The Show Up Fitness Podcast

Ep. 200 - How to make $500 in two hours as a Personal Trainer | Become A Sucessfull Personal Trainer Vol. 2

• Chris Hitchko, CEO Show Up Fitness • Season 2 • Episode 200

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How to Become A Successful Personal Trainer Vol. 2. NEW RELEASE

Learn how to make serious money as a personal trainer. It doesn't require working yourself to death. I'm sharing exactly how I make $500 in just two hours and how you can build multiple revenue streams to reach a six-figure income while maintaining work-life balance.

Most trainers struggle because they're caught in a devastating mathematical trap: charging $50/session means you'd need 200 sessions monthly to earn $120,000 annually—physically impossible without burnout. After 20 years in the industry, I've learned that sustainability comes from premium pricing. By commanding $200-350 per session (which took time and strategic career development), I can generate $10,000 monthly from just two daily sessions with high-end clients who come through my carefully cultivated network of medical professionals.

The secret isn't just charging more—it's creating multiple income streams. Separate your nutrition coaching from training packages ($250/month per client adds up fast). Develop referral partnerships with physical therapists and doctors. Create certification programs, write books, speak at events, and mentor other trainers. Each stream compounds your income while reducing physical training hours. Success requires mastering technical skills (anatomy, programming), people skills (communication, motivation), and business skills (sales, marketing)—all areas where textbook certifications fall drastically short.

Ready to transform your training business? Get my book "How to Become a Successful Personal Trainer" to learn what took me decades to figure out. Stop limiting yourself with self-defeating thoughts about what you're worth, and start building the confidence to charge what creates a sustainable, rewarding career. The fitness industry needs qualified professionals who can thrive long-term—will you be one of them?

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Speaker 1:

Here's how I made $500 in two hours. 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 Up Fitness Podcast.

Speaker 1:

Today I'm going to toot my horn a little bit. I'm going to talk about how I made $500 in two hours. How can you level up your training business by working less, making more and driving those streams of revenue. Hopefully you like today's podcast. Throw it in your story. Get the book, leave that five-star review. It is up to you to help the industry become better and level up. And if we continue to tell people, get that textbook cert, get that textbook cert, it's only going to get worse. We need to come people, get that textbook cert, get that textbook cert. It's only going to get worse. We need to come together, level up, get trainers to become qualified, because there's so many trainers that want to turn their passion for fitness into career and we can help. It begins with you. Enjoy the podcast.

Speaker 1:

The number one complaint that I see with trainers I don't like to sell. Number two how do I get more clients? That's the wrong approach. If you switch that script and you start thinking about what do I need to make in order to live a sustainable life? If your goal is to make $120,000, take a step back. That's $10,000 per month. How are you going to generate that? If you're charging $50 per session, you're going to do 200 sessions per month. That is an insane amount of work People and mental hours that you are laboring is not going to be sustainable. If you're in your 20s, sure you can bust that out, but that's not sustainable for a family man or a family lady.

Speaker 1:

If you want to be able to turn your passion for fitness into a career, you need to be able to charge more and you need to have streams of revenue. If you charge $75, that's roughly $133. $100, now we're talking. That's reasonable. 20 to 25 sessions per week is what a trainer should be doing. That's considered full-time. Start doing higher amounts, like I charge $250. You only need to do 40 sessions per month.

Speaker 1:

I have two clients right now that I get from high-end referral sources and these are concierge doctors. One I charge 300, one I charge 200. I'm not worried about them talking. I have conversations with them and I provide value for what they want. So that's going to be $500 I make in two hours, five days a week. That's going to be $2,500. That's $10,000 that I generate just from those two sessions. But I also have streams of revenue.

Speaker 1:

I'm a big believer in doing what you love. I love personal training, but look at my timeline. It's taken me 20 years to be able to do that. Confidently, ask someone this is how much I charge. The most I've ever charged in my entire life is 350. And when I asked that client, they didn't even blink. It's going to be 350 per hour. They go okay, I'll do six sessions what I didn't do that. But in my mind I'm like, holy crap, gosh, darn it, chris, I should have charged 400.

Speaker 1:

My goal 2025, my BHAG big, hunky, audacious goal is to charge 500. And this isn't me on a pedestal saying how great I am. It's to give you the ability to think bigger, because the average trainer is setting the bar down here and it makes sense because you come into the industry via textbook and everything is expensive, this frugal mentality. You don't have a growth mindset. When trainers are struggling, they reach out to me 90% quit within the first year of getting hired at a corporate gym. I asked them when was the last seminar you went to? What book are you currently reading? When is the last time you networked with a physical therapist or an RD? How often do you get trained? No, no, no, I don't have any money right now. That scared mindset doesn't set you up for success.

