After you have received your Personal Training Qualification you will be entering a very competitive field. Each client who chooses to spend their hard-earned cash on a Personal Trainer, ultimately wants the best! To be successful as a mobile Trainer you not only have to be good at your job, but also ensure you are going above and beyond client’s expectations. With all of our experience in the industry, we have listed, direct from our trainers, our top five tips for success.

1) Time Management Skills

Being on time is the number 1 priority, clients are paying for your time and it is a sign of professionalism to show up to sessions a few minutes early. If you are late you can either cheat your client of 5 minutes or run 5 minutes over, however, both of these are not a good idea and will have a negative spiralling effect. To be successful, you must manage your diary. Forgetting about a session or booking two clients at the same time will not only affect your salary but it could potentially alienate your clients. Being an organised Mobile Personal Trainer is the first step to being a successful one.  

2) Be Prepared & Get Creative!  

 Not only do you have to prepare and organise your schedule, you also need to prepare each session in advance. If you turn up to every session and deliver an hour work from the top of your head, this is not going to be effective as you may repeat exercises, and your client will eventually notice the lack of preparation. As a mobile personal trainer, you should take advantage of creating and designing your own workout setting and vibes. Take your client to a park if you have been training indoors for a while. Use unexpected equipment to ‘wow’ your client. Plan and design a fun programme for your client to ensure that their motivation is kept high and that they are always kept on their toes.

3) Listen more than you talk

It is essential that you are able to build a relationship with each client, as this process promotes open communication and it develops a level of trust, which is extremely important. Be a professional friend, however, it’s vital to know the boundaries. You want to build a rapport but this doesn’t mean talking away for the whole hour, and sharing your life story. Listening is key to understanding your client. It is important to know their likes and dislikes, in order to tailor and adjust your training programme accordingly. Remember your client is paying you to help motivate them to achieve their goals and this should be first and foremost - you are there for them, not vice/versa. So many of our clients share their past experiences of trainers who talked far too much during sessions, and therefore the training was not up to scratch.

4) Go Over and Above

Go that extra mile by returning phone calls and emails promptly, following up with your client to make sure the sessions are working for them, and always keeping an individual file on each client, so you can therefore create personalised programmes to suit them. Also, go over and above and set homework. Because your client is probably not able to dedicate time and money to a Personal Training session every day, setting homework can be a great way of allowing them to take accountability and also for your client to see results quicker.

5) Stay Educated

Many Personal Trainers receive their certificate and think this is the end to their studying. However, it is extremely important to keep your education up to date, as the industry is constantly changing, and new research is being discovered every day. As a mobile personal trainer, we would say this is even more important as you are working solo and it becomes easy to get complacent, and not notice how quickly the industry is advancing around you. You can do this by building a network and talking to other trainers, also attend courses with TRAINFITNESS, go to conferences and workshops, read magazines, medical journals & talk with doctors etc.

We support all of our trainers with many of these areas, as part of their induction with us.

Being a mobile trainer is great if you want a flexible and independent work schedule. However, it is definitely not the easy route, as many people imagine. If you are hardworking and follow these top 5 steps, you will begin to master what it takes!  

Kira Mahal, CEO at MotivatePT