100 Rules of a Successful Personal Trainer
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By Jonathan FitPro
Hey Fellow Fitpros!
Being a personal trainer is more than just transforming your client’s health. You become a friend, teacher, cheerleader, but most importantly you become a business owner. In health and fitness, while there always remains some basic truths that stay the same, there are always new techniques and strategies that are developed to improve how you train. The same applies to running your business as a Personal Trainer.

After working in this industry for over 15 years I have developed these rules that will help you become a more successful Personal Trainer, whether you are new or seasoned in the field.

These rules will help you to become more successful as a Personal Trainer. If you want to continue to grow and succeed as a business owner, click on any button below to learn more about the Dumbbells to Dollars course. 

Now on to the good stuff!
Being a Successful Personal Trainer can easily be broken down into four main categories: 
Professionalism
Client Management
Sales
Personal Development
Professionalism
Professionalism is key to not only showing that you are skilled in the world of fitness, but let’s those around you know that you treat this as a business. Following these rules will show your peers that you take this seriously. Your clients come to you to help them make major life changes. Showing your clients that you are serious about helping them will not only boost their confidence in your ability to help them, but also remind them that you are worth every penny they pay you. 

Key Things to Remember about professionalism: 

• Be a fitness professional because you love fitness, not because you think it is easy money
• Systemize everything. Successful businesses run off of plans and programs, not chaos
• Set up a Google Voice Number. With Google Voice, phone calls still go to your phone, but you     
   can manage when and where you wish your clients to contact you 
• Make yourself easy to find with professional social media accounts 
The Do’s and Don’ts of Professionalism: 
ALWAYS
• Be on time 
• Confirm the appointment the night before 
• Leave your personal problems at home 
• Ignore all distractions while training your client 
• Do follow up measurements to keep your clients informed and motivated • Keep exercise logs to show your clients they are progressing 
• Be open to helping somebody with improper form even if you don’t think they will want to sign up for personal training 
• Be willing to lend a helping hand to the gym, even if it’s for free 
• Make a plan for your client. Clients like to know that they’re not just doing random workouts, and they’re actually working toward a specific goal 
• Make sure your workout space is in order because presentation is everything 
 • Cut your Fitness Director some slack. Their job is harder than it looks • Have an alternate plan in case somebody’s using a machine that you planned to use 
• Learn the ins and outs of marketing and selling as well as training because you are an entrepreneur 
• Purchase Personal Training Insurance because it is too cheap to not have • Take advice from other trainers 
• Learn to be organized. A good resource is “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey 
• Read books on more than just training. Read books on Sales, Business Management, and dealing with people 
• Take time to help trainers that have less experience than you 
• Take advantage of the tax benefits for self-employed personal trainers such as purchasing equipment, exercise apparel, and sneakers 

NEVER
• Show up to work hungover 
• Answer your phone during a session 
• Use your position to inappropriately touch, look at, or talk to a gym patron 
• Mix business with pleasure 
• Train a client without having them first sign a waiver 
 A big reason clients leave their Personal Trainers is lack of Professionalism. Following these steps will not only help you to become a more successful Personal Trainer, but will help you build your business as an entrepreneur. These steps, along with a few other secret tricks, will help you get closer to earning a six-figure income as a Successful Personal Trainer.   
Sales
You may have the technical knowledge to know the difference between triceps and biceps, but to be a successful Personal Trainer, you also need to understand how to sell your knowledge and experience to your client in a manner that keeps them interested and engaged in what you have to offer. 

