Personal Trainer Pocketbook
Personal Trainer Pocketbook
Personal Trainer Pocketbook
Introduction
2. What Type of Insurance Should You Have — and Where Do You Get it?
23. How Do You Avoid Chasing After Clients After They Take a Break in Train-
ing?
24. How Do You Gather Testimonials?
39. Should You Train Family/Friends For Free (Or For a Discount)?
SECTION 5: BONUS
49. Straight Talk about Personal Trainers: What You, The Client, Should Know
AFTERWORD
Disclosure
INTRODUCTION
You could say that this book was written out of a combination of necessity and desperation. I
believe that all trainers should have expert guidance and mentorship with them at all times
wherever they go – that’s the necessity
part. Largely as a result of writing Ignite the Fire and developing thePTDC.com (Personal
Trainer Development Center) I get a lot of questions. These questions span all areas of the art
and business of training from time management to sales to effective programming for
beginners. I try to answer all emails personally but it got overwhelming. Dozens of messages
started coming in from trainers around the World every day looking for guidance and I simply
couldn’t keep up – That’s the desperation part. I decided to develop a giant F.A.Q. and, for just
over two years, whenever I’d get a new question that I hadn’t seen before, I would take as much
time as neces- sary to write a detailed response. If I wasn’t able to give a great response I’d call
a friend who I viewed as an expert on the subject to help out. The answer would then be
converted into a template and categorized in my master document. Initially the document was
built for no other reason to help me thoroughly
an- swer all your questions properly. After completing Ignite V2.0 my editor, Kelly- James
Enger, proposed the idea to compile my F.A.Q. into a handy reference guide. A part-time
personal trainer herself, she knew the importance of being able to get quick refreshers or deal
with problems/difficult situations the right way from the start. I agreed and couldn’t be happier
with how it’s turned out. You’re welcome to read this book cover to cover. If you’re a relatively
new trainer I recommend it. Beyond that, my intention is for you to keep this book with you at
all times. Consider it your personal mentor. Whatever you’re dealing with has probably been
dealt with before in some way, shape or form, and in this book you’ll find just the guidance that
you need to keep on rolling. Finally, I don’t pretend to know everything and am indebted to the
other pros that generously offered their guidance throughout this book. In all cases their contact
info is provided and I encourage you to send a message of thanks if you’ve benefited from their
contribution. So, to you my bro or broette, enjoy the pocketbook.
SECTION 1
A certification will not prepare you for training clients. To do a great job, you’ve got to
have tons of practical and varied experience. This is no different from any
other profession. An accountant isn’t ready to take on a wide variety of cases right
away. Upon graduating and getting a job, he or she ideally goes to work at a firm
under the supervision of a mentor or manager. Perhaps more important than choosing
“the best” certification is finding a place to work that has the best opportunity for
growth. This means two things: There’s a manager or mentor who supports you and
allows you to ask ques- tions. You get the opportunity to get your hands dirty and work
with a ton of dif- ferent clients. Always remember that it’s OK to say that you don’t
know as long as you follow it up with, “But I’m sure as hell going to find
out.” Organized Knowledge=Another Potential Certification Benefit Information
overload is a serious issue these days. Disjointed, discombobulated information is
abundant and it’s often hard to figure out what to do with what we learn. When you
register for a certification, no matter how specialized, an expert has taken the time to
consider the methodology, gather all appropriate research, and combine it all into a
system for learning. In essence, attaining a certification can save you time, which, after
all, is your most valuable asset.
WHAT IS THE BEST CERTIFICATION FOR TRAINERS? Here’s where I give
you the answer that you’re looking for. Unfortunately, I’m going to give you a poor
answer: There is no “best” certification. I’ve yet to come across any cert that truly
stands out. Having spent $10,000- $15,000 on my education each year when I actively
trained clients, my best recom- mendation is to view certs as stepping stones for future
knowledge acquisition. For many, the best choice is to get a cert, get your foot in the
door, gain expe- rience, and let your passion dictate your qualifications moving
forward.
WHAT TYPE OF INSURANCE SHOULD YOU HAVE — AND WHERE DO
YOU GET IT? While you can shop around for insurance (basically any insurance
company will offer it), all major certification companies offer it. Call or email first and
ask who its partner insurance company is. Usually its partner will have a discount and is
used to dealing with trainers. There are two types of insurance available to you. The
first is liability insur- ance. General liability insurance will cover you if your client gets
hurt by an acci- dent, like if she slips and falls in the gym. It will not cover you if you’re
negligent and/or overstep your boundaries, and this is where you need to be careful.
As there’s no official “scope of practice” for trainers, you could be liable with general
coverage even if you do what you would consider to be within your job description. For
example, you could be in trouble for suggesting a radical nutrition plan to a client who
has an adverse reaction to it or a client gets injured doing a back squat while fatigued.
Make sure you know what your general liability insurance covers. For most trainer’s
malpractice or professional liability coverage is advised. It will provide better coverage
for anything that might happen over the course of your career. Be sure to ask your
insurance advisor on the differences. The other type of insurance that you might
consider is disability coverage. Since your livelihood depends on you being able-
bodied, an injury could be detri- mental. These plans differ widely in both cost and
coverage, so I can’t give specific advice but will tell you that I decided against disability
insurance in my career. I found the coverage to be poor (it didn’t cover me until I was
off work for 6 months or more, for example) and I didn’t have dependents at the time.
You may make a different choice.
2. Once the conflict is out in the open it can be dealt with rationally. In particular, you
can reassess your work values in relation to how they can support your leisure and
peace of mind values. This can be done with affirming statements such as these: The
more clients I get now, the more control I have over when and how I take my breaks
(including vacation). The more clients I get now, the easier it is for me to charge higher
rates, and the less I need to work. The more clients I get now, the more choice I have in
who I work with and when. The more clients I get now, the easier it is to let go of
clients that aren’t com- mitted or are unreliable. You get the picture. Each of the above
statements leverages the idea that you can put in more effort to create an even better
leisure experience. This may be something you can handle in a one-off discussion with
yourself, or it may be
something you need to repeat on a regular basis until it’s no longer a problem. Each
time you feel a distraction pulling you away from a business-building activity (think,
“I’m tired, I’ll do it tomorrow”), repeat the above statements to pull you back into
action.
3. Establish clear boundaries — for your clients and for you. You teach your clients
how to treat you with your actions rather than your words. If you have a cancellation
policy, then communicate that to your clients
and stick to it. Think of it as the policy of the business rather than your policy and you’
ll be more inclined to enforce it. After all, if you were working for someone else, you’d
be adhering to their
policies so make the policies of your business of equal importance. Your rate card is
your rate card. Every time you give a client a discount that’s not on your rate card it
becomes a cost to you. The time you spend with them at a discount rate is time that you
can’t spend with a full paying client so it’s money out of your pocket. If you’re afraid
you’re going to “lose” them because they can’t afford you,
then accept the fact that they quite possibly can’t afford you, or you haven’t commu- ni
cated the value of your training strongly enough to them to encourage them to spend the
full amount. If they really can’t afford you, putting them on a maintenance program by
meshing your in-person and an online personal training business might be the
answer. Either way, set clear boundaries for what your rates are and honour them. Book
yourself out each week for marketing activities. This will be a mixture of follow-up
calls, referral calls, etc. Don’t leave it for the end of the day or the week- end when you
don’t feel like doing it, and don’t just try to squeeze it in between appointments. Block
it out in your diary and make sure it’s you engaging directly with potential clients. Do
the social media stuff as well if that’s your thing but the front line of
your marketing is, and always will be, direct engagement with potential clients.
This may be the time you need to put the affirming statements mentioned above
to work. Boundaries like these will let you and your clients know that you’re
serious about your personal training business
4. Invest in a marketing system. There are plenty of systems out there catering to
personal trainers that take the fuzziness and guesswork out of your marketing activities.
