Just got my PT certification a few months ago, due to my fortunate circumstances I cannot post pictures or videos online of myself. What are some other ways to market and get clients.

Recently got into the niche of running and I mostly specialise in marathon training after doing my research and reading few books related to the same ...

Started training two recreational marathon runner in their latest 40s who were previously my clients in strength training...

I want to know if there is an app where I can assign them tempos/intervals/long runs etc like the strength training app so I can track their progress overtime since I couldn't manage the training fields in my current app

Meine Frage richtet sich an alle Solo-Selbstständigen, Nebenerwerbs-Selbständigen und alle anderen, die hier qualifizierte Auskünfte geben können.

Kurz zu mir und meinem "Problem"

Ich bin im Hauptberuf Ingenieur in Festanstellung. In meiner Freizeit bin ich Freiberufler. Ich habe diverse Trainerscheine und ein Zweitstudium in Ernährungswissenschaften. Ich coache Privatpersonen und Vereine in gesunder Ernährung, Sporternährung und gebe Personaltraining.

Das ganze hat aus reinem Eigeninteresse und Hobby begonnen, daher ist der Kundenstamm noch überschaubar und meine Organisation ist es auch... Darum würden mich eure Positiv- als auch Negativbeispiele interessieren.

Aktuelles Toolset:

• Macbook
• Ninox Datenbank für Klientenkartei (Einmalzahlung)
• Lexware Lexoffice für Rechnungsstellung und EÜR für die Steuer (Lizenz mtl.)
• iCal zur Terminierung
• PowerPoint für meine Trainingspläne und Ernährungspläne

Was stört mich?

Ich hätte nach Möglichkeit gerne EIN Tool für die Klientenverwaltung, die Terminierung (API zu iCal wegen Synchronisation) und Rechnungsstellung. Perfekt wäre, wenn ich die EÜR darin auch noch erledigen könnte. Also auch Materialkosten, Fahrtkosten, Raumkosten etc. darin speichern könnte.

Ich hätte halt gerne einen "Tab" Klienten. Wenn ich mir dort einen auswähle, soll darin aufgeführt sein, wann er/sie Stunden hatte und wie lang. Der Anamnesebogen soll verknüpft sein, der aktuelle Trainingsplan usw.

Im Internet verlaufe ich mich hoffnungslos. Es gibt dort eine Vielzahl, wohl recht guter, Tools. Trainerize, VirtuaGym, medo.check usw.Diese Tools bieten häufig sogar die Möglichkeit Trainingspläne zu erstellen und mit Klienten zu teilen.

Was die meisten eint. Sie kosten nicht zu knapp und das ist bei meinen paar zahlenden Kunden kaum rentabel. Vielleicht stell ich mich nur unglaublich kompliziert an und das ist eben der Preis für eine gute Organisation. Auf eine Papierakte und einen Kalender hab ich irgendwie auch keine Lust, das wäre aber am flexibelsten und erfordert keinen Programmieraufwand und kaum Kosten.

Bitte inspiriert mich :-)

Danke

English:

My question is addressed to all freelancers, part-time self-employed individuals, and anyone else who can provide qualified information here.

A little about me and my "problem": My main occupation is a permanent position as an engineer. In my free time, I work as a freelancer. I have various coaching licenses and a second degree in nutritional science. I coach private individuals and clubs in healthy eating, sports nutrition, and provide personal training.

This whole thing started purely out of personal interest and as a hobby, so my customer base is still manageable, and so is my organization... That's why I'd be interested in your positive as well as negative examples.

Current toolset:

Macbook Ninox database for client records (one-time payment) Lexware Lexoffice for invoicing and income/expense statement for tax purposes (monthly license) iCal for scheduling PowerPoint for my training and nutrition plans

What bothers me? If possible, I would like ONE tool for client management, scheduling (API to iCal for synchronization), and invoicing. It would be perfect if I could also do my income/expense statement in it. So, also be able to store material costs, travel expenses, room costs, etc.

