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Kinesiology Institute for Performance Specialists

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5 Things Every Personal Trainer Should Know Before Their First Day

by Tyler Valencia, MS, PFT, PES

The feeling of passing your personal training certification is amazing. You made the investment to purchase an education package and now have a certification that allows you to get a job that will allow you to take on the world of personal training. Skip forward six-months and you’ve been working at a gym and now realize things aren’t quite as easy as the advertisement that hooked you into becoming a personal trainer. There are some common realities of working as a personal trainer whether you’re inside a gym or starting your own business. In this blog post, I will outline five aspects a personal trainer doesn’t realize before starting on their first day. Of course there are exceptions to this article and it helps when a gym has a great onboarding process that helps educate entry level trainers on how to be a successful trainer inside their gym. This process is also dependent on the fitness manager of the club, but sometimes he/she is busy with the other aspects of running a personal training department (sales, managing leads, budget, etc), so taking a proactive approach will help you and your success.

  1. Personal Training is 70% Personality 30% Education

Don’t get me wrong, education is important (the initials after my name are not just there for show). A part of personal training is being able to connect with clients and also communicate a plan. When training via a complimentary new member session, your ability to pitch an exercise plan to the new member while also connecting with them is key to getting them to purchase personal training sessions. I’ve seen highly educated trainers with low interpersonal skills strike out at the sales pitch because they couldn’t show value in their services. On the other end, there are many trainers who are very personable and have one personal training certification, and can effectively make new members very comfortable during the purchasing process.

New members walking into a gym do not know what the difference between ACSM or NCCPT. Or even what KIPS stands for. Instead what they can do and will do is base their evaluation of your skills and education on their hour long training session and how you spend that time with them. If during your session you can show exercises they can do on a regular basis or show a great modification that helps them perform an exercise they never thought possible, not only are you building trust but showing that you know what you are talking about.

  1. Your Schedule is Not 9-5

A part of being a new trainer at a gym is doing floor shifts and being “available” at peak times. That means being able to train the morning crowd before work and then coming back to train the after work crowd. While there is time between peak gym sessions, growing your business in the middle of the day is one of the hardest achievements and the clientele that come at those times are the most desired by everyone on staff. Who is it that typically goes to the gym in the middle of the day? Stay-at-home moms and retired individuals. While this article is not about attracting middle of the day clients, keep in-mind that it is possible.

Another part of not having a 9-5 is that vacation time or time-off is often unpaid. While I have worked at gyms that do have paid time off as part of their benefits packages, it is often calculated based off sessions rendered during a certain time-period and can be lost during slow gym months.

  1. You Start by Giving Away a Lot of Free Sessions/Time

Whether you’re working at a corporate gym or starting your own business, giving away discounted or complimentary sessions are typically the norm with beginner personal trainers. Complimentary sessions give new members a chance to learn new exercises in the gym and also gives the trainer an opportunity to showcase their talents. Another aspect that isn’t as apparent as the previous two is the valuable practice being done. Personal training is just like exercise or any type of practice, you need more reps to get better. Being in-front of different types of populations and personalities provides valuable learning opportunities on how you should approach each session and how to deal with the intricacies of selling personal training.

  1. Finding Your Selling Style Takes Repetition

As mentioned previously, personal training takes practice and more importantly selling personal training takes practice. There are different ways to approach each sale, whether you’re the hard sell closer, educator or a combination of both (more information can be found inside Business & Sales: The Guide to Success as A Personal Trainer). What’s important is that you find the approach that works for you. I have personally known successful trainers who were all three of the previously mentioned sales personalities. Each personality has its benefits, but making sure you’re comfortable with your approach makes the process smoother. If you’re not a hard seller and have trouble asking someone if they want to purchase training, there are other approaches that you can master. A valuable tip I was given as a young trainer was to just put the obvious out in the open. When starting a complimentary session state that there will be an option to purchase personal training and at the end you can take the new member through your sales pitch. This tactic helps you and the new member avoid any awkward moment and focus on getting to know each other.

  1. A Certification Gets You in the Door

A very common social media post I see is “I just got certified as a personal trainer, who wants to train?!?”. While it’s a great accomplishment to have successfully passed a personal trainer exam, that gets you in the door at the gym. To grow your business and your monthly paycheck, a combination of experience and education will help you take those next steps. I know in the first point I said education is 30% of training, but growing your education base not only helps you train different types of populations but also helps you typically move up a pay scale (please note that not all gyms have a pay scale depending on experience and education). Within my first year as a personal trainer I decided to take the TRX Suspension Training Certification and got into reading a variety of exercise blogs. This helped me attract individuals interested in this new fad (at the time it was a growing fad) and it also came with a small pay increase.

