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
Become A Personal Trainer India Gujarat w/ Teacher of Trainers Devang
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The fitness industry struggles with a respect problem. Whether in the United States or India, personal trainers often fight an uphill battle against stigmas that minimize their profession as "just a side hustle" rather than a legitimate career path. This eye-opening conversation with Devang, a fitness instructor from Gujarat, India, reveals surprising parallels in the challenges trainers face worldwide—and actionable strategies to overcome them.
Devang shares his journey from engineering student to fitness professional, including the discouraging first question from his family: "Who's gonna marry you?" This response highlights the universal undervaluation of fitness careers despite their critical importance in addressing public health crises. In India, where only 4% of the 1.4 billion population engages in physical activity, metabolic diseases run rampant through generations of families.
The podcast dives deep into why personal training lacks prestige—primarily due to minimal entry barriers compared to respected professions like medicine or law. When anyone with a good physique can become a trainer without certification, the profession's perceived value diminishes. This problem compounds when trainers receive only 30% of personal training fees in commercial gym settings while working grueling 12-16 hour days.
The conversation shifts from problem to solution, outlining a blueprint for elevating the profession beyond collecting certifications. Successful trainers develop business acumen, network with healthcare professionals, and create comprehensive wellness centers that command respect. By building teams that include physical therapists and dieticians, trainers position themselves as integral parts of the healthcare ecosystem rather than isolated fitness specialists.
Ready to transform your passion for fitness into a respected, sustainable career? Learn how to become the uncommon "unicorn trainer" who sta
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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 of Fitness podcast. Today we have instructor and teacher of trainers in India, Gujarat. Mr Devang, how are we doing, buddy?
Speaker 2:I'm doing good, man. How are you?
Speaker 1:Doing well. We were just quizzing each other on some geography. There are 28 states in India, 1.4 billion people, lots of opportunities, but very similar to the United States. The career of a personal trainer isn't highly respected, would you agree?
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1:Now, in the States, we have the stigma that Americans are a bunch of overweight, obnoxious, fat people, and in India there's a similar issue when it comes to metabolic disease. A lot of people are unhealthy, and so let's talk a little bit about the factors within India and why you think so many people are unhealthy the factors within India and why you think so many people are unhealthy and then we're going to segue talking about the career of a personal trainer and how you can turn your passion for fitness into a career.
Speaker 2:So let's start first with the people in India. Why they are so fat. So here, people, even after Corona, there is a shift in your mindset of people, like now they are very aware about their health and fitness. But there is still the four percent of the entire population of India goes to the gym or engages in a physical, any kind of physical activity. So you can imagine 1.4 billion and there are only four percent people who are going to the gym or engaging in physical activities and that's why we have higher obesity rates here. We have multiple diabetes cases here. Even every family has at least one person who is going through high cholesterol or high diabetes or some kind of diseases like those, and it is generational. One after the other people are getting it and yeah, but the good thing is, now people are getting aware about fitness and health, so they are starting to doing some kind of yoga, gym activities and stuff like that. But it will take some time to change it completely.
Speaker 1:And I know that here in the States it's simplified by saying that we eat too much, we don't move enough. But, as you were saying, it's a lot more complex than that. There are environmental factors, there's a genetic component. We can't just simplify it by saying eat less, move more, because in your situation, like you're saying, it can be generational and so when people do go to the gym, are they lifting weights or, like you're going towards, you're saying that they're doing more like maybe non-weight bearing stuff like yoga and Pilates. What is the mode that most people will gravitate towards?
Speaker 2:All right, so you can categorize people in two different categories. For female, they usually prefer Zumba, aerobics or cardio activities, and Pilates is the hot topic in India right now, so everyone wants to do Pilates. And then there are males. Some are young generation around 30 years or below 30. They love to lift weights but they hate cardio. And then there are people above 30 who only does cardio.
