How many of you make a living off personal training?

[AlphaMaleDawg]

I'm curious how many people here are trainers/gurus for a living. Does being a huge looking bodybuilder give you all the credentials you need to get clients? Of course you need certifications, but I see all these competitive bbers, whether it be IFBB, NPC, or whatever all do personal training to make a living, and appear to be successful. It seems to me that these guys who get huge and compete do well in personal training or contest prep coaching. I would also like to know how they even get started with it. Just curious.

 

[thehazzle]

I'm a personal trainer. Have more of a fitness model/men's physique build and I do pretty well. Think about it the pool of bodybuilders is a lot smaller than the pool of dude that just wanna look good on the beach.

You'd have to prob prep a few people for free and build a reputation up first before anyone is willing to pay for prep services.

 

[midwest11]

supply and demand if you are the top traininer at your gym or area and cater to all walks with good inter-personal skills its not unheard of to make a 100k easy

 

[BuffD]

Looking fit will help you get clients. Looking like a bodybuilder will not help you at all and will probably hurt you more than anything. A gym I use to go to I asked the owner if I could work there as a trainer and he said "no you are too big to be a trainer here. People don't want to look like you do". Of course I would never train some one to look like I do (I'm not even all that big right now) if that's not what they want but people assume when you are a bodybuilder that you will make them big like a bodybuilder as well. So if training is what you want to do either find a place that has lots of people that want to be competitive bodybuilders or get leaner and smaller.

 

[shifty1921]

Im just getting started and finding it hard to get clients. But when I do there is alot of money to be made.

 

[ajdos]

I have some clients on the side to make ends meet, not making my bread and butter doing it, but I do enjoy helping people get results.

 

[AlphaMaleDawg]

I'm a personal trainer. Have more of a fitness model/men's physique build and I do pretty well. Think about it the pool of bodybuilders is a lot smaller than the pool of dude that just wanna look good on the beach.

You'd have to prob prep a few people for free and build a reputation up first before anyone is willing to pay for prep services.

Do you work in a gym or did you design a web site and market yourself somehow?

Looking fit will help you get clients. Looking like a bodybuilder will not help you at all and will probably hurt you more than anything. A gym I use to go to I asked the owner if I could work there as a trainer and he said "no you are too big to be a trainer here. People don't want to look like you do". Of course I would never train some one to look like I do (I'm not even all that big right now) if that's not what they want but people assume when you are a bodybuilder that you will make them big like a bodybuilder as well. So if training is what you want to do either find a place that has lots of people that want to be competitive bodybuilders or get leaner and smaller.

See every gym I go to, the male trainers don't even look like they work out. Is this really a more appealing look for a prospective client than someone with conditioned muscle and decent size?

Im just getting started and finding it hard to get clients. But when I do there is alot of money to be made.

How did you get started? Are you working in a gym?

I have some clients on the side to make ends meet, not making my bread and butter doing it, but I do enjoy helping people get results.

How did you find these clients? Through a service or is it all off the books?

 

[danzd]

training kind of sucks actually unless its just for side money. the majority of my clientele is women, between 30 and 50, and they do NOT want to do what actually has to be done to attain what they want in the time they want it. so then they get frustrated. youre basically a buddy half the time, the only people who actually want to work are men. and 90% of men think they know everything and refuse to hire a trainer. i dont even know how many guys told me how much bigger they were when they were my age, i wish my reply could be something along the lines of "is that why your gut keeps you from reaching the steering wheel" but that obviously would hurt my business. also youll get clients who want to meet at 5 am and some who want to meet at 8 pm.. those kind of hours and the money you get in return fucking blow especially when the kids i went to highschool are making 15 an hour as apprentices or living the life at college.

oh and to answer your question, im only 210 lbs at 5 foot 8... and it definitely does not help... and gaining the extra 40 lbs id like to have will only do me worse.

 

[ajdos]

Do you work in a gym or did you design a web site and market yourself somehow?



See every gym I go to, the male trainers don't even look like they work out. Is this really a more appealing look for a prospective client than someone with conditioned muscle and decent size?



How did you get started? Are you working in a gym?



How did you find these clients? Through a service or is it all off the books?

Some local in gyms others off forums.

 

[wrkinfor225]

I have been training for a living since 2007. I am 5'11 and was about 210 when I started. All of the women I trained though I was intimidating and thought they would look like me even though I told them it wasn't going to happen. About 6-8 months in I decided to drop some weight and went to about 190-195 and was at 10% bf thats when I had people approach me and ask about training. I have recently made training a side gig and am happily getting bigger. I like it better this way.

 

[AlphaMaleDawg]

How about membership services at a gym? What type of credentials are needed for a position like this?

 

[thehazzle]

Worked in a commercial gym for 3 years last 3 years been in a private studio pulling in clients from website and local leafleting etc. honestly most guys would think you are "too big" and may intimidate them.

 

[Crowler]

I loved being a personal trainer. Vast majority of clients were women 25 - 50.