These systems sell be- cause they’ve been tried, tested, and proven in the real world,
and it’s simply a case of following the instructions. If systems are used correctly, they
work indepen- dently of values conflicts. Find a system that you think is a fit for you
and put it to the test for six months or so.
Conclusion Building a business can be difficult for anyone but, like fitness training, it’s
as much about the inner game as it is about the outer actions. Values conflicts are a fact of life
and have a dramatic effect on our results. Positive thinking won’t resolve your values conflicts
but by being upfront and honest with yourself you can resolve them in your favour so you
become the dynamo trainer in your territory.
That item is now anchored with the thought of you and your random kind- ness. Once
you’ve established rapport and triggered a bit of reciprocity, it’s time for intelligence
gathering. If you think you’ve developed enough of a relationship with your target to
say, “You know, I’ve really enjoyed talking with you when you’re in the gym. I’d love
to talk with you about being your personal trainer some time. Would you like to just sit
and chat after your workout today?” Then go for it. If you don’t think that you’ve built
up to that yet, then you need to gather more intel about them. What are their goals?
What do they want? What kind of program are they on right now? But here’s the thing,
if you ask those questions directly, they might shut down. It will feel like the beginning
of a sales pitch. When we ask direct questions, the other person’s mind instantly
defaults to preprogrammed software that says, “Why do they want to know this? What
will they do with that information? What will they think of my answers?” This
defensive mode is what you want to avoid.
So, you need to be subtle and speak in statements, not questions. This con- versational
(and covert) style of interviewing is known as elicitation. You’re eliciting information
without asking a direct question. Types of elicitation statements could be: “Looks like
you’re focusing on strength building lately.” “I SEE you’re liking the cardio
exercises.” “You’ve been in here more regularly. Motivation must be kicking in a
bit.” In each of these, they’ll either agree with you or not. Either response is
good, because it’s providing you with information. The information that they share will
be about what they’re doing, why they’re doing it, and give you insight into their
goals. Once you have more information about your potential clients, it’s time get them
into the assessment meeting. There are two ways that I recommend you frame your
“ask.” The first is with “social proof.” This is my preferred option. Share an anecdote
of one of your successful clients who’s just like your prospect, like this: “I’m having a
great day because one of my clients just hit her goals. She’s just so happy. You know,
she reminds me of you in a lot of ways—she’s a busy lady and it’s not like she had a lot
of weight to lose, she just wanted to tone up and feel sexy. I really like working with
people like that. You know, I’d love talk with you about the program I had her on and
see if you’d like something like that. How about after your workout?” The second
method is with “newness.” People are highly compelled by new things. You could
approach your target and say: “You know, George, I was thinking about you when I was
reading the latest re- search on training men in their mid-forties. There’s some really
interesting things that people are doing that are making a big difference. I’ve always
enjoyed our talks and I think I can really help you. How about we talk the program and
some options?” In each of these scenarios, you’ve given them a subtle and socially
acceptable reason for bringing up the sales pitch. Plus they’re more inclined to accept
the
sales meeting—and hire you. Yes, this is a process. Yes, it takes time. But if you’re not
the type of person who feels comfortable “going for the kill” and approaching every Joe
Schmo on the floor, then this is your process. Building the relationship makes the ask
easier, for both you and them. Then, you do your thing in the sales meeting.
HOW DO YOU GET MORE CLIENTS WITH FACEBOOK? In a few minutes a day,
you can get clients from Facebook. You can do it for free and without being “spammy”
by taking advantage of connections that you currently have. If you’re looking to brand a
business, a professional page might be a good idea but for most individual trainers a
personal account is all that you need. Here’s how:
1. GATHER AS MANY FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK AS YOU CAN. Do this with
your existing account or set up a new personal account to keep it separate from your
“real” friends. There are 3 approaches to gathering more loose connections: Friend
everybody that you meet.
Search Facebook for people based on your years of high school and college and ask
people you knew back then. Search through the friends of your existing friends and add
anybody who you’ve met.
2. POST A FITNESS “TIP OF THE DAY.” This is a short tip every day about
something health-or fitness-related. Start it with “fitness tip of the day” and post
something every day around the same time. At the bottom of the tip include a “call to
action” for people to message you if they have any questions relating to health or
fitness. In addition to the daily tips, share interesting articles by others a few times a
week. Your goal is to stay at the top of your Friends’ minds as a fitness expert. It’s not
to influence or educate friends. Consistency is more important than anything else. 3.
CELEBRATE YOUR CLIENTS ACHIEVEMENTS (OPTIONAL).
If you can publicly celebrate a current client achievement, do it 1-3 times per week.
Congratulate him for weight loss or her for a big deadlift. Ideally you’ll in- clude pictures (make
sure to get permission from your client first). If you do these things consistently, you’ll have
people reaching out to you with questions. Always aim to get them on the phone within 24
hours of them
reaching out to you. Respond to any question with, “Great question but, like so many things hav
ing to do with health and fitness, ‘it depends.’ How about we jump on a 15-minute call so I can
figure out a bit more about you and give you a great answer. How does [LIST TWO TIMES]
work for YOU?”
Take the time breaks during the day to read in the coffee shop instead of in a back room
of your gym or wasting your time scrolling through Facebook.
REAL ESTATE AGENTS Your ideal client is somebody with money who is new to
the area. Real estate agents are the first line of contact with new members of the
community, which makes them perfect mavens. Take 30 minutes and walk around the
neighborhood that surrounds your gym. There are probably 3 to 5 agents who have
signs posted in front of a bunch of dif- ferent houses. Write down their names and
phone numbers but don’t call them yet. First, figure out how to offer them something.
That might be arranging for a free membership for the agent at your gym. If you’re an
individual trainer, you have a number of different options that include everything from
in-home training to offering them 8 sessions for the price of 10 to training them for free.
Once you’ve decided what to offer, contact the real estate agent to introduce yourself
and tell
her that you’re taking on new clients in the area. Tell her that you’d also be inter- ested
in hearing how you can help her with her fitness. Be persistent. Real estate agents are
busy and over-stressed people. Keep call- ing and leaving messages offering to help
without asking for anything in return. If they aren’t looking for fitness help themselves,
think outside the box—maybe she has a significant other who you can train. Even if
training her isn’t an option, you can ask to include a welcome gift to new homebuyers.
This includes a certificate for a trial membership and some materials on fitness that
you’ve written with an invitation to meet you. Real estate agents appreciate hustle and
respect people who don’t take “no” for an answer. You’ll need to stay on them, but it’ll
pay off.
HAIRDRESSERS Hairdressers’ days are full of small talk. Find the local salons in
your area (ideally the higher-end ones) and introduce yourself at a time when they aren’t
very busy — generally between the hours of 2 and 4 p.m. Tell them that you are
currently accepting clients and will offer them a referral bonus for anybody they send to
you. For a hairdresser, I suggest leaving infor- mation that their clientele wants to read.
For example, if the clientele is mostly 30- to 50-year-old women, write up a short article
on post-pregnancy fitness. If you train dudes, write up an article on mistakes guys make
building muscle and leave it at the barbershop.
NUTRITION STORE EMPLOYEES Credit goes to Steven Jezyk for this idea. The
employees at the local health food or supplement store employees get asked questions
daily about how to lose fat, gain muscle, and feel better. They even get asked questions
about workouts all the time and, while some of them might be trainers, they usually
aren’t looking at personal training as a career. I suggest you take a similar approach that
you do with hairdressers. Introduce
yourself at the store, and mention that you give referral bonuses for anybody
they recommend to you. Depending on the store, you can offer to leave some
infor- mation as well. Large chains like GNC likely won’t let you leave physical
materials but neighborhood stores might.
