The Show Up Fitness Podcast
Join Chris Hitchko, author of 'How to Become A Successful Personal Trainer' VOL 2 and CEO of Show Up Fitness as he guides personal trainers towards success.
90% of personal trainers quit within 12-months in the USA, 18-months in the UK, Show Up Fitness is helping change those statistics. The Show Up Fitness CPT is one of the fastest growing PT certifications in the world with partnerships with over 500-gyms including Life Time Fitness, Equinox, Genesis, EoS, and numerous other elite partnerships.
This podcast focuses on refining trade, business, and people skills to help trainers excel in the fitness industry. Discover effective client programming, revenue generation, medical professional networking, and elite assessment strategies.
Learn how to become a successful Show Up Fitness CPT at www.showupfitness.com. Send your questions to Chris on Instagram @showupfitness or via email at info@showupfitness.com."
The Show Up Fitness Podcast
Ep. 195 How to start a personal training business without a facility
Send us a text if you want to be on the Podcast & explain why!
How to Become A Successful Personal Trainer Vol. 2 will be out tomorrow Feb 18th 2025.
Unlock the secret to becoming a successful personal trainer and navigate the path to career advancement with us. This episode of the Show Up Fitness Podcast is packed with practical insights and strategies from the just-launched Volume 2 of our comprehensive guidebook. Discover how to acquire clients outside the confines of a gym and establish sustainable revenue streams using the innovative 60-30-10 financial split. We also shed light on the challenges facing new trainers, the importance of mastering people skills, and how to effectively prepare for interviews at top-tier gyms, challenging the standards set by current personal training certifications.
We tackle the industry's systemic issues, questioning why many trainers are thrust into demanding gyms without sufficient preparation, resulting in high turnover rates and impostor syndrome. Learn how networking, sales expertise, and robust people skills can lead you to success amidst these hurdles. If you're contemplating transitioning from a large gym to opening your own facility, our discussion on financial management, client retention, and the benefits of commanding premium rates will provide the guidance you need. The conversation highlights the pressing need for a paradigm shift in the training and support systems available to trainers.
This episode is packed with creative strategies for clientele building, especially during challenging times like the recent pandemic. From using apps to bid for clients to networking with related professionals for mutually beneficial relationships, we cover it all. We share personal stories and insights on leveraging local resources like coffee shops and apartment gyms to establish a community presence. Finally, listen to our chat with Tricia Lynn about the journey of starting your own gym and remember, the cornerstone of success is persistence—just keep showing up.
Want to ask us a question? Email email info@showupfitness.com with the subject line PODCAST QUESTION to get your question answered live on the show!
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Website: https://www.showupfitness.com/
Become a Personal Trainer Book (Amazon): https://www.amazon.com/How-Become-Personal-Trainer-Successful/dp/B08WS992F8
Show Up Fitness Internship & CPT: https://online.showupfitness.com/pages/online-show-up?utm_term=show%20up%20fitness
NASM study guide: ...
Welcome to the Show Up Fitness Podcast, where great personal trainers are made. We are changing the fitness industry, one qualified trainer at a time, with our in-person and online personal training certification. If you want to become an elite personal trainer, head on over to showupfitnesscom. Also, make sure to check out my book how to Become a Successful Personal Trainer. Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review. Have a great day and keep showing up. Howdy everybody. Welcome back to the Show Fitness Podcast.
