Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 562
thoughts
3/6/2018 at 5:19 PM
I’ve had a number of personal trainers over the years. Here’s my opinions.
There’s too many people offering services and programs that they are not qualified to offer - thinking of beach body, arbonne or isagenix shakes, etc.
When I start working with a trainer within the first month I need daily support. They say it takes 21 days to form good habits. I want somebody to help me with fitness, nutrition and keep my butt accountable! Paying $65 an hour or more burns my butt. Mostly because every single trainer except for 1 that I’ve worked with start you with a 10-15 minute warmup. Look, I totally get warmups and cool downs as being important. But I’m not spending good money to have someone tell me to walk on a treadmill for 10 mins by myself. I would rather spend $15 a session 6 days a week for 20 mins with a trainer and do warm ups and cool downs on my own time. That would keep me waaayyy more accountable the first month when I need somebody checking in with me daily plus help me build strong habits.
Another option that I would like is the option to be paired up with people I don’t know and save a bit of money. It’s my experience that a trainer can work with 3 people at a time no problem. Would I want to share every single session? No. But if I’m paying for 3 sessions a week it would be nice if I could share 1 or 2 of those sessions to cut costs for me. And I don’t necessarily want to ask family or friends, if the trainer already has a clientele, they know who they could potentially pair up. Plus I find I work so much harder when I feel like I’m competing against somebody else (however I do know that not everybody likes competition).
Right now I have a great trainer. He works out of a gym and charges $30/hr. He’s cheap, pushes me and lets me do warmups and cool downs on my own time. I can do half hour sessions with him for $15/hr if I’m strapped for time. If you pair up with another person it’s $20/hr each so he actually makes more money if he pairs you with another person. It seems like he lives at the gym lol so if he sees you there working out and it’s not a session with you he usually acknowledges you and yells at you to go harder at whatever your doing. So it’s almost as though you get extra motivation from him that your not paying for. It also creates a sense of “gym family”, as you are paired up with different people so you get to know other like minded people. I don’t mind that he encourages others during my session because he’s very good at staying focused on my workout because he’s a great multitasker. He also makes you log your food and he reviews it every session to go over your goals. The only complaint I have is that he can sometimes have too many clients and it’s hard to get appts.
So I guess my advice? Offer more. Don’t just be a person who charges out the butt for 1 session. Be flexible with your pricing, offer texting support, food plans, nutrition support. When clients drop off, ride their butts a little bit. Make them answer why they’ve stopped coming to the gym. Make them stay committed. If they aren’t committed then tell them honestly that they may not meet their goals. Be compassionate but stern. Many people who are seeking a trainer have tried losing weight before and have failed. Help people understand where and why they’ve failed and help them develop good habits. They obviously have to put in the effort, but it’s much easier if you have the accountability and support you need.
Last piece of advice? Have a great music playlist!