HOW DO YOU ASK FOR REFERRALS FROM CURRENT CLIENTS? The first
step is to do a great job. Assuming that you already do, getting more per- sonal training
referrals is both an art and a science. The first step is to ask. Don’t be worried about
hurting your existing rela- tionship with your clients—they love and want to support
you. It’s uncommon for your clients to know how the business works. So tell them. If
they know that your success is dependent on referrals, they will be more open to
sending you others. Yet I know that a lot of trainers feel awkward asking, so I’ll provide
you with a script. At the end of a session, either during a stretch or when the client is
sitting in your office about to leave, say,
“Thanks again for your great work today! You really smashed those deadlifts. There’s
something I’d love to have a quick chat with you about if that’s all right.” [Make the
compliment specific and ask if it’s all right to keep him a moment longer.] “I’ve noticed
that I’m going to have some gaps in my schedule coming up due to some personal issues
with a couple other clients. I’m asking my clients first if they know anybody who might
be interested in training. I want to make sure I keep the spots open to look after my
clients’ friends and family first before marketing to the outside world. Do you know of
anybody who might be interested in
training?” (At this point your client will hopefully mention someone. If he doesn’t, no
problem. Thank him for his time and say goodbye. If the client has suggested someone,
ask if the person has any specific fitness goals or issues. If he says something like,
“Well, he hurt his shoulder recently, you can say something like, “Great! I have a lot of
experience working with shoulder injuries and am happy to get in touch with her physio
to get all of the details. Do you mind asking her for permis- sion for me to call her?”
The client will say yes. Ideally you’ll provide a takeaway as a complimentary week
membership and business card or something like it for the client to pass along with
some incen- tive—how-ever, this isn’t necessary to obtain
referrals. Now, here’s what you’re not expecting: most of the time you will never hear
about this lead again. Your clients are busy and they forget to pass along your info.
Don’t make it awkward by asking them repeatedly. Instead, follow my “referral ensure”
system. Without telling them you’re going to send it, find a great article on
whatever condition was mentioned and how to rehab it. You get double points if you
wrote it yourself. Send it to your client, asking him to pass it along to his friend later
that night or the next day. The material adds value to your services and provides a
nonintrusive nudge to your client to pass along the info. Once your client does pass on
the info, he will surely preface it with, “My trainer asked me to pass this on to you,” or
better yet,
“my awesome trainer asked me to pass this on to you.” In the email, ask the client if his
friend will give you permission to call (because the person probably won’t call you).
When you get the okay, make the call and arrange a time to meet.
HOW DO YOU REWARD REFERRALS? Once a client sends you a referral, you’ll want to
reward it both as a thank-you to your client, and as a way to make your client want to send you
more clients. It’s become common practice to reward a referral with a simple free session or
something similar. This is a terrible referral incentive. It’s not memorable, per- sonal, or special
in any way. Your client has already accepted paying for session. Instead, I recommend offering
as a referral incentive a “gift worth up to $X” (the amount being whatever you want to give).
When clients sends you a new member or client, take the opportunity to show them that you
care about them on a per- sonal level. Use it to strengthen the relationship. If she loves the
opera, get her tickets. If he is a huge football fan, get him a jersey of his favourite player.
HOW DO YOU GET CLIENTS TO KEEP TRAINING? Attrition is natural and
clients will leave. However, your job as a trainer is to de- crease this rate of attrition as
much as possible. The most important take-home in this section is that a client’s
decision to purchase a new package with you is almost entirely dependent on the
relationship that you’ve been able to build with him or her. Results are important, and if
you’re not getting them, then there’s not much that you can do. But there are a lot of
train- ers who can get adequate results with most clients. What will set you apart is
the relationship that you’re able to build. These 3 systems will take 20 minutes to start
and maintenance takes only min- utes a day. They don’t cost anything.
1. THE REMINDER SYSTEM Take a sheet of paper and write down all the important
dates in the client’s life: birthdays, anniversaries, kids’ birthdays, and anything else that
you can think of. Create a reminder system on your phone or calendar. Enter in all of
the important dates for your clients that you already know. If you only know your
client’s birthday, that’s fine; put it in your phone and set an alarm. Whenever a client
mentions an important date, make a note on your clipboard dur- ing the session and
enter it into your calendar at the end of the system, setting an alarm for each. When the
phone beeps, send the client a quick email, text, or phone call wish- ing him or her a
happy birthday or anniversary, or asking how the preparations are going for the giant
dinner party. Better yet, set the reminder for 5 days in advance and buy a stack of
birthday cards. When your phone beeps, put a hand-written card in the mail.
2. CREATE A LIBRARY Whenever you come across a good article or research paper,
categorize it and keep a copy. Organize the files electronically on your computer, and
print out a hard copy to put it in the filing cabinet. You can organize them into whatever
subjects that you like. I suggest:
•Nutrition
•Injuries
•Post-rehab
•Muscle gain for young guys
•Female weightlifting advice (both young and older lifters)
•Soft tissue considerations and pictures
•Exercise pictures and explanations
I also recommend keeping different types of content, such as:
•Research papers
•Newspaper or magazine clippings
•Blog posts
Keep lots of paper clips and copies of your business card handy. Whenever an existing
(or prospective) client has a question, sift through your files and give him or her a great
takeaway with your business card clipped to it. Give different types of information
depending on the person. For example, if the person is a physician, I might give him a
research paper. If she’s a college student, give her a blog post. At the end of the day,
print a new copy of the article you handed out to replace the one you gave out and put it
back in your file.
3. YOUR TRACKING SPREADSHEET Maintain a spreadsheet that allows you to
note and remember every important event, interest, “aha!” moment, and personal detail
of your clients’ lives. The head- ings to include are:
Name/nickname and vocation
•Spouse
•Family
•Major events (past or future)
•Special interests
•Miscellaneous notes/aha moments
•Date(s) trained
•Workout preference
Using the worksheet is easy. Every time that a client mentions anything that you want
to remember, note it on your clipboard and transfer it to your document at the end of
each session. There are 4 major benefits to maintaining this document: It allows you to
simply open up the worksheet and to remember a couple of important points about each
client before a block of clients on any given day.
HOW DO YOU SELL PERSONAL TRAINING?
Selling personal training comes down to one fundamental point—you are the prod- uct.
If you can communicate confidently and succinctly and make your skill set meaningful
to your prospective client, he won’t say no. Beyond that, remember that he came in to
discuss personal training. The decision isn’t whether or not he wants it, but whether it’s
important enough to him to invest in and whether you’re right for him. Here’s a simple
6-step system to follow for every sales meeting: 1
. FIGURE OUT WHAT THEY WANT TO ACHIEVE. Listen to what your client
has to say and take careful notes. He should be speaking more than you at the
beginning. Every time that the client answers a ques- tion, wait 2 seconds after he
finishes talking. Usually he’ll continue and get deeper
into his reasons “why.” I can’t stress enough how important it is to ask “why” at least 3
times. Identify the underlying motivator behind his goal. Along with your client’s
emotional rea- sons for speaking with you, ensure that you have the answers to the
following questions before continuing: Any injuries? Have you been a member of a
gym before? Have you had a trainer before? Why did you quit (or not achieve success)
previously? What are your expectations of me?
2. SELL RESULTS, NOT PACKAGES. Next up is to give an idea of a plan. It
doesn’t need to be perfect, but the better picture that you can paint for your client, the
higher your success rate. Drawing out a plan on a piece of paper that you can both see
helps. At each step, relate back
your plan to his emotional goal. (i.e., “We’re going to follow up with a 4-
week hypertrophy cycle because muscle burns more calories, and having you put
on muscle early will make losing fat a lot easier and have you fitting into your dress
in no time.”) As a side note here: Let your client dictate how much detail that you
provide. Some might want you to get scientific; others will trust your word.