Speaker 1:

I've invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in my continuing education. I've made a ton of mistakes. My degree is in kinesiology. I got my first training job in 2005. I charged $60. I made $25. If you look at this, I would have had to do 400 sessions in a month. That's 100 in a week. That's not even realistic. You literally cannot do that. So I had to just burn the candle both ends.

Speaker 1:

I worked at a gym in the night and I worked in the gym in the morning, but I gained a lot of experience and, with my background in internships and networking, I started teaching trainers when I opened my first gym in Santa Monica. That's where I'm at right now, I was able to charge a hundred and I take home a hundred because it's my gym. Or at Equinox, say, you charge 125, you may be only getting 50 of that. So you have to do the math for what you're taking home. When I opened our next gym 2017, I then bumped up to 200. Now, 2025, I'm between 200 to 350. I don't train more than two hours per day. That's my cap, because I would rather make money by having someone come in, assess them 200 to 250, and then give them to a trainer where I'll be making $100 by doing nothing.

Speaker 1:

I'm a big believer in optimizing where trainers fail Nutrition coaching. Why don't you make money from your clients in nutrition? Well, because I included it in my session. That's not what you should be doing. When you go to the dentist, do they also take a look at your foot? No, no, they're different. So you need to set very clear expectations with your clients. I just did a great podcast with a trainer from Lifetime in Chicago, and Luke developed an amazing assessment form, and I'm helping him get out of his comfort zone by clearly stating this is how much training is. This is how much nutrition coaching. How many sessions per week do you want to train with me? After 30 days, we'll start doing nutrition. Put your foot down on the expectations and the privilege to train with me. After 30 days, we'll start doing nutrition. Put your foot down on the expectations and the privilege to work with you.

Speaker 1:

If you have 10 clients and they're paying you $250 for nutrition coaching, that's $2,500 per month, over $30,000 per year. So now if your goal is $120, you only need to be generating $90. So these numbers, you don't have to do nearly as much sessions in person. It's all about working smarter. You need to really understand the big picture of today, especially with social media. You look online and you see someone next to a Ferrari and they're telling you you're going to be like me.

Speaker 1:

I'm a business coach. I help trainers make 44,000 a month. No Bullshit, that is not. That's all smoke and mirrors of social media. So you get caught up in that and then you pay a coach $5,000, $10,000 and it's not going to work. You will learn more in my book, which is $39, than any business coach out there, because I'm helping you with the fundamentals out there. Because I'm helping you with the fundamentals, the foundation needs to be strong.

Speaker 1:

So over 20 years, I built the network. I built the career capital and I have the confidence because I've written books. I have gyms. I teach personal trainers the streams of revenue that I currently have one-on-one personal training. I do mentorship. We have our certification. I have my book. We have study guides to pass any textbook certification. When I go and give talks at seminars, that's another stream of revenue. The more streams of revenue that you have, this number can go down. I will train forever.

Speaker 1:

I'm going to be a 90-year-old trainer helping people go through workouts. I've been in the gym since I've been in fourth grade. That's when I got my first trainer. I love this shit. I don't want to be doing anything else.

Speaker 1:

If I won the lotto, I like playing scratchers. Guess what I'm going to do? I'm going to take that money and market against the big marketing companies, because the NASM, the ACE, the ISSA, they have all this money where they can market and get in front of you. So you think they're the gold standard. But then when you take a step back and you really reflect and you go, wow, it's literally a textbook. There's no hands-on learning. I don't know how to program, I don't know how to cue a client, because there's no tactical learning. That is the number one mistake trainers talk about in my book. Who are trainers? They don't associate a certification with their name 15 alphabet soup certifications. No, they're a trainer. The best trainers are trainers. Some will say they're a coach because they got their CSCS and that's fine, you're a trainer or a coach. Those certifications did not get them to where they're at. Their networking did building that book of business with the great people in your community who can give you referrals.

Speaker 1:

You turned into a maven by linking up with therapists and doctors and registered dieticians. As a teacher of training for over 15 years, I get emails daily. I'm frustrated, I'm burned out, I don't make enough. I have all these ants automatic negative thoughts, self-limiting beliefs. I'm not good enough. You need to level yourself up. You need to hang around people who are charging 200 to 250 per hour.

Speaker 1:

When I work with the prehab guys, they charge a lot of money for their PT. That is who I refer my clients to. That is who I go to when I'm hurt. I get a comp because of a relationship. I had them come to our gym and film a bunch of their content for their app in exchange for that access when I am hurt or a client is hurt, I send them to you and then they send me clients. That's how I got my first $200. Client is a referral from the prehab guys and I got that because I went out and I socialized with other medical professionals.