I used to say a personal trainer is like a bar tender for people who want to get in shape. They like to tell you the troubles in their lives.

I was happy to be a kind ear. I used to get such a thrill when a client would come in and tell me how she fit into a dress she hadn't been able to wear for the past 10 years.

Sure she was still quite a bit overweight but she was so happy with her progress.

It is about giving the customer what THEY want. NOT about what you think they should look like, or getting upset if they don't push harder, or eat the way you want them to.

For me the time doing personal training would FLY by. A half hour session seemed like a few minutes.

 

[Simpllyhuge]

In NYSC type gyms, do they force you to have clients do bullshit? Are you allowed to have them bench and squat?

 

[Creed428]

How about membership services at a gym? What type of credentials are needed for a position like this?

If your talking about one of the big gyms 24 hour, LA Fitness etc... a high school diploma is about all that is needed

personal training at those big name gyms any nationally recognized training certificate you can get

 

[sakguy]

How about membership services at a gym? What type of credentials are needed for a position like this?

Don't think you need much in regards for membership services. Often they have a sales background, but looking the part wouldn't hurt either. I train and believe more in practical experience, but continuing education in this field is huge. On top of a 4 year degree I am:
NSCA-CPT, CSCS
NASM PES, CES
PTAGlobal Certified trainer
Precision Nutriton Coach
And in progress CISSN,
But non of these have any merit to clientele unless you can get results. Experience and trail & error has trumped my education::tar-wars

 

[steel1970]

I was a trainer at a commercial chain type gym for awhile and I liked it alot, except the pay sucked and the hours were all over the place. I became the Manager of training there, and the pay was ok, but the hours were awful, and it was high pressure sales, which I'm just not into, at all. I've branched out on my own, have a small area in my house for in house clients and also train out of a few gyms. The gyms are assholes, so imo you just hafta keep things hush hush so they don't treat you like shit. Some will require you to have liability insurance, which you really should have anyway, simply to protect yourself. Most gyms that offer training do NOT want you training clients there. They feel like you are infringing on their livelihood....Some aren't bad, but still may frown upon it.

I have found that most people don't want to do what it takes to hit their goals, but they TALK like they do. Most guys egos get in the way and they feel that they know more than you, even though they shelled out a few hundred or even a couple grand on your services. This attitude, along with the fact that literally no one eats as they should, frustrates the hell outta me at times....

You could always just do what another member said, and make it all about what the clients wants, but imo when someone comes to you and expects results, you should expect no less than 100% from that person. I'm a trainer, not a shrink....I don't like taking anyone's money knowing damn well that they are not gonna adhere to a plan. I'd rather not take them on as a client, and trust me, I'm not THAT busy to be turning people away. It's just a personal thing, in that I feel there has to be a common ground of expectations.....

I'm working with a guy right now who wants to get big, but refuses to eat anymore than once or twice a day, and he's running a shitload of gear and wants to add more at seemingly every coversation we have.....This is very frustrating, especially knowing that he expects ME to get him results, when in reality, all I can do is set up the plan and attempt to motivate him to follow it. The work is on the client, and unless they put it all out there they're gonna be unhappy at the end of your time together.....

I think most "average" guys who train others will tell you that it's not all that easy to make decent money training people......by average, I mean not anyone who's high profile in bb'ing or other strength areas....

 

[workhard2121]

I train a few clients on the side and make money to pay for my supps and I be honest, I'm doing it to get my name out there for when I get my supplement store running in the next 5 years. It'll help business then.

People will always buy supplements, as they think its a magic pill or powder.

 

[ROCKEDUP]

Don't think you need much in regards for membership services. Often they have a sales background, but looking the part wouldn't hurt either. I train and believe more in practical experience, but continuing education in this field is huge. On top of a 4 year degree I am:
NSCA-CPT, CSCS
NASM PES, CES
PTAGlobal Certified trainer
Precision Nutriton Coach
And in progress CISSN,
But non of these have any merit to clientele unless you can get results. Experience and trail & error has trumped my education::tar-wars

Respectable credentials.

 

[cm]

You'd have to prob prep a few people for free and build a reputation up first before is willing to pay for prep services.

unfortunately this is utter bullshit
prostitutes change the value of who they are and what they do. anyone who is doing prep services for free or training for free is a whore in my book

decide what your worth, and charge accordingly.

if you are any good, you don't need to give anything away.

if you want to volunteer go to a soup kitchen
many people just like you are describing, loose clients to people like myself(not bragging, really not) because of the simple fact that people want to feel like they are in the presence of a professional. Not some xtra medium wearing rolled sleeve gym guy who is giving this training thing a shot (not saying this is you)

btw to the OP, yes 15 years in now. dont know how to do anything else, and dont know if I could work for anyone else either
and on the bodybuilding front, it is a people business, so whether you are huge, big, tight, lean, ecto, meso, endo whatever. as long as you are doing it for the right reasons, have a philosophy of who you are, what you are about, and how to treat people who pay your bills, the money will come