Speaker 1:They don't want to lift weights because they feel that if they lift heavy they'll get injured themselves you have the trends and, and I wonder, how many trainers, which would be a good segue talking about the career as a profession how many trainers do you think look through the lens of the consumer and try to become more confident in those, those trends, such as you? Let's say that you've been around a hundred trainers. How many of those trainers are male?
Speaker 2:85 to 90.
Speaker 1:So here it's about 65 70. We're getting better. We're seeing a lot more women getting into the field, which is great, but in india sounds like maybe we're a little behind now. Why do you think so many males are trainers and not females?
Speaker 2:what I would say if you want to become a trainer in India, 80% of the trainers have the same story. They are going to the college and they start lifting weights, they build a good physique, they have good confidence and they start helping people. They start giving them tips and advices and they start training people, and that's how they start their career. And there are very less girls who go to the gym in their college times. There are lots of restrictions on them as well, because there are a few families who not allow their girls to go to the place where there are too many males and stuff like that. So that is the first point. And second point even if a girl wants to start a career in industry, they prefer either doing aerobics, yoga, zumba or they prefer nutrition courses. They don't want to lift weights as well.
Speaker 1:I like that. So it's great psychologically to get into the mind of the consumer and I would say that everything that you've discussed so far is very similar to the United States. I would say that progressive in the sense that we are moving towards acceptance with weight training. But there's still these Pilates and aerobics classes that are huge. So those 80 dudes that are trainers, how many of them do you think get into a Pilates class and take classes like that?
Speaker 2:From male, I'd say five or 10 clients, 10 dudes, not more than that.
Speaker 1:And so that's a huge opportunity to get into the mindset of who your potential clients can be. Now let's talk about the career as a personal trainer, and I like telling the story. There was a student who I had to go through the program. He was working at one of the top gyms in the States. He was at a bar talking to a girl, they were flirting, having a good time, and then she asked him what his career was, what his job is, and he said he was a trainer. And she took her drink and left, and so it was almost like she was like that's not a career, that's like a joke, and there's this stigma that trainers are not very smart, it's a side job, it's not something to take seriously.
Speaker 2:Would you say that's very similar in India as well? Yeah, very much similar. In India. People don't consider it as a career. Because I have done engineering and when I told my family that I am switching my career and I am willing to make a career in fitness, they were like who's gonna marry you? Then that was the first question I faced. So yeah, that is the problem here, and even people are not ready to consider it as a career, because I recently saw an ad of ISSA and they were marketing it as a side hustle. Even academics like those are marketing as a side hustle. So how do people consider it as a proper career?
Speaker 1:Why do you think careers like doctors and computer engineers and lawyers are respected, but trainers aren't?
Speaker 2:The most important is because of the entry barrier. There is no entry barrier in the fitness industry. To become a doctor, you need to study a lot, you need to practice a lot. Same with lawyers and same with engineers, but not with the trainers. Anyone can be a trainer in India. Many gyms are there who don't even ask for a certification. If you look good, if you have good physique, you have good confidence, they hire you and then you can do your certification as well, and it's a choice. There is no compulsion there. So because entry level is too low, people don't respect them and people don't feel confident about them as well.
Speaker 1:Like I just did a post on our social media page. If you're not following us, make make sure to follow Show Up Fitness and Show Up Fitness CPT. But I was talking about a lawsuit for negligence and this trainer was sued for $1.4 million and within the legal ramifications. There's a lawyer who's talking about the entry standards in the United States and it's always funny to me because what you're saying is 100% true and it's the same in the United States. And it's always funny to me because what you're saying is 100% true and it's the same in the United States.
Speaker 1:But what people want is they want that respect. So they'll throw an acronym out there like oh, it's accredited, but there's no legal ramifications. To become a personal trainer, you do not have to have a certification, and that's why I think we're not looked upon. And what people will say is that they want some reform. They want an umbrella where, like a physical therapist or a doctor, you have to get board certified. But it's never going to happen just because of what you were saying with the gyms. And if you required personal trainers to have like quote unquote board certified licensing, then you'd have to pay them more. Let's talk a little bit about why you feel trainers struggle so much in India and what the biggest problems are?