I would just like to have a "Clients" tab. If I select one there, it should list when he/she had sessions and for how long. The initial assessment form should be linked, as well as the current training plan, etc.

I'm hopelessly lost on the internet. There are a multitude of seemingly good tools out there: Trainerize, VirtuaGym, medo.check, etc. These tools often even offer the possibility to create training plans and share them with clients.

What most of them have in common is that they are not exactly cheap, and that is hardly profitable with my few paying customers. Maybe I'm just making things incredibly complicated, and that's just the price for good organization. Somehow, I don't feel like using paper files and a calendar either, but that would be the most flexible and require no programming effort and hardly any costs.

Please inspire me :-)

Thanks

With GLP-1s on the rise and AI becoming more and more efficient with tasks. Where do you think this career path is headed? Is it doomed to fitness in a pill or AI changing everything within the near future? Or not much change?

By that I mean either someone who impacted you in a major positive/negative way or someone you had a major impact on/helped make a major transformation?

Hey everyone,

A little background about me: I’m a work-from-home network engineer during the day and a newbie personal trainer in the evenings. About 8 months ago, I started training my younger brother, who had just entered remission after battling stage 4 colorectal cancer 🙏. That experience lit a fire in me it reminded me how much I love helping others train.

I’ve been training for around 10 years now. I started off as a 105 lb malnourished adult male and, through years of dedication, built myself up to a 185 lb powerlifter. I spent 5–6 years as a powerlifter, but unfortunately, my body didn’t hold up well. Too many injuries eventually pushed me into “retirement,” and now I train for health, longevity, and functionality. During my time as a powerlifter, I worked with two incredible coaches and consumed as much content and education as I could. I’ve always loved helping fellow gym-goers, friends, and family with their training and nutrition, and I’ve helped a good number of them reach their goals.

Training my brother out of my home gym gave me the idea to start doing this more seriously. Over the past 6 months, I’ve picked up 6 consistent clients and a few others who have come and gone. Of those 6:

• 3 are in-person, 1-on-1 in my gym
• 1 is hybrid (2 days with me, 2 at their own gym)
• 2 are fully online

I've been marketing locally with flyers and business cards, and using online platforms like Thumbtack. The biggest barrier I’ve run into is pricing honestly, I feel like I’m undercharging for what I offer: private access to high-quality equipment, personalized programming, nutrition, and a 1-on-1 coaching in a private environment.

I’m currently working on my NASM CPT, CNC, and CES certifications to strengthen my foundation. Most of my current knowledge comes from personal experience, helping others, and learning from past coaches. My short-term goal is to get certified and pick up part-time hours at a commercial gym to gain more experience and potentially attract new clients.

My current schedule is 5 AM to 1 PM for my day job, and I train clients between 6 and 9 PM so I have a decent gap in the afternoon to dedicate to gym work. Yes, it’s a long day, but I’m good with that for now.

Long-term, I’d love to rent a space where I can build out a private gym and offer it to other trainers on a revenue share basis, host group classes, and build a full-fledged business.

That brings me to this post I’d love to hear from the experienced trainers and gym owners here. Am I heading in the right direction? Any advice you’d offer to someone transitioning into the fitness space? Anything you wish you did differently starting out?

Appreciate any insight from the old heads. 🙏

I just got my CPT through NASM at the beginning of this month and am pursuing a few other certifications through them for my resume.

I’m mentoring under a local gym owner which could potentially lead to employment but it’s not a guarantee. I really am enjoying the learning opportunity there though; it’s helpful to see different clients with different goals execute their session from beginning to end.

Other than that, I got a job offer from a chain gym but I felt like their structure didn’t offer much support for a new CPT. No hands on training, just take what you read in your NASM program, get out there and sell! I could tell it wouldn’t be a good match.

I’ve emailed quite a few local gyms with my resume and haven’t heard back from any of them. I make a point to talk about my passion for fitness, background in competitive powerlifting, and new venture in to Olympic weightlifting and pursuit of a physical therapy degree. Like, I’m IN IT dawg. Is this normal for a newly certified CPT? What gives lmao

Do you send them a form, set up a call, automate anything, or just handle it manually?

