$$ Question for Personal Trainers

Clarissa

Clarissa

Cathlete
Hey all! Is anyone out there a certified personal trainer? If so, may I ask what you charge per hour? Do you have separate rates for in the clients' home vs. your home (if applicable) or the gym? Also, in what market do you reside? I am beginning to think my rates are a bit too high for my local market.

Thanks so much,
Clarissa
 
Hi Clarissa: I am not a trainer but just got a referral from a girlfriend who found a trainer she loves, so she was spreading the word. This person is ISSA certified, and has the letters "CPT" and "SPN" after her name, I guess it is Certified Personal Trainer and Specialist in Performance Nutrition...both from ISSA. She says she has 15 years of experience in personal, group, and corporate in house personal training.

Anyway her flier says she meets in the home of the client (which is her preference) for an hour per week, a 6 week commitment. First consultation is free, and 2nd is 2 hours long with the 2nd hour free. She will also meet in her own home if necessary. She doesn't mention meeting in a gym, but I do know that at my gym they don't allow any "outside" trainers (they are a huge chain).

Her rate is $50 an hour, includes strength, cardio, stretching, core, and nutrition. She does have a limit in distance as to how far she will "go" to meet a client.

This is in southern CA.

HTH
Jen
 
Fantastic information Jen, thanks a bunch. I am in the "Cleveland / Akron OH" market so my rates are about half but I don't want to sell myself short either, you know? I am just starting out also, so I have to take that into account. My program is set up just like hers actually which makes me feel great because I developed it on my own and if it is working for her, I think that is cool and makes me feel better. SHe is in a much better place though. The economy is pretty bad over here. I am actually in Youngstown, Ohio, if you have heard of that specifically.

I also won't do the "gym" thing but do mainly in my home and theirs.

Thanks again.
 
I am a personal trainer. I have a BS in Kinesiology, NASM - CPT, ACE and NETA - GFI and I am a presenter for NETA. I train in my home and my rates vary from $50-$65 a0n hour. I must say my market is pretty good (Twin Cities, MN) and I definately undercharge for my qualifications, but I am ok with that. I would ask around at local gyms to find out what they charge as a good place to start. You can then tweak your prices from there.

Good luck.

Shayne
 
I am a personal trainer. I have a BS in Kinesiology, NASM - CPT, ACE and NETA - GFI and I am a presenter for NETA. I train in my home and my rates vary from $50-$65 a0n hour. I must say my market is pretty good (Twin Cities, MN) and I definately undercharge for my qualifications, but I am ok with that. I would ask around at local gyms to find out what they charge as a good place to start. You can then tweak your prices from there.

Good luck.

Shayne
 
I live in Geauga County and the rates for members at our YMCA are:

$40/1 hour $140/Four 1 hour sessions

$197/Six 1 hour sessions $224/Eight 1 hour sessions



They also offer dual personal training sessions where two people can hire a trainer for the same time.

I assume that these rates are a little low since members are already paying membership fees.

Erica
 
I understand about the economy, that might be part of it. You may just need to get your name out there a bit more and will naturally end up finding people who are in the market for a trainer. If you are tailoring your workouts for the home exerciser you should try speaking to some mother's groups, like MOPS (a national faith based organization where moms of preschoolers get together to socialize and always have a speaker, usually someone from the local area, who in my experience always has some kind of business or a book out!). Maybe get in with a playgroup system, or a preschool. Moms are always looking for stuff like that, esp if you are reasonably priced and you come to their house! Try the private preschools....if they have the bucks for a private preschool or elementary school they probably have the spare $ for a trainer.


Jen
 
I'm not a trainer but work on a military installion which charges $20 per hour.

Here are a few things you may want to think about:
1. Offering a "boot camp" style workout where you have a group of 5-6 people who workout together with you, and after a 6 week program with you, have starter of "buddies" to keep working out with. Plus you train more in less time and if successful, they will tell friends and more friends, etc. Most of these styles (we have one here at our gym- and people are crazy for it-) are 5 days per week for 6-8 weeks and charge $300- $400 for the class. Often once people take one class like this they keep taking them (which is awesome for you...repeat business!) Most of these classes come with a workout mat a resistance band included in the class fee, or the fee is reduced if already own a set.

2. Offer a discount package for people who want to see you more than 2x per week- Training gets expensive so if you say "I will give a 20% discount for those booking 3x per week with me"

3. Give a "free session" for every 10-20lbs lost. Motivate them to stick with you.

4. Offer referral rewards- free session, workout chart, calendar, etc (something to keep them on the right track to fitness)

So in my opinion, its not about the money- if you are just starting out you need to be on the less expensive side until you
1. can build your clientele up
2. gain much needed experience
3. so you don't shut potential clients out.
and when you do get enough clientele, don't raise the $ on your existing clients...they are the ones that got you going!

Thanks for reading,
Kel
 
Hi-

I'm not a trainer, but I can tell you that at the gym that I go to the trainers make 55/hr.. The gym takes 20 of that and the trainer nets 35. That might be a bit low, but I'm pretty sure that they get insurance and some other bennies in addition to that amount.

Oh and I live in Kalamazoo, MI, which is considered a "large" small town. :)

Take care, Lynn M.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top