3. ADDRESS OBJECTIONS. Ideally you’ll proactively deal with any objections. The
next couple of sections in this book deal specifically with different objects, so for now
let’s focus on the big picture. You will not convert a prospective client into a sale if
objections are still present. Before getting to your sales proposition, try to bring out all
objections into the open and deal with them or, if you can’t deal with the objection, tell
your poten- tial client that it’s not a good fit.
Usually this is as simple as asking the client, “What do you think?” after going over the
plan. Be silent and wait for him to bring up an objection. After you finish educating him
about how you’ll deal with it, ask, “Is there anything else that you’re wondering about?”
and be quiet again. Continue asking this until all objections are out in the open.
4. GET THE BUY-IN. Throughout the sales meeting, try to get the client to say “yes”
or to agree to as many things as possible. For example, after he tells you his goal,
paraphrase and what he’s said, and say, “Is that right?” Before bringing up price, try to
book the client into your schedule for the first two sessions. Having him commit to
times makes it harder for him to balk at the sale. Now it’s finally time to discuss
money. Have a professional-looking rate sheet printed and ready to go with 3
options—a cheap one, a middle-priced one, and a more expensive one. If your
club doesn’t have any rate sheets and the prices are already set, make one
yourself. When presenting the options to them, give them 2 choices but show them
the sheet with the third option as a reference point. Here’s a sample script: “Sally, you
mentioned that you really want to give this your all and we’ve set
some pretty lofty but attainable goals of X, Y, and Z. In order to hit these goals by the
date you mentioned, I’m going to need you train- ing with me 3 times a week and twice
on your own, where I’ll give you a full plan of what to do. The most cost-effective option
is the 50-pack of sessions and it will take our training over 3 months to finish. This is
more than enough time to get measurable results. If that’s too big of a commitment for
you off the bat, we also offer a 20-session package. Please also remember that our
sessions are fully refundable so you don’t need to be worried about getting stuck with a
larger package if something happens.”
Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the importance of avoiding the urge
to prejudge clients. I’ve had high school students train with me 3 times a week.
Al- ways present the option that you think is best and assume that every client can
af- ford it. If he can’t, you’ve presented a second option.
HOW DO YOU RESPOND TO, “WHAT DOES IT COST?” In any sales meeting
you want to avoid making a sales proposition until you’ve had a chance to build rapport
with the person, communicate the specific value to her, and deal with any objections.
But I get it. Clients will ask you how much training costs before you’ve had a chance to
do all of the aforementioned things. First, I suggest publishing all prices on your
website. This way they can check in advance if they want. I know that when I go
shopping I avoid stores that don’t list prices. There’s a comfort level in knowing how
much something costs before going in. In not publishing prices on your website you’re
potential missing out on countless leads that you never knew existed. Still, in a meeting,
try to avoid the cost question. First, try to deflect it. If at any
point she asks what your training costs, ask her something about her or her goals right
away. If she still presses you for price, there’s not much that you can do other
than present the options. Have a professional rate sheet printed and put it on the table so
that you can both see it. Tell her that there are 3 different options and you don’t know
what’s best until you ask her a few more things—but she’s welcome to hold onto it for
the time being. Then continue your conversation. Rule #1 is to make the client feel
comfortable. Rule #2 is to give yourself an opportunity to get all of the information that
you need and say what you need to say before making a sales proposition. In giving
your client the rate sheet to “hold on to” you make her feel more comfortable and can
continue the conversation as planned. The next few sections will discuss how to deal
with some other objections.
n 3 sentences or less, explain how I was able to help you with your reser- vations. Can you
describe your 1 to 2 top goals when you started? Can you list your achievements through
training as bullet points thus far? Is there anything else at all that you’d like to
add? You can download a ready-to-
use template of this form at http:// www.theptdc.com/2014/05/testimonials-personal-
training/ Ask for feedback at any time after a client has been training at least 2 months with
you. Gather as many testimonials as you can; just make sure that you keep documentation in the
form of an email, text message, or other writing where the person providing the testimonial
gives permission to use it for promotion.
SECTION 3
WHAT SHOULD YOU KEEP IN YOUR DESK? Be prepared for anything that a
crazy day in the life of a personal trainer might throw at you. Here are the 13 things that
you need to keep on you, or in your desk, at all times.
1. SNACKS FOR YOUR CLIENTS Fast-absorbing sugars and protein powder are
the best snacks to have on hand. Clients often come in malnourished and having quick-
absorbing food can prevent them from bonking or feeling sick during their workouts. I
also like to have post-workout food handy to help my clients recover and get on with
their day.
2. SNACKS FOR YOU Mixed nuts, calorie-dense bars, and “super shakes” work
wonders. Super
shakes contain 1 healthy fat, 1 protein, 1 vegetable, 1 fruit, and 1 topper and will keep
you energized on the floor. (Pro-tip: Blend well. Nobody likes training with somebody
who has chunks of spinach stuck in their teeth.) BCAAs are also great to add to water
for a quick, anti-catabolic energy boost.
3. CLIENT FILES I suggest having all of your client workouts in two formats: hard
copy and soft copy. Have an electronic copy on your computer and make sure your
receptionist knows how to find clients’ programs as clients will come in without their
pro- grams. Having printouts of all previously completed programs on hand lets
you show progression to clients is also nice. If you’re a mobile trainer, you can do
this with a tablet pretty easily with software like
Trainerize (www.theptdc.com/trainerize).
4. INJURY FILE Keep articles on every injury you come across in a file in your desk
that
describes the condition and strengthening protocols for it. If you come across a new
condition, add the research to your file. This way you can quickly provide existing and
prospective clients with take-aways. It’s partic- ularly handy when clients tells you
about a friend suffering from “x” condition. Always attach your personal contact info to
the take-away. Build your file by adding info anytime you do research on a condition.
When you come across a good resource, print out a copy and add it to your physical file
and keep an elec- tronic copy on your computer. Upon giving something to a client,
make a note
on your “remember” notepad (see number 12, below) to print out another copy and repl
ace the hard copy at the end of your shift.
5. BUSINESS CARDS Get them made and give them to everybody. Sites like eLance
and fiverr make it easy to get these materials designed cheaply. Attach your business
card to every takeaway you give to your clients. Figure out a way to give every client a
business
card at least once every two months. This way they always have one handy to
pass along when they’re talking about you to a friend.
6. CAFFEINE PILLS Nobody likes your coffee breath. Don’t sip it on the floor while
training clients. 100-milligram caffeine tablets will give you a nice burst of energy
without the stinky breath; just don’t take too many.
7. GUM OR BREATH MINTS Nobody likes your natural breath.
8. TOYS A client gave me Gumby and Pokey dolls. It stemmed from a joke about
me stretching her into Gumby. These dolls sat on my desk since then. I loved them and
they made me smile… except when I would find that another trainer had put them in a
compromising position. Actually, getting back to my office with a client
to find Gumby mounting Pokey was pretty funny. Always have something on your desk
that makes you smile.
9. SPONGES For your clients who complain that their hands hurt. I used to buy
cheap kitchen sponges from the dollar store for clients to squeeze, but you can
buy “workout sponges” from most supplement stores as well.
10. FAT GRIPZ A great tool. Throw these onto a bar or dumbbell to change the
activation pat- tern and increase the grip challenge. It’s a nice way to add progression to
an exer- cise and add a new challenge to a client.
11. PLATE MATES Four 1.25lbs “plate mates,” magnetic weights that attach onto
metal dumb- bells. These micro-plates allow you to create “in-between” dumbbells for
micro-progression. These are especially valuable for female clients when a 5-
pound progression can be too large of a jump.
12. “REMEMBER” NOTEPAD Keep a piece of paper on the back of your clipboard
and write down anything you may need to refer to afterwards. This could include notes
about emails to send to clients, leads on new clients, restaurant advice from clients, or
replacing a docu- ment from your file.