Key Things to Remember about sales: 

• If you want to improve your ability to sell personal training, a good resource is Zig Ziglar's "5 Steps to successful selling"
The Do’s and Don’ts of Sales: 
ALWAYS
• Speak slowly when going over contract terms with your client
• Let your client know exactly what to ask for and exactly what they are getting if you   know your gym has a slightly underhanded way of selling personal training. If your     client is unhappy with their contract, you will be the one stuck with an unhappy   
  customer 
• Assume the sale
• Get cool with the sales staff, front desk staff, and group fitness trainers if you are at    a Box Gym. They are going to be the ones that can feed you clients when you can’t      get them on your own
• Ask for referrals
• Make friends with physical therapists. They have a lot of qualified leads for you     
   coming off of their therapy 
• Learn how to leverage your time and make more money by offering semi-private    
  and small group training 
• Hand your client off to another trainer if you know you   
  are selling them a package that they cannot train 

NEVER
• Show desperation for a sale
• Let rejection get to you or deter you from your next sale. It will happen a lot in   
  personal training 
• Assume your client’s ability to afford personal training based on items like their    
   jewelry or car
 A big reason clients leave their Personal Trainers is lack of Professionalism. Following these steps will not only help you to become a more successful Personal Trainer, but will help you build your business as an entrepreneur. These steps, along with a few other secret tricks, will help you get closer to earning a six-figure income as a Successful Personal Trainer.   
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Client Management
We are all human. Your clients often come to you when they are most vulnerable. It takes skill to be able to manage and build a relationship that requires so much trust and respect. Understanding how to properly manage the relationship you have with your client is paramount to building and maintaining that trust and respect. 

These rules will help you navigate the potential difficulties.

Key Things to Remember about client management: 
• Clients have a skewed view about fitness. They think they need to be perfect 100% of the time  
  and if you’re the type of person that has a cheat meal every once in a while, let your client know  
  about it. Let them know how you recover and how you get back on track so that they can do the  
  same thing and not feel discouraged when they slip up
• Learn to talk to anyone. Read Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People"
• If you’re going to be working out with your client, do it on your time not on their time
• Use stress relievers like boxing and or yoga
• Every client should feel that they are your top priority
The Do’s and Don’ts of Client Management: 
ALWAYS
• Have more energy than your client • Forgive your client if they are late once in a  
  while. Occasionally people are late, including you. Acknowledge it and move on
• Discontinue or move away from an exercise if your client is emotionally  
  uncomfortable with it. They have a personal reason for it. Don’t argue 
• Spend at least as much time correcting nutritional habits as you do correcting  
  form. A great tool is MyFitnessPal to monitor your clients
• Be so verbally thorough and descriptive in explaining your exercises that a blind  
  person could grasp the concept of what you expect them to do
• Take fitness beyond the gym with events like 5K’s, mud runs, and sports outings
• Let your personality shine through in your training. Personality matters 
• Compliment your client. A genuine compliment goes a very long way
• Ask your clients for feedback
• Make your clients journal their food
• Do your best to cater your training environment to your clients’ likes
• Remember the Jillian Michaels routine does not work for many people, and not a  
   lot of clients respond favorably to it. If that’s not your style don’t try to fake it
• Encourage your clients to get periodic blood work so they can check their risk for  
  metabolic disease
• Use the word "we" when discussing goals such as “we have to clean up our eating” 
   or “we have to be more disciplined”
• Build community among your clients. It may not be a bad idea in case you need to 
   put two clients together and train two for one
• Hold fat loss contests
• Let your clients in on your goals. They can benefit from seeing how you approach a 
   challenge for yourself
• Take time to tell your clients that you appreciate them
• Be honest with your clients. If you notice a change, either good or bad, let them 
   know
• Remember they’re clients not test dummies
• Be a trainer, not a therapist
• Use the sandwich method when issuing criticism. Compliment first, then criticism, 
   then compliment