Speaker 2:Biggest problem, as I mentioned, that trainers are not educated enough, first of all, and they're not ready to invest in education as well. 30% trainers are there who are not even certified and when you ask them to get certified, they are like we are getting clients, we are getting a good amount of clients and we don't need to get a certification, and that's the mindset which we can't help with. But yes, there are 70% who are continually upgrading themselves but not getting the pay because of the commercial james uh gyms here. If someone is signing up for a pretty personal training there, the gyms are charging 70 percent out of that and trainers are only getting 30, which is a very unfair in my opinion, because they are working hard and they are not getting value out of it.
Speaker 1:And so, similar to the States here, you go to a gym. You're getting paid anywhere from 30 to 50%. It's not that rewarding, especially if you're really passionate about this. So you get this interesting curve. You're passionate at the beginning, you're training people, but you're not making enough. And so then you're like, okay, what am I going to do? And I would be curious to see how many trainers are you familiar with? That work with teams? Do they have physical therapists? Do they have registered dietitians? Do they network with doctors?
Speaker 2:uh no, there is no culture in india that trainers work with a team of medical professionals. They do themselves everything. They plan nutrition plan as well. They do nutrition planning as well, even though they are not nutritionists. They write a diet plan, they write workout plan and if their clients get injured, sometimes they even give them stretches as well, in a hope that the problem will be fixed. But it always gets worse over the time, so they lose a client.
Speaker 1:Talk to me about your beginning career, and what did that look like? How many hours a week were you training and how much were you getting paid?
Speaker 2:When I started I was 20 years old and I was just fresh out of college and I knew almost nothing about the fitness industry, but I was in love with working out. So I thought this is the thing I want to do for a life, for a bread and butter, and that's why I started it. And I got my first job and I was not certified. When I got my first job, I started doing job for three months. I saved some money and then I enrolled in a certification, which was a local certification, and I was working for 12 hours a day and the gym where I worked it was two hours from my place. So I go there in the morning, it takes two hours to reach, and then I come back at 12 or 1 am. In the night it is again two hours drive. So 12 hours job and four hours traveling. So it was 16 hours, 16 hours day. I managed my diet and everything, workout and everything in those 16 hours. I sleep for rest of the hours and the pay was not that high.
Speaker 2:But, uh, I got to learn a lot of lot of things because, uh, I met a very good bunch of people there. Even some of them are still with me and we are in a good, close, connected circle. So it was all about learning, because I was like a empty slate. There was nothing on my on me, so I was only looking for learning whom who can teach me? Where can I get more information? And it was all about learning, learning, learning.
Speaker 2:Even I didn't know how to pitch for a personal training. So for the first six months I never got a personal training client Because I don't know how to pitch someone for my training, how to market myself. So it took me six months to get my first client whom I can train. So for six months I was only doing flow training, general training, which is common in India. You go to the gym, you get general trainers. They are standing in a corner observing your form and technique, sometimes using their mobile phones and everything. So that's what I did for six months. Once I got a certification, my confidence went up and then I started talking to people more and more and then I started getting more personal training clients. And then there was a phase, after eight months of getting certified, I had 10 clients. So I was training 10 people in 12 hours and I was super busy that time. I didn't know when to eat, when to work out, when to sleep. I was just enjoying the process. So that was it for at least two years when I started.
Speaker 1:Very similar here. I mean, everything that you're talking about, I would say, is in juxtaposition in the States, and so I I'm a big believer in establishing yourself, different than the masses, and so I would hypothesize what trainers want to do to stand out is they probably try to get more specializations. So they're going to go and get a NASM cert corrective exercise, they're going to go get ISSA, they're going to go through K11 and they're trying to build their resume like, oh, I'm different. That's why you should work with me Now in the certifications that you've gone through, or the ones that you're aware of, how many of them teach sales skills and how to build a book of business?