13. PACKAGE FOR NEW LEADS Have packages ready that look like a gift
certificate to hand to potential clients. Make sure to have your business card stapled to it
and include whatever offer you like (3 free sessions etc.).
HOW DO YOU BUILD AN EFFICIENT SCHEDULE? When you start training it’s
a good idea to keep your schedule as open as possible in order to get busy quicker. This
likely means that you’ll need to be available from early in the morning until late at
night. Obviously this isn’t a long-term solution and, depending on your situation now,
this might not even be possible. In this sec- tion I’ll teach you how to organize your
schedule into blocks based off of 3 cate- gories of clients: consistent, wishy-washy, and
program design. The system that I’m going to describe can be used to strategically build
your schedule from scratch or to consolidate a schedule into something more
manage- able. The difference is that if you’re creating a schedule from scratch, you’ll
identify the consistent clients off of the bat and open up times surrounding their
sessions. If you’re breaking down an over-busy schedule, you’ll choose which blocks to
work
based off of where the consistent clients already are. For the steps below I’ll outline
how to break down an over-busy schedule. Here’s what to do: Categorize your clients
into 3 parts: Consistent clients, wishy-washy clients, and program design
clients. Identify any already-existing patterns in your schedule. You likely already
have bunches of clients at certain times and random clients placed in random
spots. Choose 5 to 7 blocks throughout the week you want to work, ideally 5 to 6 hours
long. If you’re a morning person, 6 a.m. to noon works well. If you’re a nighthawk like
me, 4:30-9:30 p.m. works well. Choose these times based on where your consistent
clients already are. Approach your consistent clients first. If they aren’t already in one
of these blocks, offer them the remaining spots first. These clients are your bread and
but- ter and you should treat them well. Offer any remaining spots to the wishy-washy
clients you wish to keep. If they’re a pain, it may not be worth it for you to keep them. Place
program design clients into the allotted blocks only. I know how easy it is to over-commit to
your clients sacrificing personal and professional development time. Occasionally you can do a
client a favour and train him or her outside of a predetermined block, but stick to the schedule as
much as possible. Attempt to keep your great clients and don’t worry about losing clients who
aren’t committed to you. Recommend that they work with another trainer. In my experience an
ideal personal training schedule is 25 to 30 contact hours a week, or 100 to 120 hours a month.
Anything more can easily lead to burnout.
HOW DO YOU EMAIL A FORMER CLIENT YOU WANT BACK? Having a former
client return to you is a lot easier than finding a new one. Often all that it takes is a
series of well-intentioned emails. However, you must avoid send- ing out solicitous
emails that make it awkward to continue to follow up if the client isn’t ready right
away. The goal of each email is to get the client to respond. As such, you don’t
pitch anything. Instead, use email to start rebuilding the relationship. What it comes
down to is this: your former clients know you’re a personal trainer. They probably
understand that you’ve got a hidden objective; you don’t need to throw it in their
faces. The point is to start a conversation. If they respond without asking how you
are, reply with another elicitation question [see “How to Get Clients From the Floor” for
more on elicitation questions]. Keep doing this until they stop respond- ing—or ask how
you are. (Ask enough questions of someone, and her
uncon- scious response will be to ask how you are doing or what you’re up to.) You ma
y also find that she alludes to thinking of coming back to the gym, or that you
have great timing. At that point, mention that you’re loving training clients and are
happy that you get to help so many people, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Ideally give an
exam- ple, without naming names, of a client similar to her who just reached a goal or
has had tons of success. Write with excitement and passion. There are 5 effective ways
to email former clients to get them back. From best to worst, they are:
1.You remember something personal about them: an event, a birthday, an
anniversary—anything. Send an email checking in and asking how Little Billy’s
graduation was.
2.You remember something health- or fitness-wise that they suffered
from. Find a great piece of information to send because you came across it and thought
of them.
3.You can make a connection through somebody else. Send an email that
says, “I was just talking to ‘x’ and your name came up, so I thought I would say ‘hi.’ If
you get a chance, let me know what you’re up to. I’d love to catch up.”
4.You make a connection through something or some moment that you
shared. “I was doing squats today and thought of you. Remember that time when…?”
Follow that by asking how they are.
5.A random “hello,” which is not the worst thing to do either. Send them
a message just saying that they crossed your mind and you wanted to see how them and
their family was doing. Being thought of feels good.
HOW DO YOU APPEAR LIKE AN EXPERT? If you already do a great job, then
you’ve accomplished 1 half of my 2 rules to success. Now you’ve got to make sure that
everybody knows that you’re an expert.
According to Robert B. Cialdini, author of Influence, there are 3 ways to show that you’
re an expert: title, clothing, and trappings. Here’s how you can adapt this theory for
your benefit:
Title. Anybody can be a personal trainer. Call yourself a “coach,” or you could be even
more creative. My good friend Roger (“RogLaw”) Lawson calls himself the “Chief
Sexification Officer.” I’d train with him.
Clothing. People will judge you based on what you wear. Be professional and let your
clothing show that you’re serious about your job and not “just another
trainer.” If you want to appear as a knowledgeable trainer and everybody else in your
gym is wearing dri-fit clothing, show up in athletic shorts and a col- lared shirt.
Immediately you will be viewed as smarter than your colleagues. Take care of yourself.
You work in an industry where it’s acceptable to wear sweatpants. Want to set yourself
apart? Don’t wear sweatpants.
Trappings. Your surroundings, or trappings, play a huge part in how you are per- ceive
d. So surround yourself with clients doing great work. You should choose your clients
just as much as they choose you. If a client looks bored or doesn’t have a good attitude
on the floor, other members will notice and will be less prone to train with you. Even if
you’re not currently training somebody, find a member on the floor and hang out with
him or her. People buy trainers, not training. Become the most popular person in the
gym. Always be sur- rounded by people. Always be smiling, Always be laughing. And
always be ap- proachable.
HOW DO YOU HELP YOUR CLIENT SET GOALS? The most common acronym
that you’ll see for goal-setting is SMART (Specific Measurable Attainable Relevance
Timely). Yet most conventional goal-setting
that happens in gyms is missing a crucial element:
Relevance. In personal training, relevant goals are pertinent to your success. You
must choose goals that matter. A 5-
pound weight loss by July 1st doesn’t matter unless you know why that goal is
relevant. Why does the client want to lose 5 pounds? How did she come up with
the number? What does it mean to her? What does it represent? Perhaps, as is often the
case, the initial goal that the client comes to with is not a particularly good goal.
For example, if my female client wants to look lean and fit, weight loss is often not
necessary. In fact, weight maintenance or weight gain might even be necessary. Body
composition is key. A better goal then might be to use a body fat assessment or old-
fashioned measuring tape. Just remember to relate the goal back to the client’s original
“why,” which is often something like, “to look great in a bathing suit.” In order to figure
out the relevance of a goal, follow a couple simple
steps: Ask “why” at least 3 times. Always delve deeper. Make it awkward. Be silent.
After asking “why,” sit in silence and wait for your client to talk. The more awkward it
gets, the more your client will talk to fill the si- lence. These moments often result in the
most honest answers because you’ve put the client off-
guard. Keep digging deeper. It might take 2 minutes or 30. Get as many details as pos-
sible. When she says that she wants to fit into a dress again, ask her what colour it was.
This way you can say things like, “We’re doing squats to help you put on muscle so that
you can fit into that red dress again” and make it über-specific. Before you begin to devise the
“how,” you must figure out the “why.”
Once you become an expert in one area, you also become perceived as an ex- pert in the
subjects that contain your original niche. At that point, you can promote yourself as an overall
expert, or continue to focus on your niche and refer clients to other experts in related niches
(this was the route I took)
WHY SHOULD YOU START A BLOG? First of all, fitness blogs create fitness
experts. An expert wields the power of his or her audience. Anything experts
recom- mend, people buy—and their classes and programs are always full. Working
harder is not the key to success; working smarter is. It doesn’t matter whether you want
to sell Internet products, get more clients, or help build your brick-and-mortar business.
