Fitness Business Insights with Matt Robinson
Fitness Business Insights with Matt Robinson is your weekly dose of strategies, systems, and success stories for Personal Trainers, Coaches, and Gym Owners. Each episode dives into topics like fitness marketing, client acquisition, gym floor systems, client retention, and lead generation — giving you practical tools to grow a thriving fitness business you love.
Fitness Business Insights with Matt Robinson
Good News: Competition Just Got Easier for Personal Trainers
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Everyone says competition in the fitness industry is getting worse.
The data says otherwise.
In this episode of Fitness Business Insights, I break down the latest UK fitness industry numbers and reveal something most coaches are missing: in-person personal training competition is no longer rising at the rate demand is.
Using up-to-date 2026 gym membership data and registered PT numbers, I explain why:
- Gym memberships are growing faster than the number of registered PTs
- The members-per-PT ratio has started reversing
- Online coaching demand has dropped significantly
- Remote personal training searches have fallen sharply
- In-person services are becoming a stronger opportunity again
We look at why this is happening, what societal shifts are driving it, and how broken gym-based models and online saturation are reshaping the market.
Most importantly, I explain what this means depending on where you are in your career:
- If you’re just starting out
- If you’re fully booked and ready to raise prices
- If you’ve been struggling online
If you work face-to-face, or have been considering going back to in-person services, this episode will give you clarity and confidence backed by real industry data.
The opportunity is there. The question is whether you position yourself to take it.