Recently someone asked this question on Reddit "Should I stay in Personal training or find new career?"
Here is a guy who is into full time personal training is struggling to settle down in life as money isn't enough and there isn't income stability. We responded back on the subreddit and thought of posting a more detailed response on our forum - members here deserve a more informed version than Reddit. So here you go.
The question whether to stay in personal training or find a new career is quite common. Many personal trainers face burnout, income instability or the desire for growth beyond 1on1 coaching.
Fundamentally the problem is that of demand and supply. The market for personal trainers is too competitive. There are many of them and it's not regulated so there are many who aren't even properly qualified. This means to survive in the industry you have to maintain your hourly rates competitive unless you have a really strong brand name.
The second issue is PTs are also constrained by time - there are only so many hours in the day you can train clients and the money per hour is capped due to reason explained earlier.
In summary then we got two issues: oversupply keeping hourly rates down and limited time in the day. There are two ways to work around these constraints.
1. Increase hourly rate significantly: This is possible if one can get into high end niche clients like ultra rich or celebrities. There are PTs who can make $800 per hour! But it’s extremely hard to break into. You have to develop a carefully curated network over time, connections would be extremely important, so would be people skills. This would probably require lots of investment both in terms of money and time with no guarantee of success as the target client set is very small. Do this when you are absolutely sure of your charm and ability to connect!
2. Increase productivity: Change the service proposition as a PT into product so it can be sold simultaneously at multiple places and now you are no longer constrained by number of hours in the day. Social media and digital world (apps etc) enable that. Social media is open to everyone and mostly free. However, that also means it's overcrowded and hard to stand out. Most PTs here want to put fitness videos but trust me your potential client base are tired watching the same videos - there will always be people who are more jacked than you so it's a Russian roulette trying to play this out. Instead think of a niche, think of your own unique story and journey - use that to appeal to the viewers. There is no overnight success guarantee with this. But by being your authentic self and selling what you really believe in, you perhaps stand a better chance!
If you are really passionate about staying as a PT then pick one of these two options, have a strategy and play the long game. If not you may have to take a regular job and consider PT as a side hustle.
Good luck!
Here is a guy who is into full time personal training is struggling to settle down in life as money isn't enough and there isn't income stability. We responded back on the subreddit and thought of posting a more detailed response on our forum - members here deserve a more informed version than Reddit. So here you go.
The question whether to stay in personal training or find a new career is quite common. Many personal trainers face burnout, income instability or the desire for growth beyond 1on1 coaching.
Fundamentally the problem is that of demand and supply. The market for personal trainers is too competitive. There are many of them and it's not regulated so there are many who aren't even properly qualified. This means to survive in the industry you have to maintain your hourly rates competitive unless you have a really strong brand name.
The second issue is PTs are also constrained by time - there are only so many hours in the day you can train clients and the money per hour is capped due to reason explained earlier.
In summary then we got two issues: oversupply keeping hourly rates down and limited time in the day. There are two ways to work around these constraints.
1. Increase hourly rate significantly: This is possible if one can get into high end niche clients like ultra rich or celebrities. There are PTs who can make $800 per hour! But it’s extremely hard to break into. You have to develop a carefully curated network over time, connections would be extremely important, so would be people skills. This would probably require lots of investment both in terms of money and time with no guarantee of success as the target client set is very small. Do this when you are absolutely sure of your charm and ability to connect!
2. Increase productivity: Change the service proposition as a PT into product so it can be sold simultaneously at multiple places and now you are no longer constrained by number of hours in the day. Social media and digital world (apps etc) enable that. Social media is open to everyone and mostly free. However, that also means it's overcrowded and hard to stand out. Most PTs here want to put fitness videos but trust me your potential client base are tired watching the same videos - there will always be people who are more jacked than you so it's a Russian roulette trying to play this out. Instead think of a niche, think of your own unique story and journey - use that to appeal to the viewers. There is no overnight success guarantee with this. But by being your authentic self and selling what you really believe in, you perhaps stand a better chance!
If you are really passionate about staying as a PT then pick one of these two options, have a strategy and play the long game. If not you may have to take a regular job and consider PT as a side hustle.
Good luck!