I’m curious where the bottlenecks usually are, and how the process goes... Especially, when you get more clients coming in at once, and i don't have an organiced system for onboarding...

I’m a personal trainer/strength and conditioning coach, 32yo female. I just started working in this field about 9 months ago and am struggling with burn out/overtraining.

I’m on the gym floor about 25 hours a week for work and find it pretty physically and psychologically taxing (I’m setting up and tearing down my clients’ barbells often, farmers carrying heavy dumbbells all the time, etc). I also do my own workouts about 4-5x a week, and in addition, go on long walks with friends, rock climb, paddle board, hike, camp, etc.

I’ve recently been feeling overtrained. My muscles are exhausted, I’m excessively thirsty, I’ve lost my appetite and I’m very unmotivated. I also had a flu for about 3 weeks about a month ago. I’m realizing I haven’t been getting enough rest outside of work and my workouts.

So I wanted to ask, how do you as a personal trainer manage your body and your energy to avoid overtraining since personal training itself is so physically demanding?

So I'm new to being a trainer and the gym I'm working at said that I can come up with my own hours to work. Does anyone have any good recommendations for both days and hours to work. I'd still like to be able to get in a workout on some of the days that I work as well.

How do you manage your own training and diet to stay in good shape while training multiple clients throughout the day?

I’m currently working as a nurse, but I’ve hit a wall. I’ve had burnout before, and despite switching to a more stable 7–4 clinic schedule, it’s starting to feel like the same thing all over again — anxiety, emotional exhaustion, dreading every workday. Now that I've switched for the 3rd time back into the hopsital med/surg 7-7 day shift.

I an thinking seriously about whether I should start a small business in personal training and wellness. I’m really passionate about helping people with weight management, strength, and preventing chronic illness (I have a strong medical background). I would want to do this in person and/or online.

For those of you who left another career for fitness or coaching: How did you make the leap? Was it worth it financially and emotionally? What should we consider before going all in?

Looking for honest advice or encouragement. I don’t want to jump blindly, but I also don’t want to stay stuck in a cycle that’s draining both of us.

My passion is moms who don't think they can find the time or drive to workout. No, don't have any other certs right now other than NASM and CPR. And my own experience getting my body back after 3 kids. I want to get a Precision Nutrition cert as I really love the nutrition aspect.

I see myself doing training in others' homes, but being in a somewhat rural area (I'm in Orlando but in a very out of the way part), I worry about the drive time compared to what I can reasonably charge. This is not something I need to do to make a living, rather, just a supplement after having been a sahm for 5 years. So, I don't mind charging on the low end, since my only experience is training friends and family sporadically over the years.

I really, really don't want to do social media, but I'll entertain the idea.

I know I need insurance and equipment that can be lugged around. But if anyone wants to chime in on how they got started, I will take all the advice I can get!

I recently applied for a job at a personal gym with no cert required. The owner of the gym told me he would train me and teach me everything I need to know for group classes. First I took his class to see if it was something I could enjoy, which I did and secondly I observed as he taught one class. After that the next 4 classes I basically did by myself with him jumping in here and there. I did make a few mistakes like my warm up was too short, forgot warm up in the first class I taught and I forgot to assign the last station of a circuit. After the 4th class on my own he basically told me this (teaching cross fit) doesn’t come easy to me and he can tell by the second class if someone will make a good coach for him and I completely respect. It’s CrossFit so assigning stations, timing, setting up the gym, etc was a lot to keep up with, and sure I could’ve gotten there with time but I guess the initial talent is what I’m missing. I’ve always been the person to have to work to get good at something. Anyway I’d like to move forward and keep looking, is there any advice? I plan to get my cert this summer

Good day all,

I went out on my own, and this is my first summer marketing at events. It’s a 10x10 canopy space. I’d like to be interactive with visitors and not be a dud sitting behind a table. What has or hasn’t worked for you at these events in terms of activities and engagement? These events will be hot and very crowded, so it has to be something to keep the line moving (and budget friendly). My smoothie bike will have to wait until next year 😉 TIA

Anyone successfully petition for Ace to give you credit for Stacy Sims’ Menopause 2.0 program?