A well-built blog will help you make more money and work less. With it, you can
charge more for your services, pay less for advertising, help more people, and develop
tons of passive income streams. The opportunities are endless for the expert. Write
down what you already know. The information contained within your brain is worth
exponentially more than the energy in your muscles.
Begin by using your blog as a way to organize your research or reflect on your training.
The best way to learn is to teach. In fact, my first two blogs before the PTDC were
solely for the purpose of my own study. In writing the material down in a way that
others could understand, I had to make more sense of it and in a dif- ferent way than if I
had simply read it. If you are a personal trainer and are research- ing low back
rehabilitation, write a short article on it. The exercise of writing will help you learn the
material better. Most of all, that article has value. It doesn’t matter what you do.
Somebody out there knows less than you and would benefit from hearing about what
you know. It’s rare for a blogger to start with a unique voice. In the blogosphere,
re- hashed information is the norm. There aren’t very many top-level researchers
pro- viding profound info. Most of your audience doesn’t study health and fitness
like you do. Your professional network may already know what you’re saying but
they are the outliers. Helpful writers can fall into two categories: innovators and
simplifiers. If you’re not a leading researcher, become a simplifier, communicating complex
fitness information succinctly. If you train for fat loss, your top 5 tips to losing weight is
valuable information. It may not be anything new to other personal trainers but to fitness-
illiterate people it’s important information. By sharing articles like this, potential clients who
may need a trainer in the future will recall your article and reach out. A blog is a calling card
and a place for people to become comfortable with you before meeting you. When a potential
client comes into a regular sales meeting, he’ll normally ask you why he should choose you. If a
client comes into a sales meeting after reading your blog he’ll say, “how do I start?” Nothing
more needs to be said. Start a blog even if you’re a brand-new trainer. Use it as a learning tool
and who knows? Maybe one day it’ll provide you some accessory sources of income.
HOW DO YOU SET UP A BLOG? Getting a fitness blog up on the Internet is pretty
easy. Below is a list of the steps that you’ll need to take. If you want more detail, I’ve
written an entire e-book that takes you through each piece, step by step. You can get it
free at http://www.theptdc.com/start-a-fitness-blog/. To help guide you, I’ve provided
specific examples of services that can help you with each step, but these providers
aren’t your only option. Assume that if you do sign up with the link provided, I’ll get a
commission. This didn’t influence my decision to recommend them over another
service but hey, if they want to pay me, I’ll take it. With blogging, you can do the same
with affiliate links.
Decide on your blog name, and register the domain. You can use your personal name
or a brand name. To register the domain there are a ton of different
options. GoDaddy is a common service that’s a touch more expensive but has great
customer service. You can get 15 percent off by using the PTDC’s
link: theptdc.com/godaddy. Domains are cheap; less than $20/year.
Sign up for a hosting account and forward your domain name to that hosting
ac- count. If you’re looking for a fast-loading hosting service with maximum secu- rity
(it backs up automatically every night), WpEngine is a fantastic
solution (www.theptdc.com/WpEngine). It’s more expensive than other options but it’s
the one that I use—after having multiple issues with many of the cheaper options.
Install Wordpress into your site. You can start with a free theme that Wordpress prov
ides. I generally suggest having a professional design your blog, but if you’re just
getting started and want a place to write, it’s not necessary.
Register for an email marketing provider (optional). Email leads are the best asset th
at you can have for your business. If you have any intention on making money from your blog
in the future, the sooner that you start collecting emails and sending tips, new articles, and
recipes, the better. My suggestion is a
ser- vice called Aweber (www.theptdc.com/aweber to get your first month for $1) I’ve been
using it from day 1 and have been happy with the service at every step of the way. That’s it.
You’re good to go. Now share your work with the world.
WHAT “SECRETS” SHOULD YOU KNOW? Yes, every trainer is different. But
I’ve listed here some of the things that I did which had a huge impact on my career. I
hope that they help you as much as they did me.
1. I LEARNED TO MANIPULATE GRIPS. Programming progression can be done
a number of different ways. One of my favorites is to manipulate the grips I have the
client use. Often times with new clients I didn’t want to change the exercise for the first
12- to 16 weeks. To alleviate boredom for the client, I’d change the grip. Additionally,
changing the grip can be a great way to continue training through injury. For example,
a
trainee with shoulder impingement from too much bench pressing might benefit from
pressing dumbbells with a neutral grip.
2. I TAUGHT JARGON TO CLIENTS. I used to love it when my clients knew the
difference between a barbell and dumbbell. Sometimes I would even catch them making
jokes about the fact that all exercises named after former Soviet Union countries are
vicious! I want to pass on my love for the gym to them and this is one of the ways I did
so.
3. I LEARNED HOW TO UNLOAD A BAR WITHOUT BREAKING MY
BACK. Step 1: Remove clips. Step 2: Remove all weight from one side. Step 3: Tip the
bar, dumping the weights off the other end. Step 4: Wipe the dust off of my shoulder.
4. I LEARNED TO SHUT UP. I often asked open-ended questions like “how did that
feel?” or “are you enjoy- ing the workout so far?” and then would be quiet. I learned to
do this from making sales calls—I used to get nervous after asking a question and
instead of waiting for the person to respond, I would quickly chime in with my two
cents. When you’re silent, both you and the client feel awkward. And the more
awk- ward the client feels, the more information my client will tell you to fill the
silence. This strategy helped me get to the root of problems quicker (if they existed)
and write better programs now that I was armed with more knowledge.
5. I PREPARED FOR EVERYTHING. Read the section in this book about what I
suggest to keep in your desk for more.
6. I HAD A “SOFT” COPY OF EVERYTHING. My clients used to lose and forget
their workouts. No matter where I was, I could email them another electronic copy in
seconds. Keep all of your clients’ workouts on your computer, and teach the receptionist
at the club how to access your files so if you’re not around, she can help your client as
well. If you don’t have an internal network at your gym, create a separate Dropbox
folder that you can ac- cess it anywhere.
7. I INTRODUCED MY CLIENTS TO EVERYBODY. My aim was to make my
clients the most popular people in the gym. I’d intro- duce them to all of the other
trainers and members. Doing this involved them into the community right away.
Adherence increased as a result. The added bonus is that people wants to bring friends
to a place where they’re
popular. My clients went out of their way to tell friends and family members about the
gym because of how comfortable and good they felt there.
8. I USED BCAAS. I have a really tough time putting on muscle and when it’s there, I
don’t want it to leave. Training 10 to 12 clients in a day didn’t leave much time to
consume 3000+ calories. I started to add 10 to 15 grams of BCAA powder into my
water and sipped it throughout the day. It gave me a hit of energy and helped me
maintain muscle mass.
9. I FIGURED OUT THAT FROZEN VODKA BOTTLES MAKE GREAT
FOAM ROLLERS. Ice pack, foam roller, and a party all in one package. What could
be better?
10. I LEARNT HOW TO APPLY ALBERT BANDURA’S SOCIAL COGNITIVE
THE- ORY. This theory shaped the way I train. Armed with it, my clients’ confidence
in the gym increased. This is how I was able to help clients—even those who had
failed many times before—believe that they could succeed.
11. I DISCOVERED SUPER SHAKES. Step 1: Pick a veggie (I like spinach). Step 2:
Pick a healthy fat (coconut or almonds are my favorites). Step 3: Pick a protein
source. Step 4: Pick a topper (coconut shards and cinnamon are great!). Step 5: Add in a
liquid (I like almond milk). Step 6: Blend well.
Step 7: Drink. With a super shake, you’ll never go hungry training 6 clients in a row
again.