NEVER
• Sit if your client is standing
• Allow a client to disrespect you • Use complicated trainer jargon. Clients don’t study 
  it, clients don’t understand it, it’s not going to help them
• Push supplements onto your clients if you don't believe in them • Make promises 
   that you can’t keep
• Give all of your time away for free. You can be generous with your free time while 
   still maintaining professional boundaries 
• Say “You’re doing it wrong” if you approach someone you do not know to help 
   them with their form. Instead start off with “Can I offer you some advice” 
• Make a paying client wait because you’re trying to close a sale on a possible new  
  client
• Punish poor eating habits with hard workouts. Instead, take the time to educate  
  your client on how they can make better decisions
• Be afraid to suspend your client for a while if they refuse to adhere to the   
  demands of your training regimen. A week suspension is usually good to show you  
  are serious 
 • Be afraid to give a free session to your clients once in a while
• Walk away from a client
• Book your sessions in so tightly that you have to rush clients in and out of session. 
   You don’t want them to feel the way that you would feel when you are sitting in a 
   doctor’s office
• Smoke out a new client when they’re just starting. It will discourage them
Understanding how to manage your clients takes you one step closer to reaching true success as a personal trainer. Balancing such important relationships will not only help you become better as a personal trainer, but a better business owner. 
Personal Development
You are in the business of helping your clients transform their lives. You teach them and encourage them to develop and reach their goals every day. While it is important to help your clients reach their goals and better themselves, your own personal growth and development is just as important. The better you become, the more you develop, and the more you learn, the better you will be at helping your clients. A better you is a better experience for your clients. 

These rules will help you navigate the potential difficulties.

Key Things to Remember about Personal Development: 
• No trainer is too good to clean up weights to make sure the gym is clean on their down time
• When in doubt the simpler exercise is usually your safer, better option
• As a Gym trainer, if you spend more time on the floor working out yourself than making money 
  and getting clients, you need to work on your priorities
• It’s not the most glamorous, it’s not the most lucrative, but starting in a big box gym may give    
  you your best experiences, in terms of the business end, as well as the training end into your 
  personal training career 
The Do’s and Don’ts of Personal Development: 
ALWAYS
• Practice what you preach. You preach fitness
• Be positive
• Save money for vacations or personal time off. In the personal training industry, 
  you only get paid when you train
• Continually educate yourself 
• Make every effort possible to look the part of the personal trainer
• Be available early in the morning
• Be opened to teaching some group exercise classes to get some notoriety in the 
  gym
• Remember the beginning of your career is going to be the hardest
• Have a specialty in your training but be familiar with a broad span of training 
   methods
• Remember that encouragement and enthusiasm are as important as instruction
• Make sure to schedule in time for your own personal workout
• Give credit to another trainer’s workout if you’re going to blatantly plagiarize their 
   work
• Take time to help trainers that have less experience than you

NEVER
• Be afraid to keep your clients on the machines until you feel comfortable with  
   instruction if you are relatively new to personal training and working in the gym. 
   Once you are comfortable, you can take them out into an open area for more 
   complex exercises. Safety over fancy 
• Go up to another personal trainer while they are training their client and criticize 
   the way that they’re training. If their client is in a lot of danger, pull them to the   
   side and then tell them. Try to wait until after the session. If you criticize them in 
   front of their client they will hate you for life, I promise you that 
Professionalism
1) Be a fitness professional because you love fitness, not because you think it is easy money
2) Always be on time
3) Never show up to work hungover;
4) Always confirm an appointment the night before
5) Always leave your personal problems at home
6) Unless you discuss a possible emergency with your client before the training session starts, never ever answer your phone mid session;
7) Ignore all distractions while training your client, including and especially your friends;
8) Do follow up measurements to keep your clients informed and motivated;
9) Systemize everything, successful businesses run off of plans and programs, not chaos and aimlessness;
10) Don't use your position to inappropriately touch, look at, or talk to a gym patron;
11) Keep exercise logs. Clients like to see that they are progressing;
12) Be open to helping somebody with improper form, even if you don’t think that they want to sign up for personal training. They may surprise you and sign up;
13) Be willing to lend a helping hand to the gym, even if it’s for free 
14) Make a plan for your client. Clients like to know that they’re not just doing random workouts, and they’re actually working toward a specific goal;
15) Presentation is everything, make sure your workout space is in order;
16) Your fitness director’s job is harder than it looks, cut them some slack if they’re a little bit crabby;
17) Don’t mix business with pleasure; 
18) Have an alternate plan in case somebody’s using a machine that you planned on using;
19) You are an entrepreneur, learn the ins and out of marketing and selling as well as training
20) Never ever train a client without having them sign a waiver first;
21) Personal training insurance is too cheap to not have;
22) Very important. Get a Google Voice Number, because especially if you work inside of a gym they tend to give your personal mobile number away, clients will call you at all hours of the night. So, if you have a Google Voice Number the calls can still go to your phone but you’ll be able to screen when and where you want to get your client calls;
23) Take advice from other trainers;
25) To excel in your craft don't just read books on training, read books on sales, business management and dealing with people;
26) Always take time to help trainers that have less experience than you.
27) Take advantage of the tax benefits for self employed personal trainers, such as: purchasing equipment, exercise apparel and sneakers
28) Make yourself easy to find with social media and business cards ( but keep your social media connection 100% professional)