Speaker 1:Today we're going to be talking about how you can get clients if you do not have a gym. But before we get into that, today's Saturday, february 15th, and we have a date for Volume 2 launch, and that's going to be February 18th. We are a few days away for the Bible of fitness when it comes to personal trainers leveling up their career and really just being aware of what the fitness industry is like. It's going to be launched on the 18th and there's going to be a lot of new additions to this book. Mind you, it's twice as long. It's a hard book, textbook style, in the sense that you can write in it, you can bring it to the seminars, you can learn while you are reading the words of the wisdom from the belt buckle trainer, but also numerous other successful trainers. The big topics that I added into this are how to program implementing a CCA. What does the CCA even mean Core movement pattern, core movement pattern and accessory and how this makes your life so much easier as a fitness professional, whether if you are training at a hotel, gym or apartment complex, or if it's five o'clock on a Monday at Equinox. How do you adapt on the fly? And that's something that I really tackle within the book. Also, sustainable streams of revenue. With the 60-30-10 split, you can turn your passion for fitness into a career. This is a very lucrative but also, more so, fulfilling profession and unfortunately, so many trainers quit. We're going to talk about the SWIFT analysis. Really dive into that understanding your strengths and weaknesses, the action items behind your eyes, what you can implement, improve, innovate as a trainer. Your fears, those ants that are in your head, automatic negative thoughts. Where do you want to be a year from now? Five years from now? That's your trajectory. We have so many success stories with trainers who are doing things that other trainers took five to 10 years to do. Case in point look at Professor. Josh opened up his own gym. He did it in less than three years. The average trainer would start thinking about that in probably year five, seven, maybe even 10.
Speaker 1:We have trainers who are in management positions at some of the best gyms in the world, like Lifetime and Equinox, bringing in over $120,000. And that's within two years. You hear these business coaches online talking about the magical $100,000. Well, I address 120,000 because that's what I think trainers should be making. That's 10,000 a month. How can you do that? And that 60-30-10 split will really help you.
Speaker 1:I get into the assessment process. There's a chapter dedicated to passing any textbook certification NASM, ace, issa. 89% of trainers will choose one of those three. Show Up Fitness in 2024 got into the top 10. We are recognized nationally as well as internationally and our certification is the only one in the world that will get you an interview. At Lifetime, we placed more trainers in the greater LA area at Equinox than any other company.
Speaker 1:These trainers are going out there, hitting the ground, running fast, building books of businesses, leaving big box gyms after a couple of years, 12 months, 18 months, starting their own business and being very, very successful, whereas most trainers can't get to that point. Why is it All things that I dissect and I get into the big elephant in the room, which is the entry standards, as well as sales, the technical skills that are required most trainers lack, and the people skills. There's a whole chapter dedicated to reviewing the three most important skills that trainers should have that, unfortunately, textbooks do not teach you. Those skills are imperative for trainers to be focusing on, of which you should be reviewing in your swift analysis. And, last but not least, we're going to be addressing how to get clients, the 10 R's of getting clients, which leads us into today's podcast, or the next 30, 40 podcasts, maybe even more. That I'm going to be doing. I'm going to be highlighting parts from the book, bringing in case examples from trainers that are out there asking questions within the qualified personal trainers community or whether, if they're getting our certification soft tissue nutrition certification what are things that you're learning from these hands-on experiences that you can bring out there and level up your business.
Speaker 1:I'm going to start with reading something from the back of the book, which is from a trainer at Equinox, and this is a personal training manager. How to Win Friends and Influence People is the second most important book all trainers should read. How to Become a Successful Personal Trainer is number one. Every trainer in the world should read this book Because if you are at a point where you're stuck and you don't know how to pivot, how to grow your business outside of a corporate monster, this book is going to help you. How do you get hired at the best gyms in the world? The interview process, your resume this book will help you. Let's take a step back and review what the current process is. You type in the Google machine how to become a personal trainer.
Speaker 1:You come across one of the marketing companies and I say marketing companies as a compliment, because Blackstone Investment Company, who owns Ascend Learning? Who owns NASM? That's who you probably came across, or maybe it's Tailwind. They own ISSA. These companies are doing a lot of great marketing and it's all smoke and mirrors because you see it a lot and that ubiquity, therefore, you think, means it's credible.
Speaker 1:And then you can pay off a bunch of influencers to do a little ad. Who knows how much they're making for that ad? And so then you buy a bundle and that sunk cost fallacy sets in. You have to complete it. You want to turn your passion for fitness into a career. You have an amazing journey. You lost 100 pounds, you overcame some disability or illness and now you want to help other people.