12. I LEARNED CONSTANTLY. I always had two books on the go: one for training
and one for business.
13. I SMILED CONSTANTLY. Always. Smiling is contagious.
14. I DEADLIFTED OFTEN. Spotting clients with a weak back can be dangerous and
I can guarantee that you’ll be moving weight when tired loading and unloading bars.
Keep your back strong.
15. I CHANGED MY SOCKS OFTEN. I straight up hate bad socks. Always have a
spare pair on you.
16. I ALWAYS LOOKED FOR WAYS TO GO THE EXTRA 10
PERCENT. Every second of every day I looked for ways to add value to both my own
and others’ lives.
17. I TAUGHT MY CLIENTS GYM ETIQUETTE. It helped them gain confidence
in the gym and improved their adherence to the program with or without me.
18. I MASTERED MY 2-SENTENCE PITCH. You should be able to explain why
you’re different and better than other train- ers in no more than 2 sentences. Before I did
this, I didn’t feel comfortable selling myself to clients. In retrospect, I was confused as to
what my training methodology was. I didn’t have a personal manifesto. Write your own today.
Here’s mine: “Do great work; hang out with great people; ignore shitty people; never call
out anybody publicly and always deal with disputes behind closed doors. Have an intan- gible
element for everything you sell; create better free content than anybody else; and, perhaps most
importantly, when you do decide to sell, make sure that it’s fucking awe- some and sell hard.”
SECTION 5
This book is designed to serve as a quick, convenient reference guide to help you address the
most common issues trainers face. In this section, however, I’ve included 3 additional articles.
My hope is that they will help you manoeuver through the world of training with more ease.
(Note that the first article is actually written for clients, and those considering hiring trainers;
the other 2 articles are aimed at you, the trainer.)
STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT PERSONAL TRAINERS: WHAT YOU, THE
CLIENT, SHOULD KNOW There’s a lot of money to be made in the personal training
field. The fitness industry was worth $21.4 billion in 2011 and is expected to grow by
24 percent from 2010-2020. Buying the services of a personal trainer is an emotional
decision and one that’s often done without adequate thought. It’s not surprising that
some people are taking advantage of consumers. Trainers don’t have a prescribed scope
of practice, and the training offered by different people can be arbitrary and even
dangerous.
Terms like metabolic conditioning, functional training, core, muscle confusion, leaning
out, and periodization are thrown around so haphazardly that they have lost all meaning.
Education for trainers in North America is unregulated. While good resources exist for
trainers, the overall picture is not bright. Anybody can call himself or herself a personal
trainer, even without certification. And any- body can create educational platforms and
designate trainers as “certified.” It’s not just you—trainers themselves are also duped
into believing that the next best thing is better than the last best thing. The reality is that
they get tricked into emptying their wallets just as much as their unfortunate clients do.
These trainers are trying to do the right thing. With all the noise, however, it’s difficult
to get a clear and unbiased view of what the job entails and what methods work best. I
was a personal trainer. It was my career and I was passionate about it. My focus is now
on giving personal trainers the skills they need to succeed. In turn, personal trainers can
change people’s lives. Training is a fulfilling career, not a part-time job. Teaching
proper exercise technique and theory is the greatest weapon in our arsenal to reduce
pain and suffering from disease, help people enjoy more fulfilling lives, and save
billions of dollars in health care costs. But misconceptions about trainers run rampant.
Here’s the truth about personal trainers:
WE DON’T ALL HAVE SIX-PACKS. Yes, even we sometimes have that extra piece
of cake and skip workouts. Fitness is important, but it isn’t all we think about morning
to night. I believe that life should be enjoyed both in and out of the gym. (A six-pack
doesn’t hurt for those days on the beach, though.) Sure, some trainers’ lives revolve
around fitness. They eat a steady diet of bland chicken and broccoli, work out twice a
day, and are in bed by 9:00 p.m. sharp. I bet they’re ripped. I also bet you most aren’t
willing to mimic their lifestyle. Judging a personal trainer solely on appearance is not
the way to choose a coach. What they did to attain their physique probably took years of
trial and error or protocols that the average Joe can’t follow. Just because they are in
good shape doesn’t mean they know how to help you. You’re different from them in
everything from your daily commitments to body type. Even genetics have a massive
effect on adaptation to exercise. In one study, subjects followed the same training
protocol. Some subjects gained as much as 10 centimeters in their biceps size and
doubled their strength, while others showed little to no gain. My point? Your trainer
can’t do anything about his genetics, so don’t judge him on his body type. While it’s
important for a personal trainer to practice what they preach, their personal fitness level
is not a good indicator of how much they can help you. Tiger Woods has a golf coach
whom I’m comfortable assuming is a worse golfer than Tiger. Yet this expert has taken
years to study every aspect of the game and can help Tiger. Even if a trainer isn’t able to
grate cheese with their abs, it doesn’t mean they can’t help you meet your goals. They
know what it really takes and have de- cided to live a healthy life without the requisite
dieting. The best program is the one that you will follow. A trainer’s job is to mesh
a quality workout program with your lifestyle, while understanding your
limitations. They’ve done the same for themselves.
A TRAINER’S GOAL IS NOT TO MAKE YOU HURT. This might surprise you,
but my goal isn’t to make you hurt -it’s to make you hurt less. I don’t get secret pleasure
when you can’t walk up the stairs and my goal is not to make you “feel” it.
Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (“DOMS”) is the result of unaccustomed exercise and
is modulated by type, intensity, and duration of training. What this means is that
anything different will make you sore. Making somebody sore is not the purpose for
training; making the muscles grow is. It’s possible that the same things that make you
sore also signal the body to build more muscle but powerful mechanisms exist in the
body in the absence of soreness. The three primary mechanisms for hypertrophy
(muscle gain) are mechanical stress, metabolic stress, and muscle damage. All of these
can occur in the absence of soreness. So, yes: I will ask how you’re feeling and want to
know if you’re sore. But I don’t pump my fist in jubilation when you tell me you can’t
feel your legs. Soreness tells me how you’re adapting to the workouts and how well
your recovery mecha- nisms are working. It allows me to adapt the training as I learn
how your body functions (yes, it’s different than mine). If you continue to get sore,
something is awry. And my aim is to fix it. You will get stronger, look better, and
function better in the absence of sore- ness. You can also train more frequently and be
less miserable. I’ll save my fist pumps for when you put on muscle, not when you
suffer.
WE CARE MORE ABOUT THE “WHY” THAN THE GOAL ITSELF. In 1981, a
consultant named George T. Doran created the mnemonic “SMART” (Specific,
Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely) for goals. The system was
first published in an issue of Management Review in 1981 and has since gone on to be-
come synonymous with goal-setting. While most people focus on the S, M, and T, the
most important letter when it comes to adherence towards exercise is the “R.” Having a
goal of losing 10 pounds for the summer may seem SMART. It’s
specific (10 pounds), it’s measurable, it’s attainable, and it’s timely (the summer). But
why is it relevant? Does 10 pounds mean that you’ll feel comfortable sunbathing when
you go to the cottage with your friends? Maybe it means that you will be able to fit into
the red dress you wore on the cruise last year. (You remember that cruise; your
hus- band told you that you were beautiful.) You will stick with your exercise plan if
you take the time to look deep inside yourself at the “why,” and stop focusing on
numbers. Running a 5k is not a goal; losing 10 pounds is not a goal; and benching 225
pounds is not a goal. The goal
is the reason behind why you want to do those things. So why do you go to the gym? Th
at’s why a good trainer focuses on the why—and helps you identify what your
underlying motivations are.
Done right, personal training is rewarding physically, emotionally, and finan- cially.
This article is meant to prepare you for dealing with the inevitable everyday frustrations
trainers have. This is how to make it as a personal trainer.
