Personal Training Articles

Subject: Lisa D. Bell, RN, MBA business: Bell Bodies Fitness, Newburgh, Indiana Her Clientele. Bell specializes in training beginners, women and deconditioned individuals. Her clients range mainly from 30 to 65 years old, although she’s trained and taught men and women of all ages.

Do you have a knack for public speaking? Statistics on obesity and inactivity prove that as a fitness professional, you have knowledge that people need! Can you also connect with an audience through your humor or personal stories? If so, or if you are willing to learn, you could join the ranks of fitness professionals reaping the many marketing benefits of speaking as a fitness expert.

There have been several occasions on which I have refused to work with a specific client. Once, I was meeting with a potential client and discovered that her goal was to lose 15 pounds in the next month. There was no talking this client out of this goal and into a more sensible, slower weight loss plan. She was adamant that if I just gave her the exercise plan,

You’ve decided to start your own personal training business. You’ve conducted a realistic assessment of the market and created a working business plan, so you know how much money you need to finance your start-up. Where do you get that money?

The best networking I do with trainers is at industry events or certification workshops. The settings are naturally conducive to meeting and discussing ideas with others in the field. With regard to branching out to other health professionals, I am quite lucky to have been a long-term patient of a top-notch local chiropractor. It is quite easy networking with him. In fact, my very first client was his wife!

New exercisers may show moxie by trying out strength equipment on their own, but a study in the May issue of Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (2004; 18 [2], 324–7) suggests they’ll see results only with your professional guidance.

We’re all very good at beating ourselves up when we make a mistake. When was the last time you asked your clients what they like about your company, program design or customer services? As Peter Drucker once said, “We should spend at least as much time understanding our strengths as we do our weaknesses.”

Subject: Lynne Greer business: Healthy Wishes in Bishop, California Her Clientele. Greer works with a range of clients in her town, including older women whose activities of daily living have become more challenging. She also frequently works with clients who’ve been to physical therapists and now need help exercising on their own.

Personal trainers can be uncomfortable about asking for referrals. But don’t be shy, says author, presenter and 1998 IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year Sherri McMillan, MSc. Your clients train with you because they like you. And they want to see you succeed. Asking for referrals is not overstepping your boundaries. You are providing an exceptional service most people would want to share with their friends, family members and colleagues. McMillan suggests trying this system to help you comfortably ask for referrals.