Speaker 1:So you want to read these textbooks from cover to cover and guess what happens in chapter two. What the fuck am I reading? I have no idea what I just learned or read. So you go to the Google machine again how to pass this text. Maybe you're lucky and you come across, show up. I don't know. We've been shadow banned. The big companies don't like us, so then they're getting in front of other people. Now you're getting a course over here $2,000 to pass NASA MRAs Holy moly, talk about a double foam roller in the rear end. Foam roller in the rear end.
Speaker 1:You should not be spending more than $700, $800 on a certification, because what you need is to be in an environment where you can learn by doing. Ask people questions, ask professionals questions around programming, sales techniques, regressions and progressions for exercises that you choose within the movement patterns, and then you do it and you report back. You gain confidence while you're learning this stuff. So you hit the ground running. That's what our certification teaches.
Speaker 1:This book is not about our certification. It's about the fitness industry. I'm providing a solution for your success. But there's a the fitness industry I'm providing a solution for your success. But there's a lot of trainers who can't get a refund and they feel like they have to finish that textbook cert. Or there's a gym out there that requires that one YMCA F45. What gym you want to go to may require a specific certification, don't worry. You want to go to may require a specific certification. Don't worry, we'll get you to pass it.
Speaker 1:So what that process looks like after you pass is what do I do now? So you go to an Equinox or Lifetime or a boutique gym that's high end because they have attractive prices. They're charging $100, $125 per hour. The trainer's bringing home 50%, 60%, which is industry average. Yes, I want to go there. You submit your resume and they don't even get back to you because you have zero experience. Or you come in for the interview process and you start by doing an overhead squat assessment. You put them on a stability ball doing a squat, curl press and the manager goes oh wow, that is not how you train. Why don't you go gain some experience? So what does a trainer do? They go to the lower end gyms like an LA Fitness, a Texas Fitness, new York Sports Clubs, anytime Fitness. Nothing wrong with those, but they're a huge revolving door. They will literally accept anybody. Most of the time, they don't even need to submit your certification. You just fill out the application and you're hired and you start training people, learning from your mistakes. How crazy is that, and that's what fires me up so much, and people like to bitch and complain online. You're making fun of other certifications.
Speaker 1:I'm frustrated at what our industry, as a professional, holds the bar to for success, and it's so low. You're just supposed to go out there and train people and learn from your mistakes. How is that possible? Could you imagine what a successful beautician would look like Someone who hairstylist who cuts your hair, if that was their process? You read a couple of pages from a textbook. You take an online test. Now you start asking your friends if you can practice cutting their hair, because some techniques you learned about online no way. And that's hair. But for trainers that's accepted. So it's asked backwards and I feel for all of these clients who are getting hurt, learning techniques that are not optimal. So if you can stomach the excessive amount of sessions, you're going to be doing as a new trainer at one of these lower end gyms and again, just to reiterate, I'm not saying these gyms suck, no, I'm saying they're a high volume, low price gym, so then they can accept anyone in the door. They throw you out there and say, start training and you're going to get a lot of reps.
Speaker 1:And then guess what pops up Impostor syndrome. You don't know how to program. So you go to Reddit, you go to a Facebook group and say I have a client it's my first one, they're 39 years old and they have something called a labrum and the doctor says they shouldn't be doing this. How do I train them? And so then you get advice from someone you've never met. You go and implement it and maybe it works, maybe it doesn't. Maybe you have a manager who tells you don't worry about it, push through it. No pain, no gain. Maybe that manager's awesome, worry about it, push through it, no pain, no gain. Maybe that manager's awesome. And they get you into a right path an internship, a certification that levels up your knowledge so you really understand movement and you do help them. Or maybe you hurt the client, or maybe the client has no change and you're like I don't know if that worked or not. So the process is extremely faulty and that's why 90% of trainers quit within the first year. The few that do make it.