Conclusion

I hope that the five realities I mentioned did not scare off any entry level trainers, because being a personal trainer has a lot of benefits. For me, being a personal trainer while I was completing my undergraduate education allowed me to work when I wasn’t studying and still make a decent pay check. Entry level trainers can make between $15-30 starting out, which could allow you to manage your bills and work more or less if needed. Another benefit that is often under valued is the free membership. While in the grand scheme it might be small, I know that some of the gyms I have worked at have had a $120+ per month membership! For many trainers, exercise is part of our lives and this monthly cost can be a savings that can be used during the initial months of starting at a new gym.

Along with the benefits I just mentioned, one of the greatest rewards is helping someone achieve a healthier lifestyle. Especially right now when our bodies are being destroyed by sitting and exercise seems like a daunting task, educating individuals on ideas to become more active is what makes the strange hours all worth it. Helping someone achieve a life long goal is something that you will keep forever and be able to recall that moment at the drop of a dime. I’ve had the privilege of helping men get stronger to meet strength goals, and also women reach a weight goal to help during their pregnancy term. Being a personal trainer has it’s struggles, but with each session you can learn something new and eventually turn personal training into a career that has great earning potential.

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Tyler Valencia is the President of KIPS. While working for a Southern California online education company he started his first business, Time 2 Train Fitness which specialized in bootcamp and personal training. Time 2 Train Fitness went on to receive the distinction of 3X Best Bootcamp and 2X Best Personal Trainer with the Long Beach Press Telegram. Before founding KIPS, Tyler was the Vice President of the National Council for Certified Personal Trainers (NCCPT) & Smart Fitness.

 

 

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Your First Week As A Personal Trainer

by Tyler Valencia, MS, PFT, PES

Being the new trainer at any facility is just like being the new kid at school. You feel out of the inner circle and often like a fish out of water. Depending on your personality, assimilating to the gym environment can be an easy process or take a little time. The important thing is that you do become a part of your gym culture to grow your exposure and increase your chances of signing new clients. Every trainer can attest when it comes to personal training leads, the more leads/opportunities you have to talk with potentials clients, the more chances you have to sell yourself. Often, potential clients purchase YOU, the trainer, and not the credentials listed in your profile.

Follow these tips during your first week on the job and start retaining new clients!

  1. Meet as many gym employees as possible.

The more employees you know within the gym you work at, the better! I can’t think of one negative aspect of befriending coworkers from the maintenance staff to the Kids Club. Personal training leads can come from any area within the gym. The obvious stops during your first week are the sales department and front desk, but meeting different departments sets the stage for you as a familiar face within the gym.

This tip could also benefit you if you are looking to go into management. Most companies that promote from within want someone that has the respect of everyone on staff, and can effectively communicate with other employees. Trying to get extra revenue from your personal training staff on closeout is much more effective when your team knows that you respect them, and are not just contacting them on the last day of the month.

  1. Get to know the “regulars”.

Every gym has “regulars” that are members who come at the same time on the same days. These members typically know several other members and can be a useful tool when new members join. When walking around your gym on a “floor shift” or during your workout, take some time to survey the gym and see who is coming at the times you are there. Often these members will ask for an exercise recommendation which can lead to a complimentary session.

One of the best compliments I got as a trainer was when a member who was known as the “grumpy member” thanked me for always saying hello to him. Members notice everything you do on the gym floor, which is why it is important that you are always “on” when working in the gym. If you are always in the corner on your phone or non-responsive to members, they will take notice and not want to approach you.

  1. Workout in your gym.

This tip was mentioned in a previous blog post about mistakes made by trainers, but it is such an important one. It’s vital that members know that you enjoy fitness and that you are personally active. If you currently workout at another gym, I would highly recommend switching up your schedule to increase your exposure at your new job. For example, if you do Crossfit and are a member of a local box but work at a 24 Hour Fitness or Equinox, maybe 1-2 days a week do a WOD (workout of the day) at the gym you are employed at. This style of exercise is very popular and it is likely that a member will see you doing your workout and ask a question or maybe even want to join. As I mentioned in the previous post, you are always “on” and what you do inside your gym can help increase your sales.

Starting out as a new trainer often includes long “floor shifts” but if members see you walking around in your work attire and then working out, they might feel inclined to approach you for a question. Since they know you work at the gym, the barrier that exists might already be broken down and they might feel comfortable asking for advice.