Sales
29) Never show desperation for a sale;
30) Speak slowly when going over contract terms with your client;
31) If you know that your gym has slightly underhanded ways of selling personal training, always let your client know exactly what to ask for and exactly what they’re getting, because if they’re unhappy with their contract, you’re going to be the one stuck with an unhappy client;
32) Always assume the sale;
33) Box Gym Trainers: Get cool with the sale staff, front desk staff, and group fitness trainers they are going to be the ones that can feed you clients when you can’t get them on your own;
34) Rejection happens a lot in personal training. Don’t let it get to you, and don’t let it deter your from your next sale;
35) Always ask for referrals;
36) If you want to improve your ability to sell personal training, listen to Zig Ziglar's "5 Steps to successful selling"
37) Make friends with physical therapists, they have a lot of qualified leads for you coming off of their therapy;
38) If you’re selling a package to a client that you know you can’t train, hand them off to another trainer, it’ll come back to you;
39) Never assume that based on the kind of jewelry that a client wears, or the kind of car that they drive that a person can or cannot afford personal training;
40) Learn how to leverage your time and make more money, offer semi -private and small group training:

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Client Management/ Relationships
41) Always have more energy than your client;
42) If your client is standing, you should never be sitting;
43) Occasionally people are late, so if your client is late once in a while acknowledge it, but forgive them, because eventually you’re going to be late one day
44) Clients have a skewed view about fitness, they think they need to be perfect 100% of the time, if you’re the type of person that has a cheat meal every once so often, let your client know about it, let them know how you recover, how you get back on track, so that they can do the same thing and not feel discouraged when they slip up;
45) Never allow a client to disrespect you;
46) If your client is emotionally uncomfortable with an exercise or a specific environment, move them away from it, or discontinue the exercise. They have a personal reason for it, don’t argue;
47) Spend at least as much time correcting nutritional habits as you do correct form. Use MyFitnessPal to monitor your clients.
48) Be so verbally thorough and descriptive in explaining your exercises that even a blind person can grasp the concept of what you expect them to do;
49) Stay away from complicated trainer jargon. Clients don’t study it, clients don’t understand it, it’s not going to help them;
50) Don't push supplements onto your clients if you don't believe in them.
51) Take fitness beyond the gym, into 5K’s, mud runs; and sports outings
52) Never make promises that you can’t keep;
53) Although I suggest that you give people your time, don’t give all of your time away for free;
54) Learn to talk to anyone, read Dale Carnegie's "How to win friends and influence people"
55) Remember when approaching somebody that you don’t know to help them with their form, don’t say “You’re doing that wrong.” Always start off with “Can I offer you some advice.”;
56) Never make a paying client wait because you’re trying to close a sale on a possible new client;
57) Personality matters, always let your personality shine through in your training;
58) A genuine compliment goes a very long way;
59) Don't punish poor eating habits with hard workouts, instead take the time to educate your client on how they can make better decisions
60) If your client refuses to adhere to the demands of your training regiment, don’t be afraid to suspend them for a while, perhaps a week so that they know that you mean business;
61) If you’re going to be working out with your client, do it on your time not on their time;
62) Don’t be afraid to give a free session to your clients once in a while;
63) Always ask your clients for feedback;
64) Learn to do mitt work and box, it’s a great stress reliever;
65) Make your clients journal their food;
66) Do your best to cater your training environment to your clients’ likes;
67) Remember the Jillian Michaels routine does not work for many people, and not a lot of clients respond favorably to it. If that’s not your style don’t try to fake it;
68) Encourage your clients’ to get periodic blood work so they can check their risk for metabolic disease;