Speaker 1:70,000 new trainers come into the industry. There's 1.1 million in the US, of which a significant amount are online. Maybe half About 400,000 to 500,000 are only online trainers, which is another scary topic in itself, are only online trainers, which is another scary topic in itself. And so what happens is that 10% they're going to move up and they're going to apply to maybe a 24 or a crunch, have some higher pricing. Confidence begins to grow, but you have to stick it out for another year or two to have the courage to apply to a bigger, better gym like Lifetime or Equinox, and most trainers won't even get that interview because it's about who you know. There's managers at these gyms that will recruit from their past job. They have connections or recruiter work specifically with a company like Show Up Fitness, equinox and Lifetime. I connect with them on a weekly basis. They love Show Up Fitness CPTs. That's why they get hired in year one, in month one of getting certified, because they know that these trainers are the best.
Speaker 1:So then you go to a high-end gym. You're in year three or four, the average trainer and guess what? Now you have to sell and you're scared shitless because you see $120, that's a lot of money. You're thinking about your bank account. So you're closing at roughly 18%. 20%, great is considered 28%. So that means you have 10 assessments. Three people are going to say yes, and that's great. Seven are going to say no. Why do we accept that? That's the first question that I pose. Because great trainers are closing 50, 60, 70, 90, 100% of the time because they know their value, they have their fundamentals, they understand movement, the technical skills, they know people, how to be a chameleon, how to network. Those are the people skills and they understand business and sales. They're not afraid to overcome an objection and if they talk about it's too expensive or they don't have enough time, they need to talk to their significant other All things that I review in the book and how to help build your confidence. So you're closing at a higher rate.
Speaker 1:So a lot of trainers can't even make full-time, which is 20, 22 hours per week of training, less than 90 sessions per month. That's considered full-time at a big box gym. So you do make it. You're one of the few. After a year or so, guess what? You start getting bitter at big brother. They're taking all my money. I'm charging 150. I'm only getting 60, 70, $80 per hour. That's not fair. So we leave. Where do you go? You're not great with saving your money so you can't open your own gym. You go to an independent spot and it's too expensive. $500 a month, that's way too expensive. These are my clients. The irony behind that is every single fucking client that you got was from the brand of that gym you worked at.
Speaker 1:I'm on the other side of the equation because I have gyms and I see it from that business standpoint. But I've been in your shoes. I've been in that trainer's shoes looking at the big boxing. That's not fair. I was a victim, just like most of us are. But then you have to get better. So when you flip the script and you level yourself up and you do open your own gym, you do have streams of revenue. You see it from a different perspective. The industry is not saturated with personal trainers. It's saturated with trainers.
Speaker 1:I just discussed Qualified trainers, those that have a network of therapists, doctors, dietitians on your team that you can refer out to for your clients. You can charge significantly more than what these top tier gyms charge $175, $200 plus. I challenge trainers when they leave the big box gym. You should charge more because everyone else charges less. If I was charging $150, I leave and I start charging $100 because I'm making more. It's cheaper for my client.
Speaker 1:But what you secretly just did, right there is you devalued yourself, that you are only worth what that big box gym provided. Equinox gave you that opportunity to charge 150, you're charging less. So inside those ants, that self-worth, you're thinking, oh man, I'm not good enough. Where that mindset shift should be. I'm leaving the big box gym because they were chained. The mindset should be I'm leaving the big box gym High five. You guys helped me so much. I'm going to speak great about you because you gave me an opportunity to show my true worth. And now I'm going to go start my own gym or an independent gym or small group training, whatever it may be. But you're going to charge more because you are the product and you know the value in yourself. So when you take that growth mindset approach, you can absolutely turn your passion for fitness into a career.
Speaker 1:Alongside of online business, that you're driving up some supplemental income that can pay for your mortgage, your car, whatever your mainstream, is what drives your revenue, your future, and it's really neat to see qualified trainers out there doing this in a timeframe that has never been seen before. So the book is going to be provided for trainers to level up their career if they really want to make this into a sustainable, long-term career. Marketing companies will say it's a great part-time job. Maybe you are in the medical field or a different trade and you want to leave. The book is going to give you the tools for success.
