Fitness Trainer Side Hustle
I’m thinking of becoming a fitness trainer or coach of some sort on the side. Does anyone have experience in the field or do this on the side? How have your experiences been? And which certifications would you go for? My degree is in finance and I’m not going back to school so I know a few are off limits to me. My colleague Gymbro used to be a trainer and recommended NASM. I’m also interested in the Onnit cert and the Primal Blueprint cert. My wife does have a kinesiology degree and we could eventually become like a health coaching team of some sort.
I’m in pretty good shape now and know a lot about health and whatnot and I would get into even better shape and be like properly about that fitness life. I think it’d be fun and Gymbro told me you can make very good money once you’re established. I think I’d like to go more the “be your own boss” route as opposed to working at a gym, which I realize is more difficult.
Gymbro said you just get in shape, start putting videos on social media, and you can advertise classes on Craigslist. You see a dozen people on the beach swinging some kettlebells around for half an hour and that’s $30 or whatever per person multiplied by all those people… and all you did was work out on a Sunday morning. Sounds sweet. Startup cost isn't that bad and worst case scenario: I have some good knowledge for life and maybe I'll figure out how to better address my own back issues as well.
Would love to get your guys’ feedback/opinios.
My best friend was a crossfit trainer and is RKC certified. He left crossfit because he didn't like how they paid virtually zero attention to form. He ended up being 6'2", 260 lbs and ripped using only kettle bells (35-106 lbs), grip trainers and calisthenics (think large guy doing 1 armed push ups/pull ups, Shit like that). His start weight was about 230 and he was very fit. I brought up the idea of him doing videos on YouTube. However, he did not want to draw attention to himself and also decided to change careers.
Essentially, I think you need to find a niche and have it mastered, but be able to help across the spectrum of fitness goals. Be sure to get certified in whatever you want to train. Treat clients with respect and be positively motivating. Stress the basics and make sure they track their exercises to motivate future business. I have watched some YouTube fitness videos and they are mainly guys showing what they can do. I think that could be a great introduce yourself as a trainer and then showing a sample work out to show exactly what it is that you do. Watching some gymnast do push ups while planked on dip bars is cool, but not answering how to get there is pointless. Give them a taste then try to get them hooked.
I work out 1-3x a week (depending on travel) and some of my close friends are either full time fitness coaches, personal trainers, or work in the fitness industry. My initial gut reaction to your question was ... there is probably no way that a RE/finance/banking/similar professional in a full-time permanent position with potential of promotions would ever find a fitness gig that could match the salary.
BUT During the last years I have also seen real life examples of tremendous success within my circle of friends. One guy was a personal trainer, coach (don't know his certs), husband & father of two little kids. He was big for his age (approx 27 years so a little bit older than regular fitness entrepreneurs) but natural and not "out of this world huge" or anything. He always talked about competing but never signed up for anything. One day one of his friends and mentors made a recommendation to sign up for a competition and he did. With smart prep, excellent mentoring, and matching music he managed to win / ranked 1st place in his very first competition. Fast forward 2-3 years and after countless months of dedicated work (social media, website, coaching plans, i.e. virtual coaching, nutrition planning service, ..) which were put in by him and his family he now is a spokesmodel for a supplement brand, has other self-negotiated deals (no agency in between) with other brands and local companies, has more clients than he can technically handle and is considering opening his own gym down the line (or have other coaches work for him). This guy is charismatic with clients, shoots well when modeling and knows how to negotiate contracts/deals without ever having visited a business course. Even though he is not on the cover of a magazine he is well into six figures, bought his own house and runs a business he owns himself.
Another guy I know is into affiliate/referral marketing for fitness products - he has an email newsletter (weekly I believe), several fitness related referral domains, forums and review sites and similar digital properties where he refers via shareasale and Amazon. He is not a millionaire but makes enough on the side to significantly boost his income (I don't know exactly how much he makes).
On the flipside, most other friends in that circle either gave up on fitness entirely and went into unemployment, or found other jobs which have nothing to do with fitness. My gym generally has very high employee turnover. I never knew how much sales experience, soft skills, mentoring and empathy were required in this industry to be a really good coach or trainer.
I would say: If you have the passion for it and your partner is also into it.. it can really work out. But the additional hours you might have to put in "on the side" may add up. Any successful entrepreneurial venture would require that level of effort though.
Cool
That's awesome you're starting this. Just know that the time commitment quickly shifts from training to admin, and that's where most side hustles fail. You'll be building programs, logging forms, tracking habits, and taking payments.
When I started, I decided upfront I needed a system to automate the boring stuff so I could actually coach. You mentioned videos, having a client app that you can brand and load all your content into is key. Check out PT Distinction. Using a dedicated platform like that right away is way better than trying to cobble a system together later on when you have a dozen clients.
Wow nice bump, bro.
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