69) When discussing goals, always use the word "we" (ex. we have to clean up our eating, we have to be more discipline) ;
70) Build community among your clients, it may not be a bad idea in case you need to put two clients together and train two for one;
71) Hold fat loss contests;
72) Let your clients in on your goals. They can benefit from seeing how you approach a challenge for yourself;
73) Take time to tell your clients that you appreciate them;
74) Be always honest with your clients, if you noticed a change either good or bad, let them know;
75) Remember, they’re clients not test dummies;
76) Never walk away from client (unless you got to fart);
77) Be a trainer, not a therapist;
78) Every client should feel that you’re their top priority;
79) Never book your sessions in so tightly that you have to rush clients in and out of session. You don’t want to feel the way that you would feel if you were sitting in a doctor’s office;
80) Whenever issuing criticism, always use the sandwich method, remember: compliment first, then criticism, then compliment;
81) Never smoke out a new client when they’re just starting, it’s going to discourage them;
Personal Development/ Misc.
82) You preach fitness, practice what you preach;
83) If you’re relatively new to personal training, and working in the gym, keep your clients on the machines until you feel comfortable with instruction, afterwards you can take them out into an open area for more complex exercises, safety over fancy;
84) Be always positive; 
85) In the personal training industry, you only get paid when you train. So always save money to the side, because when you need a vacation you’ll have money to live off of;    
86) Educate yourself continually
87) No trainer is too good to clean up weights to make sure the gym is clean on their down time;
88) You should make every effort possible to look the part of the personal trainer;
89) Be available early in the morning;
90) Be opened to teaching some group exercise classes to get some notoriety in the gym;
91) Remember the beginning of your career is always going to be the hardest;
92) Never go up to another personal trainer while he’s training his client and criticize the way that he’s training. If his client is in a lot of danger, pull him to the side and then tell him. If it can wait till and after the session, but if you criticize him in front of his or her client they will hate you for life, I promise you that;
93) Have a specialty in your training but be familiar with a broad span of training methods;
94) When in doubt the simpler exercise is usually your safer better option;
95) Remember, encouragement and enthusiasm are as important as instruction;
96) Gym trainers, if you spend more time on the floor working yourself out than making money and getting clients, you need to work on your priorities;
97) Always make sure to schedule in time for your own personal workout;
98) If you’re going to blatantly plagiarize another trainer’s workout, at least give them the credit;
99) It’s not the most glamorous, it’s not the most lucrative, but starting in a big box gym may give you your best experiences, in terms of the business end, as well as the training end into your personal training career;
100) Always take time to help trainers that have less experience than you.
Now that you have the rules to help you become a successful personal trainer, you need the secrets and tools to help you grow your business. 

You became a Personal Trainer because you were passionate about what you do. You love health and fitness. You have dedicated your life to this. Most people are not able to have lucrative careers doing what they love. But you are not most people. You have read these life changing rules for becoming a Successful Personal Trainer. 

Take the next step and learn how to take your passion and turn it into a successful business. You have the opportunity to learn the secrets to earning six figures as a Personal Trainer. 

By clicking the link below, you can learn how to gain access to the highly successful Dumbbells to Dollars course that will teach you how to take what you love to new heights and help you earn Six Figures as a Personal Trainer. If you want to learn more about how to successfully run your business as a personal trainer, then learning about this course will change the way you do business. You have nothing to lose and everything to Gain.