As a personal trainer, you need to be aware of all the opportunities that surround you. Especially if you want to be in this business for long. You have to tap into untapped markets to gain new clients, which means you might have to change up your approach. For trainers looking to branch out and diversify their offerings, today’s market offers plenty of opportunities. Some prime examples include:
- Fitness programs for seniors. Many fitness professionals are creating age-appropriate fitness programs to keep older adults healthy and active. Some gyms are realizing that otherwise slow periods, such as mid-morning and mid-afternoon, can be a prime time to offer programs aimed at older adults. Such times can help to shake up staid patterns for the trainer, as well.
- Functional fitness. The focus of functional fitness is to use strength training to imitate the activities of everyday life. Such programs seek to improve balance, coordination, endurance and people’s ability to perform activities of daily living such as carrying the groceries, reaching for things, getting in and out of chairs and vehicles, and going up and down the stairs. This type of training has a broad appeal, including those people who would otherwise not be interested in working out.
- Group personal training. When people think of personal training, perhaps the most common image is a one-on-one, client-trainer scenario, but the foregoing categories often work as well (and sometimes better) in a group setting as
they do one-on-one. If the term “group personal training” seems to be an oxymoron, it needn’t. It’s still possible to reach more clients within a given session while retaining much of the “personal” feel in a small group setting. Such scenarios also offer opportunities for economies of scale: Personal trainers who work with anywhere from two to four clients can offer substantial discounts for each group member.
- Corporate wellness programs. This an entire subject area unto itself, but in short, the economy has prompted many larger companies to look at physical fitness as a cost-effective way to reduce healthcare costs while bolstering employee engagement and morale. While it’s possible to find employment as a full-time trainer in some organizations, other opportunities exist for part-time, short-term opportunities in corporate wellness for the independent trainer. Some examples include:
- Lunch-and-learn lectures
- Keynote presentations
- Ongoing group exercise/boot-camp classes
- Non-exercise-oriented lifestyle-management programs (think smoking cessation or stress-management classes)
- Remote (telephonic or online) fitness coaching
The above are just examples of ways to not only broaden one’s portfolio of services, but to increase a client base and the inherent opportunities for referrals, retention and an expanded bottom line.
