Advice To New Trainers
If I just got my personal training certification today, here's a list of things I would do to find the correct path. Before I can tell you what the "correct path" is, I first need you to understand that direction is much more important than speed. I had little success during the first year at two gyms and felt I didn't belong in this industry. I went the traditional route starting out training people one-on-one in person on the gym floor. How did I get people to train with me in the beginning?
I walked the gym floor, picking weights, engaging with people about their workouts, and offering advice to anyone who cared enough to listen. I’m not a “seller”; I’m a talker. There's a wrong way and a fitting way to approach people working out, and my first tip is if someone's wearing headphones, give them a nod if their form is good and keep walking if it's not. No one wants to be told they're doing something wrong in the gym, especially men, so approach cautiously. Become friendly with the front desk people and your manager because you want to be the first person they think of when they have a potential client who needs a trainer.
Second, read and watch everything. You can learn from trainers who are at the top of your industry, and you can learn from your peers who make mistakes or lack enthusiasm. I've overheard trainers talking about themselves or complaining about their boss. Your client is paying you money to help them reach their goals, not to be your therapist. Be someone other than the trainer who builds your business on their personality or marketing. You'll get more business through referrals if you're good at what you do and treat your people well. Every day for the first few years, I learned something from trainers online, especially on YouTube. One reason this helped out is I could hear how to explain complicated concepts in a simplified way. I want you to know that knowing your audience will take you further in communication than showing your knowledge, like reading from a textbook.
This leads to my third point; who you know matters more than what you know. I was in a fortunate position to meet someone who changed my trajectory. I used to watch the breakfast club interviews, and one day, I saw one with Gary V (I can’t find that video, sorry). He mentioned his trainer leaving him, and my first thought was, "why would you leave this cash cow?" So I looked up Mike Vacanti and consumed EVERYthing he put out. One day while meeting with my manager at NYSC, I saw Mike walk in. A little starstruck, I told my manager I needed a moment. I approached him and introduced myself, telling him how I found him and how much his content changed my life. Every time he came in, we spoke, and the conversations grew longer until, one day, he asked if there was anything he could do to help me out. That led to me meeting my current boss, Kevin. Through the years of working for Kevin and knowing Mike, I've come to meet a few fitness coaches that I respect.
My fourth point is to try everything you can and experiment. I thought the only way you could be a trainer was to do one-on-one sessions with clients in person. Then I came to Structure Personal Fitness and learned a new model, semi-private training. With semi-private training, I train anywhere from 1-6 people at a time. What I love most about it is the community aspect. SPF had two locations, and I trained an older population who needed modifications at one location. At the other location, I trained a younger population who needed to slow things down and unlearn what they saw on social media. Over the years, I learned how to teach fitness classes with large groups of people, CrossFit, online fitness coaching, nutrition coaching, and last but not least, virtual training when the pandemic happened. Because of the semi-private training model, I learned faster than I did and as much. It saved my career and life all because I was in the right place at the right time, put myself out there, took chances, and said yes to everything.,
My fifth point is to use social media to your advantage. I copied what I saw others doing and made it my own. You can reach more people with a single post, and what will separate you from everyone else is your energy and point of view. You have to think long-term because if you focus on the day-to-day, you'll get frustrated because things aren't moving quickly. Think about how often you've had someone ask you, "how long will it take to see results?" It depends. How consistent are you? Are you making the right choices? Everything takes time. The bigger the dream, the longer it'll take. Everything that glitters isn’t gold, so don’t make the mistake of trying to achieve what someone else has and calling that your dream.
Here’s a list of who and what has helped me thus far:
Practical Programming for Strength Training
Bigger Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Male Body
12 Hours in LA with Ben Bruno
Ben is by far one of the nicest people I’ve met and smartest trainers I know.
I was introduced to Ben’s Instagram a couple years ago and I’ve been a fan ever since.
I remember saying this is exactly who I want to be like.
A sarcastic, funny, GREAT trainer. Smart enough and capable of training anyone but normal enough to be relatable.
I slid in his DMs December 2018 after he mentioned he was looking for an assistant. I didn’t care if it was paid or not, I’d fly across the country and learn from this guy because I believed in him and believed I’d become a better trainer from that experience.
The DM didn’t get seen but the work continued.
Now a year later, I finally got a chance to meet Ben through his mentorship program.
Ben is one of those people where you’re surprised by how caring and accommodating he is. In a world filled with influencers and trainers with oversized egos, Ben is neither.
Once I got passed the initial shock of who I was in standing in front of, it was like catching up with one of my best friends. We also spent an unexpected hour on the phone prior to meeting up just to get a feel for each other and within 10 minutes of that convo, I knew we were going to hit it off.
I arrived at his place around noon. Afterwards we went to his favorite restaurant to eat breakfast and this where I learned about his training history as well as update him on my journey.
Ben took me on a hike at Franklin Canyon, the less busy canyon lol, and this is where we talked about life in general getting to know each other on a more personal level.
After the hike, went back to Ben’s place, talked about his on-boarding process for new clients, how he’s been able to have clients for 6 years + and projects he’s currently working on.
Later that night, Ben knew that I wanted to expand my online fitness business so he was thoughtful enough to hit up two of his friends Kelsey and Dennis, co-founders of HiitBurn, to have dinner with us. I was able to connect with these people only because Ben made it happen. I got to learn about their online training philosophy and process which helped me understand something very important.
If you want to be successful, anytime you’re met with an opportunity, the mentality has to be “whatever it takes” or else you’ll end up justifying all of your excuses.
I want to leave you with this quote from Ben:
““The secret to how I got here was hard work, pushing through and help from good people along the way” ”
Ben helped me realize the value and potential I have as a trainer as well as seeing the bigger picture.
Forever grateful for this opportunity and his friendship.