients in their homes and offices and occasionally in her apartment.

Michael B.’s company is a health and fitness center in Atlanta. “We’re a private training studio, and everybody works with a specialist,” he says. “We do one-on-one sessions, partner sessions and small group sessions.” Michael originally started out working as a personal trainer for another company. Eventually, he formed his own company and contracted with a health club to provide that company’s 24 Atlanta-area facilities with trainers. However, when that company was sold, the new owner terminated Michael’s contract, so he decided to open his own studio.

Based in Salt Lake City, Richard C.’s company has evolved from being a personal training business with 70 trainers on staff to a consulting firm that works with corporations on starting and maintaining wellness programs. His company also consults with personal trainers to help them grow their own businesses.

Personal trainers are more than simply exercise instructors and supervisors. They’re coaches, confidants, role models, and sources of support and encouragement. And when you have a business offering personal training services, you’ll do even more than that. “There’s more to being a personal trainer than just knowing your anatomy and exercise physiology and the sciences behind exercise,” says Tedd Constantine, marketing director for the International Fitness Professionals Association (IFPA). “There’s the customer service aspect, the selling aspect, the business aspect, and more.”

Who Is Your Market?

Successful personal trainers agree that there is no such thing as a “typical” client. More and more people, regardless of their level of fitness or exercise expertise, are turning to personal trainers as a practical and affordable means of becoming and staying healthy. Hard-core strength trainers and body builders are only part of the overall clientele of personal trainers.

Jennifer B.’s clients include businesspeople, stay-at-home mothers, and people recovering from injuries and illnesses. “Some people are striving to get into better shape, whatever that means for them,” she says. “Some are into maintenance, so they’re not really trying to improve, they just want to stay where they are. Some people want to learn something new for variety.”

How long do clients typically stay with a personal trainer? It can range from just a few sessions to years. Some trainers carefully seek out long-term clients; others choose a niche where they educate a client about fitness, or work them through a short-term problem, then move on.

Jennifer B. says her clients stay with her an average of three to five years. Lynne W. says she typically sees her clients twice a week, and most stay for several years. They tend to be steady and predictable, but she occasionally finds one who is erratic. “I’ve got one client I’ve been seeing twice a week for four years, but she has a tendency to disappear for a couple of months every now and then,” she says.

Some clients want frequent sessions with their trainers, as many as two and three a week. Others opt to see their trainers less often, perhaps just to do periodic fitness testing, measure their progress, and update their program.

What’s important to remember about your market is that not everyone who has an interest in fitness is a potential client; many dedicated fitness buffs prefer to do their own thing. Along the same line, not everyone who needs a personal trainer is going to be willing and/or able to hire one.

Is This Business For You?

There are two key aspects to owning a personal training business. The first is being a personal trainer, and the second is being an entrepreneur.

Good personal trainers are passionate about fitness and eager to learn the latest information about exercise, nutrition and healthy lifestyles. They enjoy helping and teaching others about fitness and exercise. They are caring, giving, patient and empathetic. They absolutely love the idea of spending 10 hours per day working with people in a gym or other setting, guiding them through exercises, and helping them reach their fitness goals.

As a trainer, your job is to motivate your clients, improve their techniques, and keep their workouts fun and effective. You need to be friendly, enthusiastic and have great communication skills to do this. It also helps to be personable, genuine and truly sincere—you’re not trying to sell anything; you’re helping people, and for that, you get paid.

Successful entrepreneurs have the ability to step beyond doing the service their company offers and deal with the process of building and running a business. To own your own personal training business, you’ll need strong management, administrative and marketing skills—or you’ll need to recognize what you don’t have and be willing to hire people who can provide those skills.

Michael B. started a lawn service when he was 13 years old. By the time he was 21, he had two employees and more than 200 accounts. “Although I was successful and the business was profitable, I didn’t enjoy it. I didn’t want to run that type of business for the rest of my life,” he says. One day while working out at a gym, he saw an ad for a seminar on how to break into the health club industry. The idea appealed to him, and that’s how he got his first job as a personal trainer. His strong entrepreneurial spirit drove him to open his own business, providing a chain of health clubs with personal trainers, and eventually, to open his own exercise studio.

Jennifer B. was a dancer for many years before she became a personal trainer. For her, the appeal of personal training was “sharing and helping others.” Jennifer says, “It’s a profession where people are giving, and with that generosity, people are successful.” But she knows she has to do more than just work with clients. “The part of the business that’s challenging is the day-to-day things you have to do, all the details of running a business—the bookkeeping, handling phone calls, keeping records straight,” she says. “It’s surprising how much time running the business takes.”

Credibility And Credentials

There are no professional licensing requirements for personal trainers. That means anyone can call himself a personal trainer and open up a business. But consumers are becoming increasingly savvy, and most will ask about your credentials before they hire you. That’s why certifications and professional affiliations are critical.

“The big difference between licensure and certification is that certification is voluntary, whereas licensure is mandated by the state,” says Ordas. “Certification is a credential that states you have a certain level of knowledge and skill.”

An estimated 250 organizations offer certification programs—some general, others very specialized—for personal trainers. Most are for-profit, but a few are nonprofit. The majority of these organizations also offer education programs leading to certification, although several merely administer tests to determine competency. Some of the education and certification organizations also function like a professional association, providing individuals who have completed their programs with a range of ongoing support services. And then there are professional associations, which are just that—an association of personal trainers and other fitness professionals. A number of these organizations are listed in the Appendix; you can find even more by doing a search on the Internet or visiting your local library.

With such an abundance of choices, it makes sense to recognize that you can’t belong to every fitness organization out there. That’s an expensive and counterproductive approach. Study the organizations and choose the one(s) that meet your requirements and will give you the tools you need to succeed. “Every certification has something to offer,” says Constantine. “We all present it in different ways.”

When deciding on the organization(s) you’ll work with to obtain your credentials, consider these issues: