Is Becoming a Personal Trainer Still Worth It? (Honest Answer)

Is becoming a personal trainer still worth it in 2025? In this episode, Callum and Ryan break down what it really looks like to work in the UK fitness industry right now.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Everybody, hope you're all doing well. So, today we're going to cover a topic about is it worth being a PT in the UK today or even worldwide? What is the point of it? Are we saturated and are you actually going to make an income as a personal trainer?

SPEAKER_00 0:14

And also, guys, there is spaces available for this August course. So if you are interested, drop us a message and don't forget to like and subscribe.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

Hello everybody, episode seven. I'm Callum. I'm Ryan. And welcome to the PT Launch Lab. So wow, it's gonna it's been it's really catching up with me now because we're on seven episodes in.

SPEAKER_00 0:43

I forget what we've talked about half the time. I just I'm still I'm enjoying it still, though. Um I got to go on the other podcast and I know we spoke about that. No days that one of the day after, wasn't it? Uh that'll be released in a couple of weeks. I know they had they had two to three uh in the queue before me, so they said it'll be up in a couple of weeks, but um I'm looking forward to it. It seems like a lot of people are gonna want to watch it. Everyone I've spoken to in in the gym or some out of the gym have been interested in seeing it as well.

SPEAKER_01 1:09

So I'm looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

Hopefully, drive some traffic towards us as well.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

So yeah, that's the main goal. But no, it's it's really good because uh I've been catching up on their podcast. I think it's great. I think it's great talking, keeping the fight game relevant, and obviously they cover a lot of other stuff, and yeah, I've been loving it so far.

SPEAKER_00 1:26

Yeah, just oh anything as interesting as uh the seating arrangements we've been talking about itself. We've got some ideas, um different layouts, how we're gonna do the podcast as well, and some for the fighters, and potentially like in the boxing ring and stuff. I'd feel like it's a nice place to open up and be transparent with everyone and see the ideas that we're going through. Obviously, like a like I'm obsessed with everybody sort of on this journey at the same time as people are growing their PT business, we're growing uh the podcast business. So sort of showing our insight, what our minds are thinking like and ticking over and how we're always looking to expand or how we can make things better. I just think it's quite quite interesting.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

Yeah, and the best part about I like like you say, is the evolution, and this is why I love starting a business, having a business, running a business. This is why we're doing what we're doing, why we want to talk to everybody because the best part about it is it's yours and you can make it your own, and you can make these changes, you can do these things, and it makes life a lot nicer, and it makes having business a lot a lot nicer when you enjoy it. And I we'll go over that every single episode. If you enjoy it, the success will just follow with it. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 2:35

Absolutely, mate. So we'll move on to his first topic of the day if you wanna if you want to go into that calump. Yeah, we've no there's not as much going on. Been going on this week to there was last we're quite we were both quite busy last week, obviously. I've just done me I'm really into training camp now. Uh but it's just I'm not gonna go over it too much. It's pretty much the same thing, just a little bit more intense. So I'll not um I'll not take half at podcast talking about that this time.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

But I just want to get straight on to the um yeah, well, you're well into your diet mode now, so everything's just tunnel vision, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 3:07

Do you know what? Only thing I'll I talk about all day is boxing as well. So this is probably quite refreshing that I won't be talking about. You don't have to talk about every time. But sometimes I will, though definitely.

SPEAKER_01 3:17

So what I wanted to cover today, and I think it's a really interesting topic because I think it's better for people to know this going in. Is it worth being a PT in the UK today? And the main thing I wanted to talk about is market saturation. So as of 2022, this statistic that came out, there is currently 69,000 registered PTs in the UK, which in relative doesn't sound like a massive number, but then you also got to incorporate the unregistered PTs, the ones without qualification into that. You could almost double that if you wanted to. And it sounds like a number that sounds really oversaturated. So if you're thinking about getting to the industry and you think, well, there's already 20 PTs in my area, so how am I going to make any dent whatsoever? Think about it like this: every single industry is oversaturated. You're living in a on a planet with seven billion people plus, and you're not going to be the first one to do anything. And what I mainly want to talk about was the relevance of what can you bring to the table and how is it going to be significant to actually build an income with that? Because I think for any industry, especially ours, I mean, today, just because of social media alone, the the fitness side of the industry is so overblown anyway. Like, if your algorithm, if you like fitness, your algorithm will base everything around fitness anyway, and you can't scroll past three reels without someone offering something saying that their method's better than anyone else's, or some type of viral video about fitness and short reels, which is great for the industry, but it also puts a little bit of a stopping point on people potentially wanting to get into it because you're thinking, Well, how can I match these guys? And I think that's important to talk about today.

SPEAKER_00 5:05

Yeah, and I think I don't think a lot of it is as real as it's made out as well. So these guys they might be in a flash car, they might be on holiday with a laptop telling you that they could be doing the same. Honestly, as I've learned from social media, it's just don't believe everything you see as well. Don't get reeled into that as well. These people, a lot of them have they've just paid for the holiday, they might potentially have a bit of mum and dad's backing to be on holiday. Potential. They might have done it, they might have earned it, then hats off to them. Um well done. But I reckon majority of the time I think it's all smoke and mirrors. I don't believe it for a second. I feel like these people just appear and then they want to sell you the blueprint to be them. And I just there's no proof of what they've done previous, which is what I'd be looking for. I'd be asking for the numbers, for the experience, what they've done in the past, not look at me on this beach. Do you want to be me?

SPEAKER_01 6:09

Yeah, and do you know what I want to see? I want to stop seeing online coaches and personal trainers in Dubai. I want to see some in Mallorca and Benedore, yeah, just the real ones. Just uh, I don't know, I think like it is exactly what you're saying, it is smoking mirrors, and you'll find a lot of these people selling you the dream are doing that to sell you the dream because it looks appetizing, of course it does. Who wouldn't want to live in Dubai and drive supercars and live in your own terms? Like it can happen, it's not impossible.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

But most people are renting these cars as well. Some of them have done other things to get this money. I know my personally, myself, I know a couple of people doing this now, and they're they're paying to rent the cars to then sit in them to do videos and trying to tell you that that's a good way moving forward, which is crazy for me, is just burning money. But each to their own, if that's the way the world's moving, then keep me out of it. Like, but I'd I'd say be uh organic, be real, be yourself, try and be more likable. Those people I won't say are loved by people. I think people see through it as well. There can be uh things of jealousy as well if you if you are doing well, like you don't need to rub it in people's face either. So I I could be I'm doing pretty well. I'm not going out in supercars, I'm not well here's the thing, right?

SPEAKER_01 7:26

So you've been in this injury 13 years and you've not moved out of Ponti.

SPEAKER_00 7:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:29

Right? Why why why are you the you why are you the busiest PT in Ponte? Yeah. Like what what separates you from me? I could count on both hands and yours how many PTs are currently in this area right now. Yeah. So why do people come to you?

SPEAKER_00 7:43

The consistency, I think. I think it is over time. If everyone only knows me for being a PT. I know a lot of PTs who we are we've touched on this before, and I can understand why people would have to do this, and it's working two jobs at the same time. We've we said yesterday, you want you won't go to a part-time plastic surgeon. No. So when you when they message saying, Can I book in uh 10 o'clock in the morning? They say I'm working, you're like, Well, I thought this was your job. And then it's sort of like how serious are you are you taking it? Which it might not be that might not might not be the case. Like, I'm not saying that obviously if someone's been working their entire life, they might I don't know, they might be 40-year-old, they might be just getting into uh into PT and there's not they've got responsibility, they've got kids, so there's no other way out other than working the two jobs, completely understandable, but I do think that has it has an effect as well. Whether it's up to them or not, the faster they get out of that, I think the better. Again, everyone's got a different way of doing it. People need that security with money. For me, I'd want to make sure I want that PT to be doing PT only.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

Yeah, and I think especially because I mean, just as a a case study point of your situation, because you're in a small area, you tend to get to know everybody, and you know one client, that client will know several friends, and you get talk to them. But the reason why I think you've been stable for so many years is because you are the PT that people want, yeah. And I think this translates to everything. If you pay money for a PT, and it is a luxury, we've said that before, you want that PT to be your best cheerleader, you want it, you want someone to make sure that you're getting in for them sessions and make sure that you feel good about those sessions. And when you get into this market, and again, the oversaturation, people tend to look at it on a one-track line basis where they think, well, there's that many PTs, what makes me different. Think outside the box, you're not gonna reinvent the wheel. Um, you can't reinvent the exercises, there's no diet game where you're gonna be doing better than everyone else. Everyone, the information's out there, you can learn how to be a PT just from the internet. How to be successful as a PT comes from who you are, and you are your brand. We say this every single time, and you've made your brand about you because you've been an athlete, you're a boxer, people come to you for that, but also translating to other things. It's about confidence, it's about being friendly with people, being a people person.

SPEAKER_00 10:11

Yeah, I think I think we've all got his little niche or his specialty or something that sticks out for us. Like, I'd probably just say my personality as well. Just I like having a good time, I like to be serious, but I like to enjoy the ride. So whether we train or push a night session, I'm always laughing and joking serious when it needs to be. Um I've always just based it on that and be being true about it. I do genuinely want to know what people have been up to in and out of the gym and want to help them moving forward. Sometimes you can end up being a counsellor, and people end up like your best friend, you know what I mean? And it's not um I don't see it as like a work client relationship. Everyone I train is just be friends, like they're just good pals, um, girls, boys, what all of it. I just I get on with them all so much, and I I I'm at a point now I wouldn't train anyone I didn't get on with. So everyone who I do train, I'm genuinely looking forward to seeing, and I've got a new face every hour all day, and I get to listen to another bunch of stories from weekend or whatever, and it's just that's just what I love to do. I've I've mentioned it before. I've tried coming out, I've tried working in offices, I've tried, and I just can't do it. For me, the floor PT is absolute gold for me, and that's just for my personality. I'm a social butterfly. I like to be constantly chatting, interacting with people and just having a laugh to be honest. Like I think that's why I'm so consistent because I enjoy I enjoy it. I love I love what I do and I always have, and it's something I've always I've never not been a PT, but I've always circled back to the floor PT. I've tried to get out sometimes just with the hours being just so demanding, so unsociable, and trying to trying to work that round the family. But I just always end up circling back to it because I need to be around it, I need to be in the gym as well. I feel like that's where you get your best work.

SPEAKER_01 11:58

It's it's like a cheesy uh live, laugh, love quote, isn't it? Yeah, yeah. Where if you love what you do and never work a day in your life.

SPEAKER_00 12:05

Oh yeah, so it's on my wall, it's yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:07

Live, laugh, love. Yeah, and it's it does make sense, and things don't get me wrong, you're not gonna love it every day. Um, I wish I could say every single day of PT has been an absolute joy. Sometimes it's been especially when you've got a personal life as well. You know, you might have families, kids, partners, stuff gets in the way, but when you're here, and I agree with Ryan, when you're on the floor and you're with people that you enjoy being around, it's it actually just an honour, it's a pleasure, and you actually feel good going home, like you're tired, you've been working all day, but you've been spending time around people all day, you've been having conversations, you've been having laughs, and you know, you get to share stories, and you end up sharing a lot of yourself with people and they get to know you really well.

SPEAKER_00 12:57

The ones that I did want to avoid, which we we talked about this last time, structure, time, um limiting PT hours. So I made a promise to myself I'll never do any sessions before eight, and I'll never do any sessions after eight. Now that's like rule of thumb. I still seem to break it like once a week or like twice a week sometimes. Like this week, I'm about to train him one of your clients, Anna, because who's um great guy, loves his weights, somehow just kept started like tiptoeing into the boxing, came to the classes. So and I love that we've got that relationship where we can sort of do that. And I'd be the same other way around. If one of my boxers wanted to uh try to build strength or anything, they'd be going straight to you. So that's a cool bond anyway. Um I thought we'd all go with that, you know. Where we're going with that.

SPEAKER_01 13:49

Just about the easy track of yeah, that would it the structure, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:55

So I ended up taking a session at seven in seven in the morning. That's my idea is too. Yeah, yeah. Seven in seven in the morning, they wanted to spar.

SPEAKER_01 14:03

Well, we had a PT here, um, he still does it every now and again. And our because we got access to the cameras, about four o'clock in the morning, camera going off. I'm like, who the fuck's robbing us at four o'clock in the morning? And it was a PT, bringing a guy in for a session. So we're like, why are you letting people come in at 4 a.m.? It's like the only time we could do it.

SPEAKER_00 14:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:21

Don't do it.

SPEAKER_00 14:22

Yeah, mate, I've been there. I've been I've been there, honestly. Like, I I used to do I used to do five five a.m. sessions three times a week. That was um Davina, do you know who's now two and RP? Yeah, yes. I used to train her and a and um and a friend Claire 5am, Monday, Wednesday, Friday. And that's when I used to work till like 10 at night. The hours, and that's where we say now how I built up to where I am or been so busy, like people have no idea how many hours I have worked, like things that you say over the years and say yes, I can't say, and because you built that into your system from being being a quieter PT and building your own business, you get addicted to just growing it. If there's a working hour, I'll be working it.

SPEAKER_01 15:10

Um you end up saying yes to it.

SPEAKER_00 15:11

Yeah, which is a I still again I still do it now. I did the seven seven a.m. this Wednesday. I'm doing seven with Mark. That's where that's where it that's where the story came from, that's where I got lost. So I'm doing Mark on Saturday at seven o'clock.

SPEAKER_01 15:24

Yeah, he's doing um sixam with me and then doing seven am with you. So he just says the the thing I like about Mark or yeah, he just says yes to everything. Like, do you want to do that? He says, Well, I'll be tired. Like, yeah, you of course you will. Yeah, I'll do it then.

SPEAKER_00 15:38

Yeah, it will be fine. He's really he's doing really well in the class, you know. He's um he's fitting in, he hangs with everybody else, like he's um he's not got as much experience as everyone else, but he tries just as much, if not, is he's always the hardest work.

SPEAKER_01 15:53

He's got that rugby boy mentality, he comes from a rugby background, and I think he drifts into groups. And I think when you get part of a community about the team, he's one of those that floats in and he wants to try everything and do everything. And for a mental health perspective, that is one of the most healthiest things you can do.

SPEAKER_00 16:08

It's because he's uh he's not local, is he, Mark?

SPEAKER_01 16:11

He used to live down south and he moved up here, but he works away all the time, yeah. And but he still comes home, gets changed, comes to the gym, does the work. And he's actually a self-motivating one right now, and this is the cool part about being a personal trainer. Once you get over that hurdle with certain clients where you're you have to be the cheerleader saying you can do it, you end up just doing it themselves. Like, I I'll be in training another client, and then Mark will walk in to do his own session. Like, yeah, oh, have I misbooked you? No, no, you're just going to do a bit of this one. Fantastic. That's what you want. Absolutely. Because the thing is, you could train clients for years, and there are some that do stay away for years, but I always say it like this: if you were a driving instructor and you had someone you were teaching to drive, you're not gonna be sat next to them the rest of the driving life. You want to get them confident, get them on the road, and then see them off wearing bike. And there are gonna be some clients that you do that with. You might wear them for six months, you might be with them for a year, two years. There's gonna be a point where they go, I can do this on my own. And that is the joy of it. And I know it's from a business perspective, like, oh, that client's not paying me anymore. Oh, this is terrible. But that's the point. You're supposed to be giving these people the tools and knowledge and the experience to go, I can do this on my own.

SPEAKER_00 17:18

Yeah, and on that point, I once well, I've had many clients the same. Not everyone, every person's as serious into the training. Some just like I'm in that one day a week. I trained one guy for seven years, he was just trained once a week, right? And he'd do five or six rounds boxing, and then he'd do he'd want to do his chest, for example. And then he'd do that for about three weeks, and then do boxing, then he'd do biceps. And obviously, you're never gonna get any results doing that. And I told him this, and he was, yeah, I'll start going to the gym. But he just loved it, he enjoyed it, nothing wrong with that either. No, I feel like that one time of the week he liked coming in boxing, like doing a little bit of weights, nothing too serious. He used to enjoy it, life all good. So um I just feel like be prepared for um a wide range of uh people and different who've got different goals as well. Some people just want to come in and just train, some people just like seeing you as well. Yeah, like I used to get out, like like I still say now, I get on with everyone so much. Some people just come in once a week. They have to train at other gyms, then they come in booking with me, and they're just chatting me here for full hour. I love it, like yeah, but that's just how it is. So that was just a point. No, it works sense. So moving moving to the point that we we're talking about, does it make sense to be PT right now?

SPEAKER_01 18:39

Yeah, I mean, obviously it all depends on what you want out of life. So, again, it's always the the tagline if you want to turn your passion for fitness into a career, you should do it. You've got a passion for something, you can make a career out of pretty much anything nowadays, right? And why not approach something that you actually enjoy doing? And doesn't mean if you're in a full-time job right now, it doesn't mean that you qualify and then instantly quit your job and then just go into the wilderness and try and work it out. No, get your qualification and work it out. This is you know, life is a finite time, and if you're not enjoying what you're doing, I know some people are out there work to live, so they do a job that they're not particularly interested in, but they get paid enough where they can enjoy themselves out of it. Some people live like that. Me personally, I know we are the same, you've got to be passionate about what you do, and you know, the back and forth of it, and there's gonna be struggles, there's gonna be money issues sometimes, and this and that when you're building a business, but the overall passion, enjoyment, and love for it, that's what gets me up out of bed every day. It makes me a better person. If I were to walk away from all this, I wouldn't be the same person, I'd probably be a lot more depressed, ain't the word, but I'd I wouldn't be myself. This is like my career makes me who I am, um, and I think that speaks a lot of things for everybody. So if you want to be a PT or if it's something that you want to do, if it's something where you want to help someone and you think that you've got something to offer, yeah, why the hell not? You're getting into an industry where other people are trying to achieve the same thing, but it doesn't mean you have to do it the same way. Again, you build a business around yourself. If you want to be that person, you need to emulate your passion for it, and people will drift towards you because everyone needs help. Like in the UK right now, it's the same in the US. We have the biggest epidemic of you know, overweight, depression, you know, people don't have hobbies anymore, people don't have enjoyments anymore, and we're here to give someone an out and give someone a reason to enjoy themselves. And if you can find fitness as a hobby or enjoyment, you are fixing 90% of the problems of the world.

SPEAKER_00 20:47

Yeah, and I I just think this is a good good for me teaching point or a bit of advice. I think that's what this podcast is all about as well. So not just telling you the situation and everything, but telling you how we'd go about it using this experience. I think that's what what we're here for. So my bit of advice would be if you are wanting to get out of a job that you're not interested in, would be have a plan. So if you have got a job that leaves any spare money aside, I'd I'd build a plan around that. So how long do I have to work here to I can build a month, two months, three months, stability? How much can I live off? How many clients do I potentially need to still be able to hold this um money flow?

SPEAKER_01 21:34

So I think a really interesting one then. If you could go back 13 years from just qualifying as a PT, what would you do different than what you've already done?

SPEAKER_00 21:45

I'd seek more help, more mentorship, more guidance. I feel like you waste a lot of time before you start taking advice off anybody. You want to do it yourself, which I think everyone appreciates, but you're just winging it, you're wasting time. If you're just starting out like me, I will fresh out of school, then you haven't really got any responsibilities. You can put all your time into it. You can get as many advice off other PTs, reach out, ask other PTs for advice as well, or join a mentorship programme. Anything like that with a little bit of guidance, I would do rather than I think I did four years too much struggling, which obviously it worked in the end for me. I feel like I lost a lot of time when I could have been picking picking knowledge up off people, and I feel like that'll speed it up a lot. Obviously, you've got to get knowledge off the right people, not everyone's in the same situation, but I'd have a plan in place, or the person I'm gonna speak to, the person that I want to most frame my business around. So any PTs that you think are really good and you w want to be like, or you like the way they train people or talk to people, I'd get as much advice off them, I'm sure they'd appreciate it as well, uh, and put a plan together what I'm gonna do, how many clients I want in six months, how many I want in a year, what I'm gonna do about the end of this month. Now, obviously, social media wasn't a thing back then. If it was now, I'd make the absolute most of it. I'd be videoing content every day. You look at these people now, and I've got there's a lot of boxers on mine, they're just targeted camera about boxing experiences and funny ones, and they're absolutely killing it now, just through comedy as well. Put some little bit of lightheartedness on it, um, and from there, other people on socials or other influencers, whatever we call them, all group together then and then build together, which I think's great. But that's what I'd be doing. I'd be making the absolute most of that free time when I'm not busy with my one-to-ones or my online clients. I'd make sure I had a plan in place. I wasn't just winging it, I had some goals, uh, something to achieve, and then the mentorship 100%.

SPEAKER_01 23:53

Perfect. That's a good way to wrap it up. Yeah, really good. Yeah, the main takeaways from today is exactly what Ryan said. Be somebody who just wants to be inspired. Look for mentorship, look for people to talk to, get into a community. This is what the PT Lawrence Lab's all about. If you're serious about wanting to be a personal trainer and getting into the industry, we are here to help you. We're not here just to sell you stuff, we are here to bring you through the motions, get you on the ball, and actually start enjoying what you're doing. So, everybody, make sure you like, subscribe, keep commenting for more videos, what you want to see, what you want to talk about, and we will see you on the next one. Thank you.