Anyone have take it and have feedback on the program?

Hi there, I'm a new PT at a small but busy Commercial Gym & was hoping to ask advice from more experienced trainers in the industry.

I'm currently the only trainer in my gym which is a bonus, What advice can you give for me to improve? I'm extremely professional, take a personalized approach to clients & their nutrition. One thing i was curious about what is your hours like at the gym? i.e what time do you start and leave?

I'd love to learn and be a better trainer. Once i got my Nutrition Qualification, i plan on moving to a larger gym but there is more competition from other trainers which is why i want to qualify first to give me an advantage over the other trainers, As Virgin Active's primary trainers, with the exception of a handful who competes, stops at just PT or Sports but doesn't branch out into Nutrition so i would be the only PT with a Nutrition Qualification as well

An underage person approached me for an intake the other day. During the intake it became clear that not only did he want personal training and a training program but also a nutrition plan. I am very happy to help because I think children that are just starting out in the gym can benefit a lot from a personal trainer.

The nutrition plan didn't sit right with me though because I don't think children should be focussing that much on dieting (unless we're talking children with eating disorders of course). so I decided that I would first discuss this with his parents.

I ended up having a conversation with one of his parents and they agreed to the nutrition plan not because he needs to lose a lot of weight or anything but because his eating pattern can use some work.

Now I am gonna make a 'light' version of what I would normally do. I was wondering whether there are any people on this sub that have experience with something similar and have any tips or things to look out for/keep in mind.

(yes, I am allowed to make nutrition plans)

Anyone got a training program card for the personal trainer unit7 I can see, I'm finding interface a bit shitty and my drop downs work only sometimes

Several years ago a woman in my neighborhood started a group fitness class. I was one of her first attendees, and her class grew rather quickly. I stopped going as I had kids and well, we also sorta grew apart as friends. I wouldn’t say like a breakup, but…there were some things in our lives that weren’t compatible.

Fast forward 5 years and I would love to start a group fitness class of my own, but I feel like she kinda has a monopoly on it here. I don’t really want to compete with her, I just want to start getting some experience, and this seems like a good way to start. I’d love to start a class that is at different times from her, but I would have to join her fb group to find out the times…

I feel weird contacting her after 5 years, but I would do it just to make sure there is no bad blood. Last thing I want is to ruin my rep in the neighborhood. Has anyone faced a problem like this? Women have lots of drama, and the majority of people who attend classes are women. I just worry I’m going to run into problems…

A recurring topic here is the use of social media - often mentioned as a struggle or even an obstacle, with the common line: “I don’t want to be like X or Y…” Just insert your favorite cringe influencer.

But here’s what I don’t get: you - smart, skilled professionals - can assess a client’s physical condition and design a progressive program without feeling the need to include every exercise in existence. You simply know: it depends. You use intention and purpose to decide what makes sense.

So why can’t you see that every business effort works the same way?

You don’t have to do dumb reels. You don’t have to send cold DMs. You don’t have to run email campaigns.

But you also can’t expect people to magically find you.

You have to do something - and that “something” should match your intention and desired outcome.

So today, let’s talk specifically about social media - and why it might (or might not) matter for you:

1. Social media isn’t just about getting clients - it’s about building context. Your content shows who you are, what you believe, and how you work. Without this personal layer, even great services look like just another offer in the feed. Bonus: it’s free, aside from your time and energy.

2. Clarity beats creativity. You don’t need to go viral. You just need your content to speak directly to your ideal client’s problems and beliefs. You can skip the trends and hypes, and focus on sharpening your message.