Speaker 1:Our certification as of February 18th 2025 is $599. Last year it was $129. Next year I don't know what it's going to be, but it's supply and demand and as we partner with more gyms right now we have over 500 partnerships with Equinox, lifetime, eos EOS is what they're supposed to be called. These gyms want the best trainers and so they're partnering with Show Up. We're really excited about the future as we continue to grow our online presence, but also in person, with our hands-on learning with our partnership of Lifetime.
Speaker 1:If you know of a trainer who is struggling or someone who wants to become a personal trainer, refer them to the book, read it, give them the tools for success so they can make that educated decision. If they need to get their NASM, they'll pass it through the book. If they need to get their ACE, ISA, nsca, acsm, they will pass it through the book, but then they need to level up their skills with soft tissue nutrition certifications, and spending thousands of dollars for more textbook certifications is not the solution. Those specializations aren't giving you the confidence to build a sustainable career. So we need to challenge the system. That is broken.
Speaker 1:And I'm going to get a lot of pushback, I'm going to get a lot of hate, but that's okay, I'm putting myself out there. It took me two years to get this out there. Talk about some ants automatic negative thoughts. I'm not good enough. It's going to suck. I experienced that as well. We had a scam. I lost $6,000. I thought I was doing it right. I was on the Amazon website, but somehow a bot got ahold of me and next thing, you know, I thought everything was going to be edited and formatted to my liking, but it was a scam. That took almost nine months to recover and I had to find an editor who'd go through and line edit it another $6,000. This book cost over $20,000 to produce. That takes away from show up marketing, getting the word out there of what we want and should be able to be able to compete with with these other certs. But marketing is key, so I'm really excited to get this out there.
Speaker 1:But, most importantly, I'm excited to be able to help you answer the questions that you're struggling with, and this first one comes to our boy, marcus. Marcus was a trainer at Lifetime New Jersey, kicked major ass there, did a great job, but then he left and now he wants to start up his own thing, but he doesn't have an independent gym. He doesn't have a garage gym. So what do I do? So to answer his question, how do you train personal training clients without a gym? How do you start a training business without a facility? How do you start a training business without a facility? How do you get clients? The simple, most efficient way to start would be going to Bark, going to Thumbtack.
Speaker 1:These are apps where you will pay for a token and an opportunity to bid for a client. So, for example, you get notified. You get notified, you bid for a potential client in your area. You tell them how much you charge. It costs you maybe $10, $15 for that token. You then assess them, you go and take them through an assessment, workout and so forth, and then you pitch your pricing of which. Maybe you train at their house, their apartment complex, maybe they have a gym that you go to and you get a gym membership and you work out together. It's difficult to do that, but it's possible.
Speaker 1:During COVID, I worked out at Equinox with a client. They were paying me premium amounts but we would work out together. I wasn't training him for that hour, we were working out together and that was part of the communication on how I presented it to him, because I wasn't going to go to him and that's an important thing to understand with your SWIFT, in analyzing every opportunity, business was down. During COVID, I was able to make $2,400 a month by working out with this client. How many trainers do you know that make that amount from working out themselves? I think that is something you could pitch to people and it absolutely can work.
Speaker 1:My rates are normally say 150 and they go, oh, that's too expensive. And you say, well, what were you thinking about? What's in your budget? 100 bucks, great, here's what I'm willing to do. I'm not going to take a haircut for 50%, almost. My rates are 150. But what I'm willing to do is meet you at Equinox and we can work out together. I'm going to do my workout, but it's going to be tailored to your goals and people won't know that I'm training you and I will do that. So you meet your client where they're capable of it. You can't do that at Equinox for lifetime, but in these circumstances, when you pitch your product and your pricing, if they can't pay for your amount, you should have a backup plan, and that backup plan isn't just dropping your pricing, it's a negotiation.