YOU’RE AN ENTREPRENEUR; ACT LIKE IT. I want to emphasize two points
here:
1.You, and only you, are responsible for your business. Whether you
train people with a couple of bands out of the back of your car or you work for a
nationwide commercial gym, you are on your own. Take initiative. If you don’t have
enough personal training clients, do something about it. Don’t complain that
management isn’t supporting you enough. Figure out what is the biggest need of your
target clientele and become
an expert on it. Write a pamphlet on the subject (for example, fat loss for busy mothers)
and leave copies at reception, post it at the gym and at the local coffee shop. If you
don’t think it’s allowed, do it anyway. It’s always easier to ask for forgiveness than it is
to ask for permission. [A bonus tip: Always put an advertisement above the urinal in the
dudes’ locker room. Guys will read anything there just to make sure they
don’t accidentally turn their head to the side.]
2.Put a value on your time. Want to know how I made it as a personal
trainer? I worked my butt off training clients and on my professional development. I
also paid somebody to clean my apartment, cook my food, and I shopped at the
expensive grocery store because it was closer.
I’m not lazy—I’m efficient. If I can pay somebody $50 to clean my apart- ment that
would take 5 hours of personal and professional development time away from me, it’s
worth it. It would have taken me an extra hour to save $15 on groceries; an
uninterrupted hour of study is worth more than $15 to me. I did these things when I
didn’t have much money. Take a look at the time-consuming tasks that make up your
day. Some of them can be outsourced and others ignored. Coupon-clipping to save
a couple cents is almost never worth it.
IGNORE CERTIFICATIONS AND QUESTION EVERYTHING. If anybody
claims that they have a secret solution, have found the key, or have the best way to do
something, run. Move fast, and zigzag back and forth to make sure they aren’t following
you.
Getting lots of fancy-sounding certifications is not how to make it as a per- sonal
trainer. A certification has value because somebody has taken the time to organize
material and make it easier to digest. The letters you get after your name mean nothing.
Your clients don’t know what they mean and they don’t care—as long as you do a good
job. Question everything you hear and be willing to evolve. The best trainers
recog- nize that they’re constantly learning and growing.
EMPLOY THE CHEERS EFFECT. When anybody comes into your gym, smile a big
smile and say “hello.” If you don’t know the person, introduce yourself and remember
his or her name. Be sure to introduce your clients to every member of the gym. Always
give people a big smile and a handshake the minute you see them.
One of the reasons I made it as a personal trainer was that I helped make my clients
become the cool people at the gym. They loved walking in through the door and being
greeted by name. The friendships they built with other members still exist to this day. I
also found my clients were more eager to recommend the gym to their friends and
family because of how special of a place it had become to them.
YOUR BODY IS YOUR LIVELIHOOD. TRAIN IT, BUT DON’T BE
STUPID. Learn how to deadlift well. A strong low back will save you from getting
hurt. Long days spotting clients and demonstrating exercises meshed with your own
workouts can put you in a precarious position. Tailor your own training around your
weekly flow of clients. If you know that you will have 10 clients on a Wednesday, then
Tuesday is probably a bad day for a heavy leg workout; save it for the weekend.
Training a lot of clients while sore not only sucks—it’s also dangerous. If you need to
jump in and help a client who is pinned by a barbell on the bench press, your spinal
erectors shouldn’t be sore. If they are, you put your own body at risk.
WEAR GOOD SOCKS. Because nothing is worse than standing and sweating for 10
hours in the half- inch cotton socks you just bought 5 for $10 at Wal-Mart.
EMPOWER FIRST; EDUCATE SECOND. You should never worry about teaching
a client too much. Teach your clients everything you know and empower them to make
positive decisions. I know what you’re thinking: “But if I teach them too much, doesn’t
that mean that they won’t need me anymore?” Giving your clients autonomy over their
fitness plans is the best way to ensure adherence. Educate them on the right choices and
let them work with you in cre- ating their plans. Instead of a dictatorship, make the
session a democracy. Empowering your clients will have them getting better results and
one of two things will happen: They will be so happy that they will never want to leave
you. They will move on and train by themselves but tell everybody they know
how great you are.
FIGURE OUT A WAY TO GENERATE PASSIVE INCOME—WITHOUT
SACRI- FICING YOUR INTEGRITY. Selling supplements and participating in
multi-tier marketing programs is a
way to make passive income. If you have done your research and truly believe it’s the
best way to help the client—go for it. If you haven’t, please stop selling over- priced
powders to your clients they don’t need.
FILL EMPTY SESSIONS. I developed a system that enabled me to fluidly train 12
clients in a day. It was designed to make me ready for any interruption. I built a
spreadsheet of clients who lived close to the gym and could be squeezed in at a
moment’s notice. (These were my “on-call” clients.) On this form were which days they
could make it and what times. If I had a client cancel 30 minutes before a session, I
opened up my spreadsheet and was able to fire off 5 text messages in a minute. I could
usually fill the spot.
REMEMBER THAT IT’S NEVER ABOUT YOU.
If you forget everything else in this section, remember this. If you want to make it as a personal
trainer, my number 1 tip is to always put yourself in your clients’ shoes. Look at things from
their perspective, not yours.
AFTERWORD This book was written as a daily reference. So even if you read
through it cover to cover, keep it with you. You never know when the myriad of things
that I’ve covered in this book can come up and as a trainer you need to be ready for
anything. To assist more trainers I encourage you to visit the Personal Trainer
Devel- opment Center (www.theptdc.com). The blog is a collaborative effort with new f
ree articles multiple times a week in addition to an extensive archive and is dedicated to
your success. I encourage you to join the newsletter by entering your email
in one of the boxes on the site or by visiting www.personaltrainerebooks.com (an extens
ion of the PTDC). Once you become a PTDC insider you’ll immediately get free access
to a num- ber of free Ebooks consisting of strategies to market better, get more clients,
and
generate multiple streams of income without sacrificing your integrity. You will also
gain access to a free 2.5 week course and, once the course is finished, will get all new
articles delivered straight to your inbox. In addition to the PTDC, I also maintain a
personal blog called
Viralnomics (www.viralnomics.com). This is where I do the majority of my personal w
riting, predominantly covering business and social media but really, I write about
what- ever is interesting to me at the time. I truly hope that you enjoyed and got a lot
out of this book and hope that you consider gifting a copy to any new or experienced
trainer looking to be better and get more out of his or her career. To your unlimited
successes, DISCLOSURE It’s important to me to be 100% transparent. I recommend
to you some products and services in this book. Assume that for everything that I
recommend I receive some sort of financial compensation and/or are in some way
associated with the company. With that being said, my reputation is my #1 priority. If I
do receive compen- sation of any sort it in no way swayed my decision to recommend
that product or service over another. In almost all cases I did an audit first and contacted
the com- pany about a potential business relationship afterwards.
“A look at personal training that goes beyond the textbooks” – MUSCLE &
FITNESS Have you ever struggled to get clients? Have you ever desperately tried to
retain your clients only to have them drop off? Have you ever searched endlessly for the
right gym to work at to no avail? Have you ever been frustrated by the state of the
fitness industry and didn’t know what to do? Have you ever thought that there must b
e more to personal training? You’re not alone. For years Jon’s been asked these
questions so he
read, watched, researched and interviewed the best in the world to compile Ignite the Fi
re. This powerful book will show you how to:
•Find your dream personal training job
•Build your reputation by finding your niche
Sell any client
•Build beginner workouts
•Market yourself
•Deal with difficult client types
•Make passive income
•Grow yourself, your career, and your bank account
Now in a revised, expanded, and upgraded edition, Ignite the Fire is the highly practica
l approach to personal training already relied on by thousands of
trainers Worldwide and the perfect compliment to the Personal Trainer Pocketbook. It p
ro- vides a clear road map to building your career from the bottom up so you can build a
clientele, your reputation, and income.