  1. Train a friend or coworker.

One of the best forms of advertisement for a trainer is when they are training their clients. When gym members see your style of training or the results your clients are getting, they get intrigued and want to reach out themselves. This tip is very similar to why it is a good idea to get on the group exercise schedule, the overarching idea is to showcase your talents early and to increase your exposure.

If you have a friend that attends your new place of work, ask them if they are available for a free session or ask a fellow coworker once they are off duty. Since you will have a connection with your friend or coworker, the sometimes awkward moments that occur with new leads will be minimal and hopefully gym members will see how much fun your training can be.

  1. Be Yourself.

This is more of a mindset and might be opposed by some, but it’s always important to be yourself. Every gym has trainers with different personalities and different approaches to training. There are the hardnosed trainers who act like drill sergeants, there are trainers who focus on rehabilitation and special populations and there’s typically the “outside the box” trainer who does kettlebells, mace work and Indian clubs. I know most managers want to hire high energy trainers that can talk with a variety of populations, but it’s important that your message comes across as genuine.

You can still be the kettlebell guy or drill sergeant at your gym and attract a plethora of clients.

Conclusion

The onboarding process for gyms is becoming stronger and more efficient for personal trainers. Education and training helps entry level trainers practice real life scenarios that they will encounter during their prospecting, and additional help from the fitness managers makes the process even easier.

Being a trainer at the gym, leads come from everywhere and at anytime. Although not listed as one of the tips above (because it is typically part of the hiring process), make yourself as available as possible. It’s not atypical to have clients in the early morning and then be back for the post-work crowd typically around 4:00pm. Denying leads because of a time slot can hurt your new business venture, but also hurt your new relationship with the fitness managers. Your fitness manager will try to give you as many chances as possible to succeed, but if you are constantly passing on leads because they are “too early” or “too late”, these leads will soon fade.

With any new job, putting your best foot forward is the simplest advice given. Walk into your gym with a smile because there is always someone watching (not in the creepy way). Stay professional and consistent and your client list will grow and so will your paycheck.

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Tyler Valencia is the President of KIPS. While working for a Southern California online education company he started his first business, Time 2 Train Fitness which specialized in bootcamp and personal training. Time 2 Train Fitness went on to receive the distinction of 3X Best Bootcamp and 2X Best Personal Trainer with the Long Beach Press Telegram. Before founding KIPS, Tyler was the Vice President of the National Council for Certified Personal Trainers (NCCPT) & Smart Fitness.

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5 Mistakes Entry Level Personal Trainers Make

by Tyler Valencia, MS, PES, PFT

When we all start our first personal training job we are bright-eyed and ready to train some clients. Building a client list might come easy to some, but typically getting your first client and learning the tricks of the trade come with time. Don’t get me wrong, personal training can be a great career, but it’s a grind. Waking up at 4:30am to train morning clients and/or coming back to hit the evening crowd is not for everyone. BUT with consistent hard work, your client list will grow and you can make upwards of $60,000+. Follow these five tips and get a head start on your first day.

  1. “Trying” to create a separation between work and home life.

I will admit that this was one of the mistakes that I made when I first started working as a personal trainer. Despite sounding like good advice in general, you have to have a steady stream of income to start to be able to create the work-home barrier. If you try to create barriers between you and potential clients before you even have your first client, you can turn away future business or even hurt your status at the gym.

The trainer who had given me this advice was a seasoned veteran, and was considered the top trainer at the gym. Her client list was full and she easily made over 100k, but what I didn’t realize was how her accomplishments were achieved. This trainer after years of tough hours, teaching group exercise and staying consistent, grew her client list and was always requested. The best thing to do is to ask for tips at a new gym and apply them to your style of personal training and selling personal training.

  1. Not working out at your gym.

When you work at a gym, staying at the gym any longer than needed often feels like you live there, but by making this mistake you are missing the chance to advertise yourself. Don’t forget you are always on display at the gym. Potential clients want to see that you are fit and that your style of training is something that would help them reach their goals.

To my knowledge, some gyms might even pay their trainers to workout in their down time because it will increase their exposure. The hardest part of starting out as a personal trainer is making a new client believe in your training philosophy, but showcasing these first hand can potentially eliminate the awkward first sales pitch and expedite you to selling your first personal training package.