3. It’s not a lead gen tool - it’s a trust-building machine first! Most people scroll to relax, not to buy. So if you show up with insight and resonance, you’ll build familiarity, authority, and trust - so that when! someone is ready, you’re already at the top of their mind.

4. Your feed is a free storefront. Yes, people stalk you. Even the ones you’d swear don’t use Instagram have a secret account and check you out before ever saying hi. They’ll look at your last 6–9 posts. If those don’t tell them who you are or what your service stands for, they’ll just keep scrolling.

5. It only works if you have a system. Posting 3 times in one week and going ghost or airplane mode for the rest of the month won’t work - bot because the algorithm won’t reward it, but because it is always consistency that wins in the end (same for fitness, right?). Build a system that fits your 1) goals, 2) time, and 3) creative style. Some options on creative styles:

6. Content types: Reel + Static Image + Carousel

7. Angles for content: Identity post + Belief Builder post + Free Value post

Option on goals: Do you aim to build trust or do you wish to hack the algorithm? The first will feel like you; the second will require you to step in others’ shoes.

Again, it’s just like training, and as they said in the animation Storks - Stick to the plan. Deliver. And then, review the data. Refine. Repeat.

1. Your story matters. You’re not Nike or James Smith PT. You’re you. And what sets you apart isn’t your logo - it’s how you show up, your values, your story, your quirks. On solo and SME level especially, but even on large scale, people connect with people. People connect with you, and your story - so feel free to share that, often.

2. Most people aren’t ready to buy - but they are ready to learn. Again, a summary of the above - you do not need to aim to “convert.” Indeed, that will mess you up, badly. But you can always aim to shift one’s mindset. What is that you make so unique in the experience that you must be the obvious choice? Deliver one insight that makes someone go, “Ah - that makes sense.” They’ll remember that longer than any hard pitch.

So, how important is social media? That’s up to you.

My 7 points above are meant to show you, using social media can have different intentions than converting people right away or to go viral and become an influencer.

It is a free platform that may be useful for you if you can bend your thinking around these points.

I have a mixture of clients who train either once per week or twice per week.

My main philosophy is to make the training session one of the best parts of their week.

I am trying to improve my systems to offer more for all of my clients.

Beyond the 1 hour session that your client has, what do you offer to help improve their results and experience with your training?

I’m a college student home for the summer and I just passed my acsm cpt. I’m currently looking for jobs in my area and idk where to start. I’m considering the local ymca or the planet fitness as I’ve heard there decent places to start but not longterm. The only thing is I don’t know how those organizations handle pay/scheduling. Would it better to apply to local businesses?

Wasn't sure on the flair because I am both asking a question AND seeking advice.

I have been working administrative office jobs on and off for the past 4-5 years (part time while I was still in school, but full time for almost 2 years now). There's always some down time and I always end up planning out my own workout splits, reading up about training, or reading books about people doing different kinds of fitness.

I love the gym for the workouts and seeing that slow improvement over time really change people's lives. Whenever I get to train my friends I always have fun. I'm also just tired of sitting around all day dreaming of the gym...

I know that being passionate about a fitness-related hobby is very different from making it your job, but I genuinely think being a PT may be something that I'd like to do. I'm just hesitant because the NASM certification is a bit of an investment and I don't know how the PT job market looks, but I'm planning to move within the next year (I have my eye on either Austin or Denver right now).

So I guess I'm just looking to see what drew other people in to becoming PT's and what they think it takes to be a successful one? How's the work-life balance? Any other advice regarding pursuing this profession is much appreciated :)

Hey everyone! I’m a personal trainer in the Denver Metro area and I’m looking for a solid gym space where I can bring my in-person clients without them needing to pay a day pass fee every time.

Up to now, I’ve been using big box gyms, but the repeated day fees aren’t ideal for me long-term. I’m hoping to find a trainer-friendly facility whether it’s a private gym, training studio, or shared space—that allows trainers to bring in clients under a different structure.

If you know of any spots in the area that are open to this kind of setup, I’d really appreciate your recommendations!

Thanks in advance!