Speaker 1:

I am a medical professional, you are a medical professional. We are at the front line of defense for obesity, for chronic illness and if we're thinking I'm a trainer, this isn't a sustainable career. That is why you're not succeeding. You need to build that confidence and the foundation of anatomy, movement, competency, programming needs to be dialed in and for most trainers that I consult with, they lack that. So if you can't tell me the rotator cuff muscles, the quad muscles, 14 muscles around the knee, what is flexion extension, what are the muscles doing that, you're gonna be going out there and not having the confidence inside knowing you're the best. You have those limiting beliefs. If you wanna become a successful personal trainer, you need to have the business skills. Sales is fun.

Speaker 1:

I was scared shitless when I asked for my first $250 session. I was, but then afterwards and they said yes, six times a week and they didn't blink. I then went. Damn it, I should have listened to them. I should have went more. I should have done 400. Should have done 450. I should have done 500 and negotiated. Learn to love the negotiation process.

Speaker 1:

There's going to be a lot of trainers that are going to get upset at the fact that I charge more than them and they're going to be throwing all their comments in there, going off on Reddit, going off on Facebook groups, whatever it may be. But I know the product of what we're producing. With the fastest growing certification in the world, we got into the top 10 in 2024. The proof is in the pudding when you get the number one trainer at Crunch, top 50 at Equinox, number one trainer at Lifetime and these trainers are generating hundreds of thousands of dollars and they're creating streams of revenue because they're implementing swift analysis, as I talk about in my book Strengths and weaknesses, reviewing that regularly, action-based eyes, things that you can improve, implement and innovate.

Speaker 1:

Recognize your fears, but don't let them debilitate your action. And then the T where do you want to be your trajectory? What are your threats? Who's your competition? Who's at your table? Who are you surrounding yourself with? And if you're surrounding yourself with a bunch of victim trainers that are pointing a finger at Equinox, lifetime 24, crunch. Whatever they take all my money. It's not fair. I should be making more. You're not setting yourself up for success. That's toxic. You need to be surrounding yourself with people who are in the gym. When their clients cancel, they don't go home and sleep, they're here. They figure out a solution to create content and build their self-worth and get more exposure.

Speaker 1:

There's nothing that I love more than teaching personal trainers. I love my career. I love this field. Unfortunately, the industry has a bad rep. It's because of the process. You read a book, you pass it Super easy to do, and if you fail, that doesn't mean you're an idiot. It just means you're not good at taking tests. That's fine. When was the last time a client asked me Chris, is my supraspinatus, my labrum, my subscapularis or my teres minor affected right now? Which one is it? Which one is it? Which one is it? No, you need to know that. Stuff like that, having the communication, the people skills, business skills, the technical skills when you master all three of those, you absolutely can turn your passion for fitness into a career.

Speaker 1:

Hopefully you found this video helpful. If you haven't read the book, read it $39,. You will learn more in this book than any textbook in the world. I guarantee it. We are having seminars in Austin, we're in Sacramento, we're in Chicago, new York, miami, toronto. We're going to get international. We're going out there helping you level yourself up with your confidence, your business and whatever else you need. That's what we're here for. Send us a message on Instagram If you need to pass a textbook certification. Tell your friends, get the book, throw it into your story. Dm us your email and I will send you our study guide as well as 100 quiz questions for free. That's a $200 value so you can pass that textbook cert because you can't get a refund and you came across our certification too late.

Speaker 1:

And if you want to get certified, we have a soft tissue cert, which is going to level up your pain management, helping clients get out of pain and move better. And we also have a nutrition certification where you get to work with an RD. Our certifications level trainers up because you're building better teams. If you refer someone into one of our seminars or certification, I will give you $200. Ask the other certifications how much you're getting when you go on Reddit or YouTube and say, oh, just get your ACE, just get your NASM, just get your ISSA and then go gain experience. That, literally, is the worst advice you could give anybody, and I just smash my table and take a shot of whiskey every time I see that because that trainer is not going to succeed.

Speaker 1:

Think about it for a second the blind leading the blind. In an industry where 90% quit within the first year, if you do what everyone else did, what do you think is going to happen? Refer someone into our certification, actually learn how to become a trainer. That's a stream of revenue. You can start working on Five referrals a month. That's an extra grand. That's going to get you so much closer to this number and a lot more than that. I've met with so many trainers who significantly clear that that's just a little window dressing right there. Make $100,000. I like $120,000. That's way better. $10,000 a month versus $8,300. You can make $120,000 100%. But look at the timeline. It's not going to happen in your first couple months. It takes work. It takes competence and confidence All things I talk about in my book. Have a great day and keep showing up.