  1. Not teaching group exercise.

This tip is one that I can’t stress enough. You have to eliminate any negative stigma you might have about group exercise and realize that it is the fast-track to more clients and a bigger paycheck. First of all, you will get paid to teach a class. Second, with all the different formats available these days you can find one that caters to your skillset. You don’t have to know how to choreograph or cue in order to teach group exercise. As a matter of fact, I typically train Olympic lifts and powerlifts, but can teach bootcamps or HIIT classes because there is great crossover.

Teaching group exercise is an opportunity to showcase your skills in-front of regular gym members, and also a way to get to know more members. People who attend group exercise classes and want further help with their goals will most likely come to you first.

Check out this past KIPS blog post about why you should teach group exercise – CLICK HERE

  1. To play gym politics or not.

There is no denying that every gym has a culture, and there are current employees that can help you grow your client list. For starters, befriending the membership sales counselors is an easy first step that gives you a direct link to new members within your gym.

This might sound like an obvious one, but being friends (professional friends) with your fitness manager is a must. If your fitness manager believes that you have what it takes to be a successful personal trainer, you will be one of the first trainers that he/she comes to with future leads are pre-bought session clients. Also, in gyms that have 30-40 personal trainers, there is only so much business to go around. Make sure that you are available to your fitness manager, and make sure that he/she knows you want to grow within your role. The fitness manager most likely is a seasoned personal trainer and can be a great source for knowledge.

  1. Thinking your personal trainer certification is enough education.

Having worked on three different accreditation applications for two different personal training certification agencies, I can tell you from experience that each exam is entry level. In fact, that is the purpose statement written into each exam application, and typically in the introduction of each manual. With that said, it’s important that you build on your education in the niche market that suits your skillset. Finding online courses, certifications, workshops or even internships that interest you will help you build your knowledge level and help you build the “product” that you sell (yourself!).

Having the educational background in one area doesn’t mean you can’t crossover into different niche clientele. Despite having a Masters focus in Sport Performance, I find myself training women because of the consistency that it affords. I do train athletes because that is where I am most knowledgeable, but there is always the option to train others. Starting out you don’t want to limit yourself to just special populations or just athletes, ideally you will be able to train several populations and get the experience of working and talking with them. It’s no secret that personal training is not just about being educated. There is a large component that revolves around social interactions and creating a connection. At the end of the day, clients purchase packages because of YOU and not because of the gym.

Conclusion

Getting your first client as an entry level trainer is a major milestone and can sometimes be stressful. Doing floor shifts to meet gym members can be a great start to growing your list of clients, but make sure to follow the five tips stated above. Entry level personal trainers typically have a lifespan of 2 years, but grinding through the beginning stages can help you turn it into a long, fruitful and rewarding career.

If you are an experienced personal trainer, please share your tips for future entry level trainers!

 

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Tyler Valencia is the President of KIPS. While working for a Southern California online education company he started his first business, Time 2 Train Fitness which specialized in bootcamp and personal training. Time 2 Train Fitness went on to receive the distinction of 3X Best Bootcamp and 2X Best Personal Trainer with the Long Beach Press Telegram. Before founding KIPS, Tyler was the Vice President of the National Council for Certified Personal Trainers (NCCPT) & Smart Fitness.

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Coaching Cues: The Deadlift

by Yas Parr, BSc

Photo courtesy of Eric Doyle, Owner Long Beach Kettlebell Club

BENEFITS

The deadlift strengthens the whole body, protects against injury and transfers well to everyday activities.

The deadlift works just about every muscle in the body with the primary muscles used being the largest – the hamstrings, glutes and quads. This making it an excellent exercise for fat loss especially when doing high volume. Because of the amount of muscle used in the lift there is an elevation of the metabolism so calories continue to be burnt at a higher rate post workout.

Get proficient at the deadlift and great strength will follow.

Not only is the deadlift a great lift for becoming strong it’s also a great lift for packing on muscle. The lifter can really push for an improvement in weight lifted because as long as technique is good then there is very little danger of injury, no spotters are needed and at the point of failure the bar can be dropped.

Deadlifts are one of the best exercises for abdominal development and as long as the abs are not covered in fat then the results will be visibly much better than any abdominal isolation exercises.

Equipment: Barbell, weight plates, floor protection.

The good thing about the Barbell Deadlift is that very little equipment is needed. A good quality bar is recommended, as with anything else you get what you pay for and you should get the best that your budget allows. For this lift there is no need to use a more expensive competition Olympic Bar which has more ‘whip’ and is the preferred bar for Olympic lifts. A bar like the Rogue Ohio Bar or the Texas Deadlift Bar are ideal.