Speaker 2:How many of them teach sales skills and how to build a book of business. At least in India, KLearn is not teaching about sales, not NASM as well and not ACE as well. So there are no such certifications that are teaching about sales, how to pitch for your personal training, how to market yourself. No one is talking about that here, and that's the biggest challenge. That's why I said it took me eight months to get my first line.
Speaker 1:And so imagine a hypothetical conversation, because I've had numerous conversations with trainers in India and different states and a common denominator is mom and dad, don't look at what I'm doing as a career. They may even say stuff like oh, who's going to marry you as a trainer? That's not respected, would you say. That's pretty fair.
Speaker 2:Yep it is my story.
Speaker 1:And so then, when you flip the script and you have that conversation with mom and dad and you go, mom and dad, what are your thoughts on me owning a gym? And imagine if I were to have a physical therapist, a dietician and a doctor, a nurse practitioner I had a team working for me. It's my spot and everyone is coming to this wellness center because we can take care of them all. Versus the average trainer, what they do is they get all these specializations. They still don't know how to sell or build. And so if you were to build a better team and you reach out to medical professionals, showing that you're not the average trainer because in the States we have the stigma that, oh, you're just a meathead, you're a bodybuilder, you're not very smart so if you have a conversation with a medical professional, you are on the same level.
Speaker 1:Within a degree. Obviously, their credentials are significantly more impressive, but you have the competence to have that conversation, and then what you're going to get is a funnel of clients who are coming to your facility for them, but then they're making the referrals to you, so it's a trickle down effect. And then what's going to happen is you're going to build a community within your gym. That's going to be everlasting, and I know for a fact that. Imagine that conversation. You're in a room with 50 other trainers and everyone's trying to beat their chest. I have this certification, I have this certification, but then what you say is well, I actually teach personal trainers and on top of them I own a gym. Would you say that you would stand out in that?
Speaker 2:in that scenario, definitely I will, because, uh, not many trainers are looking to own a gym or like that.
Speaker 1:They are only doing hard work but they rarely work to polish their people skill and business skill and so what the gyms do is they almost use it as a opportunity to use this revolving door, because that trainer, statistically, is probably going to quit, they're going to go into another career and there's going to be a new, fired up trainer who's going to be working 12, 16 hour days, and so then they can. Their margins are significantly higher because they can just pay these newer trainers pennies on the dollar. And so if you really want to be different, you need to create an environment where trainers are excited to be a part of and they're getting paid well. And so I would be willing to bet most gyms are not charging what they could because, as you were saying, the trainers don't have the confidence nor the competence to pitch what they're worth. And so if you go into an environment and let's just say they're charging 300 rupees, but if you know your value and you're worth a thousand rupees, there's going to be people that want to work with you because you're the best, and that's why they're going to want to go to these facilities, these wellness centers, and that's exactly what we're trying to create here in the States, and that's what we're going to do in India and all over the world, because then what you're going to find is it's a community where it's not a pissing contest, where I'm better than the therapist or I have this corrective exercise cert. You need to listen to me. You know how to screen and assess appropriately. You can make a referral to a doc to get blood work done. You can make a referral to the physical therapist to optimize pain management. But we know our scope where we can do assessments and screens to help them get stronger, move better for their jobs, their activities of daily living, whether if they're at a computer all day or if they're an engineer, whatever, we will be able to help them because we have the solution.
Speaker 1:And so that's when you have conversations with newer trainers. You have to really plant that seed in their mind, because what they're doing is they're thinking very low, because the expectations for the industry are low. So when you give them that BHAG, that big, hunky, audacious goal that you can own a gym, it's not going to be easy. But if you start putting aside 10% and you put that work in, you're doing now. But take a mindset the first year isn't going to be easy. Instead of just settling for 12 hours, hell, work 16 hours and be different than everyone else.
