Chapter 2: The Personal Training Profession

Low-Cost Health Clubs

In recent years, these types of health clubs have exploded in popularity. These facilities offer a low-price membership, often including very few amenities other than access to exercise equipment. Access to amenities or programs, such as group fitness classes, small group workout programs, or personal training, costs extra, if the services are offered at all. Additionally, many low-cost clubs will have 24/7 key card access for members instead of employing a front desk staff.

Mid-Market Health Clubs

Health clubs in this category provide all features of low-cost clubs with additional amenities like higher end locker rooms, snack and supplement sales, and group fitness workouts included in the price of membership. In addition, these health clubs often have multiple locations that can be accessed with the same level of membership.

Premium Health Clubs

Health clubs in this category typically feature multiple group-fitness studio options like indoor-cycling, mind-body, and traditional group fitness programs. They also frequently provide a selection of high-end amenities like towels and complimentary personal hygiene products, cafes to provide post-workout nutrition, pools, full-service spas and salons, sports courts, and in-house childcare services. The price point for a membership varies considerably based on location, the company, and the level of desired facility access. Oftentimes, these clubs sell family packages to help keep things more affordable.

Nonprofit Health Clubs

Organizations like the YMCA operate fitness facilities. They then use the revenue from the fitness programs and memberships to cover operational costs, improve the facilities, and fund a wide range of community-based initiatives. While these organizations may not generate profits for a private owner or corporation, they still require fitness professionals to generate revenue no differently than they do at for-profit clubs.

Studio or Health Club Employment Option

Fitness professionals pay rent to use a facility as long as they have their own liability insurance and adhere to established guidelines and operating procedures

Traveling to Client’s Home Employment Option

A fitness professional will travel to a client’s home to provide services. This service could also include access to a facility if the client lives in a housing development with a fitness center.

Online Coaching Employment Option

There are different options for delivering training services online, which could include selling prepackaged programs, providing coaching to a group of remote clients with similar goals like preparing for a marathon, or providing personalized services like remote one-on-one coaching.

Organizational Wellness Employment Option

Employers may contract with a fitness professional to provide fitness classes to help employees stay healthy and disease free. This service will require liability insurance to use an employer’s facility.

Operational Costs

The various monetary requirements associated with the day-to-day running of a business

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

An exercise training method defined by intervals of near-maximal intensity broken up by relatively short rest periods

Adherence

The level of commitment to a behavior or plan of action

Training Under the Table

Refers to trainers joining a gym simply to offer personal training directly to other members

Fitness Manager

Duties include maintaining a staffing schedule, providing mentorship to fitness professionals, and holding regular meetings with the entire fitness team, all while still responding directly to member needs when necessary

General Manager

Responsible for all business operations of the club, from sales to repairs and maintenance

Master Instructor

Works directly with equipment companies or fitness education organizations to teach workshops that provide attendees with continuing education

Writer or Blogger

Writes fitness-related content that is relevant to specific demographics for online resources or print magazines

Strength and Conditioning Coach

Designs, implements and coaches workout programs for the specific purpose of improving athletic performance

Social Media Influencer

Represents and promotes specific products or brands on various social media platforms in exchange for sponsorship

College or Trade School Instructor

Teaches fitness curricula at an accredited college or trade school

Working as a Certified Personal Trainer includes numerous business tasks in addition to directly training clients, such as…

Reviewing assessment or intake forms, preparing invoices and collecting payments, developing or updating exercise programs, making follow-up phone calls, writing emails, or sending text messages to schedule and confirm appointments.

Prospect

An individual who has been identified as a potential client

A client could hire a Certified Personal Trainer for many reasons, but the services that clients are actually paying for and expect include the following:

1. Accountability

2. Support

3. Feedback and Guidance

4. Results

Sales Process

A system for learning about the needs of a potential client to be able to identify and present a number of solutions for those needs

There are specific stages of the sales process:

1. Identifying a customer’s needs

2. Communicating solutions for their needs

3. Making the sale by asking for a financial commitment to solving their needs

Prospects can be identified in a few ways:

1. Asking for referrals from existing clients

2. Working the floor to meet as many facility members as possible and building rapport

3. Obtaining warm leads provided by the member and/or sales department

4. Answering inquiries from social media and other marketing streams

Working the Floor

A rapport-building technique where fitness professionals walk around the gym floor talking to members without overtly presenting a sale

Rapport

A relationship in which two people understand each other’s ideas, have respect for one another, and communicate well

Forecasting

A business management technique that helps predict how much work is needed to meet a revenue goal

Marketing

The process of promoting a service for the purpose of communicating the features, advantages, and benefits of personal training to potential clients.

Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

Highlighting unique skills or traits during a sales presentation that allow an individual to stand out from competition

Brand

A product or service identified by specific, unique characteristics

Sales are based on…

Emotional decision making

SWOT Analysis

A professional development technique that helps individuals identify their personal strengths and weaknesses, opportunities for growth and potential threats to success

Marketing Plan

Identifies business opportunities and how to attract business in a specific market environment

A marketing plan should address the Four P’s:

1. Communicating the benefits of a product

2. Identifying a competitive price of the service

3. Determining how the service will be promoted

4. Selling the place or method of distribution

The 4 P’s of Marketing

1. Product

2. Price

3. Promote

4. Place

NASM awards continuing education units (CEUs) at the rate of…

0.1 per contact hour of training

How often does NASM require continued education units (CEUs)

Every 2 years