Good quality bumper plates are excellent but really strong guys may prefer Powerlifting discs, which are thinner metal plates and which enable more weight to be added to the bar and so the discs will also be closer to the centre.

Stance width, narrower than the squat, the bar should be over the mid-foot. From here a vertical bar path can be maintained with the line of force directly over the mid-foot. Foot position should be what feels comfortable, taking into account fick angle (natural foot flair). It would be detrimental to force someone to point their feet straight ahead if this then forces their knees to be slightly rotated inwards.

It is not a squat, the hips should be slightly higher than the knees. An ability to hold a good hip shoulder line and hold an active lordosis with a neutral curve is needed. A mistake that many people make to ensure they don’t round their lower back is to anteriorly tilt their pelvis. This causes a loss of ROM because a large part of hip flexor ROM is used resulting in jamming up early at the hip. Also there is increased compression of the lumbar facet joints.

Acromion – lateral extension of the scapula, forming the highest point of the shoulder, this is the point that should be over the bar. If this point is behind the bar the hips will be too low and if it’s in front of the bar the hips will be too high. Once the lifter knows how this position feels they will be able to find it every time. The key to lifting well is staying tight. Slightly lifting the toes while addressing the bar puts a lot of tension through the fascia all the way up the back of the legs, tension is built on the way down before grabbing the bar.

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This technique limits forward knee progression and stops the lifter being too upright, so now recruiting more hams and glutes and less quads. The hips can now move back away from the base of support instead of just dropping down and so much more tension can be created. Grip the bar so tight that the knuckles turn white creating tension not just in the arms but the mid-section will also brace, a holding of breath and clenching of the teeth will potentiate the nervous system and increase the body’s ability to generate force. Before gripping the bar a big breath is needed to fill the abdominal cavity with air.The chin needs to be slightly tucked. Just before the weight is lifted from the floor there is a point where the bar rises inside the plates and a clicking sound is heard. The lifter should feel nice and tight with the weight passing down through the mid-foot to heel, this is the point at which the lifter should know whether to go ahead with the lift or stop and readjust.The first stage of the lift is similar to an Olympic lift in that the bar is raised while the hip to shoulder line remains the same. As the bar is lifted the knees go back and the line of force remains over the mid-foot. The second part of the lift happens once the bar clears the knees, instead of continuing to lift the bar vertically the lifter performs a horizontal hip drive. It has to be noted that it is hip extension not extension of the lumbar spine. A good coaching point is to contract the glutes at the top instead of leaning back.

Lowering the bar should be a mirror image of when the bar was raised. It should look very similar to a Romanian Deadlift until the bar clears the knees and once it is below then the hips can drop down again to the correct starting position.

It is probably best when not lifting maximal loads to use a pronated (overhand) grip. An alternate grip can be used but if lifting high volume it would be wise to alternate the grip every set to avoid creating imbalances. An alternate grip can be used for maximal load low rep sets because it enables the lifter to move more weight because it’s harder for the bar to roll down the fingers.

There are those that advocate not using a mixed grip at all, much preferring to continue with a pronated grip and adding straps to aid with any potential grip problems. This is an excellent view that is difficult to argue with as the potential for biceps injury in the arm using the underhand grip is quite high.

One point that needs to be noted is that if straps are used then the lifter should remember to still ‘white knuckle’ the bar, in order to still create the same level of tension and potentiate the nervous system, also reducing the chances of injury that could arise from relaxed musculature while performing this very demanding lift.

It is advisable to use chalk for deadlifts, if it’s difficult to use chalk in the facility because of the mess that can be made there is a product called Liquid Chalk which works the same but with none of the mess.

The best footwear for deadlifts are those that have a thin firm sole such as chucks (converse), five fingers or even performing the lifts in socks or bare feet.

Cheers!

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About Yas

Yas has been in the health & fitness industry since 1996 and has been a strength & conditioning coach since 2005. He has a BSc in Sports Performance (Hons) and many certifications in Strength & Conditioning, fitness and nutrition. Experience includes training trainers, royalty, executives and athletes from child to adult Olympic and professional. He did his degree at an Academy of Sports Excellence in the UK under the tutelage of Professor Ian Jeffries PhD which enabled him to not only gain academic knowledge but also the experience of working with elite athletes on a day to day basis while learning from world class coaches. In 2006 Yas flew to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs to take USA Weightlifting’s ‘Sport Performance Coach’ certification.

He currently is lucky enough to travel the world teaching for the Poliquin Group.

KIPS

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