Speaker 1:So then, when you are saving and you link up, as you were saying, with other trainers, you can build the revenue for a down payment, you can build the respect. But then you have that medical team and I guarantee you you're going to find some doctors and some nurses and some physical therapists who are scared to make that jump in their profession. But they see this young entrepreneur, this trainer, you're going to be a unicorn and now you're going to be motivating medical professionals that this is what our country needs. They need more respect and it begins with us as fitness professionals. What would be the advice you would give the new trainers that are starting a career in India?
Speaker 2:Well, I would say, for initial one or two years, just don't think about anything. Work hard, work, hard work for even 10 hours, 12 hours hours. Don't look up and just keep your head down and work, keep learning new stuff, keep polishing your people skill and business skill, because that's what matter here. Trainers don't know how to talk with clients, how to sell themselves, so work on that, because if you are good in selling, you can automatic gain more money and knowledge can follow through, because even if you are doing certification, you need a lot of money to invest in. So if you are good in sales, you get money. You invest it in your education and that's how you level up.
Speaker 1:And I would say to take that a step further, on your day off, reach out to physical therapists and shadow them, because when you're in that environment they're seeing you differently.
Speaker 1:I would be willing to bet most trainers look at therapists as competition and they're going to try to be better than them and almost talk shit about them by saying, oh, don't go to that therapist, all you need is me, I'll do your nutrition and I'm going to be a jack of all trades versus that unicorn trainer that is taking the initiative, using those business skills and people skills to network with them. You're going to learn a lot more about pain education from the physical therapist, nutrition education from the dietician. So, then, what you're doing is you're essentially three steps ahead where, like you're saying, put your head down for two years and work, but if you're doing it while you're gaining hands-on experience with the right supervision, at the end of those two or three years you're going hands-on experience with the right supervision at the end of those two or three years, you're going to be significantly further than the average trainer who quits.
Speaker 2:Yeah, perfectly makes sense.
Speaker 1:And that's why we have our book and we're working on getting it into India how to become a successful personal trainer. And then our certification. You're certified for life but, most importantly, you're getting those business skills, the people skills which are going to parlay with networking, the assessment process and then the technical skills. Trainers always tell you they know everything about the overhead squat assessment. They're fear-based. But I like to challenge trainers and say, okay, tell me the 17 muscles around the shoulder.
Speaker 1:If you're so smart, why can't you start with the basics 14 muscles around the knee? Which movement patterns are we going to program? And so smart, why can't you start with the basics 14 muscles around the knee? Which movement patterns are we going to program? And, more importantly, why Are you just choosing random exercises because you saw a bodybuilder doing them? Or do you have a why behind you, choosing to do a trap bar deadlift versus a conventional deadlift? And when you understand the why, and then, more importantly, you implement it with these medical professionals, you start training them. They're going to see you as that unicorn and you are different. And so your trajectory for this career. There's no cap. When trainers come in and they go into a gym, they almost they put a trap on your foot. They put a ball and chain on your ankle saying that this is your cap Settle for making pennies. The realistic trajectory is significant when you're thinking bigger and surrounding yourself with awesome individuals like yourself. So where can people find you on social media?
Speaker 2:It's at dfitman d underscore fit, underscore man.
Speaker 1:And make sure to give him a follow if you want to sit in on some of our classes. We have classes PST, which is American time, but we also are going to be launching our IST classes, where Devon will be one of the instructors and you can ask him questions so you can better understand programming, which ultimately builds your confidence, and we'll have calls teaching you how to network with other medical professionals so we can gain respect as a career. So then you're excited to tell mom and dad. You know what? I'm really excited to prove you wrong because you don't think I'm going to be able to turn this into a career, but I'm going to and I guarantee it. Thank you for taking the time today, my man, and, most importantly, keep showing up.