Speaker 1:Normally my rates are X, but because you can't afford that right now, I need the business. You don't tell them that. You don't say I need any client possible. You let them know that you are willing to work with them based on the terms, if this happens, and then you present what's going to work for both of you. Also, in the next 30 days you need to refer a client to me who's going to be paying me my normal hourly session rate. So those apps are probably the best starting point. You can go to Nextdoor online. You can even go to Craigslist. You might get some weirdos on there.
Speaker 1:Start combing online for opportunities to travel to people and potentially train out of their house. Now, how much are you going to charge? I typically would challenge trainers to double your rate because it's essentially a three-hour session. We have the lovely Megan here in Santa Monica training her badass client Corinne, and they're about to do a session at nine o'clock. But if Megan were to go to her house she would have to leave early, so she couldn't have an eight o'clock, she would train her from nine to 10. She couldn't have a 10 o'clock, she'd have to come back to the studio. That's a three-hour block so you should be charging more. But as this is your newest endeavor, you're going to have to take any and every opportunity. So maybe it's 50 bucks, 75, whatever. Start online finding those opportunities and then you'll be able to build your business.
Speaker 1:Start networking with people who charge similar prices massage therapists, chiropractors, physical therapists, rds. Reach out to them, consult with them by paying their hourly rate. Let them know you are a qualified trainer building your business and you have clients you want to refer them to so they see that this is an opportunity for them to build business as well. You're not reaching out to a therapist saying can I pick your brain for free? I want your clients for free, I want your clients. That's selfish. That is a victim mentality, a fixed mindset. Think bigger. How can you help other people build their business and it will ultimately have a positive impact on your business.
Speaker 1:Go to coffee shops where you want to train. The average person will not travel outside of a seven mile radius I would probably say three to five lower end of three. In big cities they like the convenience. So go to coffee shops, bars, smoothie shops, work with the baristas, train them for free, letting them know that you work with people in the area. Go to hotels. A lot of hotels have gyms. Talk to the concierge. Who is the trainer that utilizes your facility right now? Oh, no one. I would love to set up a working relationship where I bring clients in here, utilize your facility and I'm going to give you a 20% cut. I can help build this hotel's image of having qualified trainers in the area and it's an option for your members, your hotel guests, because most of them will just say go to this gym.
Speaker 1:Next door Apartment gyms. A lot of nice apartment complex will have a gym Figure, a way how you can get in there. Start working out regularly. Put some flyers up there. Talk to the members that go there, the people who stay there, and let them know you're a trainer. Start giving out complimentary sessions.
Speaker 1:You could easily build a book of business from one apartment complex and then we have outside. You could train outside, but the problem with outside is it's going to be cheaper than normal. So if you want to charge 75, train outside. But the problem with outside is it's going to be cheaper than normal. So if you want to charge 75, you're probably going to be closer to 30 to 50. And then you also have weather conditions. It just rained here in LA for three days. If it sprinkles in LA, people don't do shit. They won't go outside. So your business could take a hit. If you had a bootcamp class that you did on the weekends during the winter month, it's going to take a hit.
Speaker 1:So if you wanted to go to an independent gym, you would reach out to the manager, the owner, ask about their pricing, try to find a scale where they're going to be able to start out cheaper, say 200 bucks a month, and then over the months it goes up. There's places like Selfmade. They charge about a thousand a month. There's places in West Hollywood to sometimes two, three thousand a month. It depends on your clientele, how nice those facilities are. So hopefully this answered your question, marcus. Now you need to go out there and implement it, report back what worked. And the next episode is me talking with Tricia Lynn and she's one of our favorite trainers up in Canada and we go over how you can start your own gym. Throw this into your story, let people know. The book is out, volume two, february 18th, excited to help you become a qualified personal trainer. Now remember, corinne. What do we do at the end? What's it about? We keep showing up. Yeah,