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Your success as a personal trainer is much more than just about moving your client through the motions and going home at the end of the day. Your repeat business and overall growth as a trainer depend on not only your skill at your craft but also on your client management and business acumen. Giving personalized attention and building client relationships plays a huge part in learning how to be a successful personal trainer.

As it will inevitably take time for your client to meet their fitness goals, it becomes imperative that you put your best foot forward and convey value right from the start to ensure that they adhere to your program. But what makes a successful personal trainer? Here are some tried and tested tips for becoming a sought-after and successful personal trainer. 

Tips on how to be a successful personal trainer

Find your niche and invest in continuing education

You’ll notice that generalists across all industries are paid less than experts who have taken the time to develop specific training regimens. Gaining specific skills with greater scarcity will inevitably lead to better clients and higher pay rates. 

Personal training itself is also an exceptionally broad umbrella with a nearly uncountable number of client types, each with its own goals, desires, and personalities. So if you’re wondering how to be a successful personal trainer, your goal should be to find a niche that you can live, eat, and breathe. Your area of expertise could be Pilates, dance, yoga, bodybuilding, working with seniors, working with specific equipment, suspension training, or pregnancy fitness. The goal is to offer unique value to gain an edge over others. 

Working in a niche, you will also find more success as a trainer, as you will have more engagement in the kind of work you are performing.

Similarly, a successful trainer never stops learning. You should continue to expand your knowledge and skills by getting new certifications in specialties such as nutrition, strength, and conditioning, or powerlifting.

Build genuine client relationships

Learning how to be a successful online personal trainer starts with understanding your clients’ unique needs and ultimately building strong relationships. Don’t view your clients simply as paychecks, but rather as works in progress. While discussing a training plan with them, glean as much information as you can as to what their daily lives entail and how you might best meet their goals. 

Bear in mind that personal training is just that – personal – and soft skills are just as important as kinesthetics. As Michelangelo said, “Every block of stone has a statue inside it, and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it. I saw the angel in the marble and carved it until I set him free.”

It doesn’t harm to get to know your clients by making casual but professional conversation. Learn their likes or dislikes, their children’s names, their favorite music, or what gets them pumped. This builds a foundation for a loyal, long-lasting relationship with your clients.

a personal exercising with personal trainer quote on the side

Create personalized client programs

If you’re wondering how to be a successful online personal trainer, the secret is in personalization. Tailor your client’s training regimen to their needs, considering what they will best be capable of adhering to. After all, a program with requirements that the client is too intimidated to meet will do them no good. 

For example, a busy professional with less time to invest will appreciate learning techniques that they can use both inside and outside of the gym, while a client that has the time to come into the gym five days a week will benefit from specific regimens best accomplished there. 

Get plenty of experience

As with any career path, becoming a successful personal trainer is also paved by sweat and tears. There is no substitute for experience. Try to gain as much experience in your chosen niche as you possibly can.

Work with leading gyms or trainers in the niche you intend to make your mark in and put in the grind and effort. Education and training only go so far and there’s nothing that bolsters your progression faster than hands-on time in your chosen field.

Polish your coaching skills

When you think about how to be a successful personal trainer, polishing your coaching skills should come first. As a trainer, you’re as much a coach as you are a teacher. Invest some time and effort into learning how to coach and motivate your client through the ups and downs in their fitness journey.

You will need to learn how to tailor your responses to maximize your client’s gains from the exercise regimen without burning them out or demotivating them. A good balance of empathy and tough love is required here. These skills might just be what sets you apart from the competition.

Intensity is a double-edged sword

The classical wisdom is that sore muscles and body aches after a workout are good signs of its success. But that’s not always the case, sometimes it means you’ve gone too far. Learn to adjust the intensity of the workout according to your client’s needs.

Your regimen has to be intense enough to push the client and cause the change you desire but not so much that it puts them in physical pain or deters them from coming to the gym. This is a balancing act that is tough to master but necessary for any successful personal trainer.

Networking is necessary

You can be the best personal trainer in town but if no one knows it then your skill will never be recognized. While having a good exercise routine and taking the time to hone your craft is necessary, it’s equally necessary to meet people.

As a personal trainer, you’re an entrepreneur, this means that to get more clients and improve your overall reach and influence, you need to have a good network of people to help you reach out and get your message across to more people. So when it comes to becoming a successful personal trainer, networking takes up a huge part.

Empower and educate your clients

What makes a successful personal trainer is their ability to empower their clients and build sustainable, healthy lifestyle beyond the gym. It’s not enough to merely demonstrate the workout routine to your client—take the time to explain everything to them on a deeper level. Your job should be to plant the desire to learn more about their training, not just to repeat your instructions. 

Take the time to express your skill in your craft by not only explaining the motion of exercises but how they engage muscle groups and how they will benefit your client’s overall fitness. The more your clients understand your craft, the more they will be able to seek further information of their own volition. 

Lead by example

As a successful personal trainer, you should exemplify what you teach. No matter what your client’s goals are, and no matter what their skill level, you should provide an example of what is possible with effort and dedication. It’s quite likely that your client will be much less developed from a physical standpoint. Ensuring that your own fitness is kept top-notch will help remind them of what is possible. 

Remain flexible in your approach

While every business has some predetermined policies in place, being flexible in some situations goes a long way toward building better client relationships. For instance, you may have a 24-hour cancellation policy which offers you a cushion against income lost due to not having another client to fill the slot. But sometimes, it’s okay to be flexible. 

Your client must already be aware of the charges in case of cancelling within less than 24 hours of their scheduled class. But in some emergency cases, let them know you’re waiving the fee because you understand the situation. Your client will remember this little kindness and keep coming back to you. 

It shouldn’t have to be limited to cancellation policy only. Your rollover sessions and freeze-time policies could also sometimes use flexibility. However, remember that being flexible doesn’t mean compromising on your costs and time. 

In Summary

How to be a successful personal trainer involves mastering the art of motivation and keeping clients accountable. Personal training is a symbiotic relationship, and you will be judged by how well your clients adhere to your program. A client that is more engaged is more likely to return and also more likely to meet their goals. Developing that engagement is just as much about managing the relationship as it is about the knowledge of your craft. 

Here’s a quick summary of all the tips you need to be a successful personal trainer:

  • Find your niche. Focus on a specific type of training for a specific type of clientele. 
  • Continue to expand your knowledge and skills by getting new certifications in specialties.
  • Get to know your clients and build a genuine relationship with them. 
  • Empower and educate your clients. Let them know how different exercises engage muscle groups and how they will benefit their overall fitness.
  • Lead by example. Ensuring that your own fitness is kept top-notch will help remind your clients of what is possible with continued hard work. 
  • Remain flexible with your policies. Your clients will remember and keep coming back to you.
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