Tracy D’Arpino earned her bachelor's degree in exercise science from Springfield College. She has been working in the fitness industry for 15 years as a personal trainer, group exercise instructor and educator. Tracy owns her own personal training studio, the Fitness Factor in Quincy, MA, and is a Nautilus master trainer, faculty instructor for TSI, a member of sunshine fitness resources and has worked closely with Wayne Westcott assisting in research at the South Shore YMCA. She is an avid runner and triathlete, has completed four marathons and enjoys outdoor sports as part of her fitness training.
Personal training can be a challenging day-to-day business. Growing your business, keeping track of cancellations and rescheduling, trying to fill down time and maximizing your income can take a lot of time and energy. Look at your clientele, daily income, percent of cancellations and number of clients who may only work out once per week because of the extra cost of personal training. You could look at each of these factors and improve upon them with 30-minute personal training sessions.
Personal training packages are typically sold by the hour. In order to maximize your daily profits by decreasing the number of cancellations and increasing the number of clients trained, you may want to consider 30-minute individual or group sessions. Although this may not be for everyone, it will certainly be beneficial to the majority of the general population. A 30-minute strength training session that meets two times per week using a high-intensity strength training technique will make your clients successful, and you can maximize your training session by training two to four clients per hour. Clients will also be more likely to be consistent if they meet with you more than once a week and see better results in eight weeks. Clients who train with a partner will be more likely commit to their personal training appointments knowing another client is training with them. This makes each person more accountable and dedicated to each other as well as to you.
These personal training packages should be sold as 30-minute sessions meeting two to three times per week for a specific duration. For example, set your client up on a program that meets for two times per week for eight weeks for a total of 16 sessions. Once the eight weeks is over, the client must renew if he or she would like to continue. This way there are no make-ups, and you can start to build a more predictable business.
You can offer this kind of training to your current clients and future clients in many different ways. After meeting and interviewing a new client, you will prescribe an exercise program. (You may want to have your clients start with five, one hour personal training sessions followed by the 30-minute high-intensity training sessions, others may jump right into it.) That is where your expertise as a trainer will be required. In promoting yourself, you can offer a trial session to potential clients and to referrals.
Circuit high-intensity strength training is very successful in both results and client satisfaction. It is quick, fun and you can still coach them as their trainer on their cardiovascular workouts and flexibility training. Since you will see them two to three times per week, you will be able to set them up on their own weekly workouts to keep them accountable.
The great feature of 30-minute high intensity training is that it does not require a variety of equipment. Instead, it requires 10 to 12 pieces of strength equipment. As a personal trainer, your responsibility is to be educated on different high-intensity techniques and whom they are appropriate for.
Note: For more information, read the book, High Intensity Strength Training, by Dr. Wayne Westcott and Tracy D’Arpino.