Advice to the Newbie Trainers

If you would have told the teenage me that I would grow up to be a trainer I wouldn’t have believed it. It certainly was not a passion of mine. I was more into RPG’s, computer codes, and farming. But fitness eventually found me and I have enjoyed the journey since.

In the beginning... I was super new.... I only new bodybuilding and what I learned from Arnold. That information is extremely limited and doesn’t apply to most people so I had to learn a lot. I had to learn on my feet. When I got hired my first client had Multiple Sclerosis. Fish or cut bait, right? I had no idea what it was. I never met anyone that had it. I got through it and it was a wonderful experience.

To the new trainers out there, you need to understand a few things if you want to stay relevant. First, you have to ask yourself, who has the disposable income to even afford you? Yeah, you can write an affordable program that any asshole with google skills can find and charge a butt load for it. If someone actually follows your program they probably won’t be giving you any credit. They are the ones that did the work. Again, we all have Google. I give my clients their programs for free. Even to people that only see me for a consultation. The plan has no value to you. The way people perceive you have the real value. The fitness industry has a lot of ‘experts’ but most of them do not have that special touch that only you can provide them. I may not win every sale but I will win referrals. Customer Service is the economy in our industry. People always remember someone that was super helpful and they also remember assholes. Don’t be an asshole.

Second, stop featuring yourself so much. Yeah you might be pretty or you look good lifting an ungodly amount of weight but that isn’t the substance people really care about. Most clients you will train will have something they want to be fixed. Talk about things you fix. Tell me how you came back from hell. Nobody but creepers want to hear about your journey to a bigger booty. I even saw a trainer on Instagram that had a FansOnly Page... Are you fucking kidding me?! You want me to pay $20 a month to see your salacious photo shoots you took by yourself while Disney+ is only $6.99/ month. Yeah, fucking right. Quality over trash.

Thirdly, you get what you get when you work at a gym. You should never be picky. I cannot tell you the number of times I have had a trainer pass me a client because they were not comfortable with their medical issue. Those people came to a trainer for help. Do your research then do your magic. (Also as a side note. Your high maintenance difficult clients will end up being your best clients. They are fiercely loyal. They just don’t love you right away.)

Lastly, and in my opinion the most important, you need to put yourself out there like bait for the world to seek. When I first started training I would literally pull people I expected to be unfamiliar with fitness off of treadmills and bikes and give them a free work out. You build relationships with people first. It’s super easy to build your business if people already think you are friendly and approachable. As a trainer, you are always on stage. People pay attention to how you conduct your business. They will form an opinion on whether you like it or not.

There is a revolving door of trainers at my gym and at most gyms. It’s not the gym’s fault...It’s YOU unless it’s super crappy pay. But that is a topic for another blog.