"What is the Personal Training Cost?"

Find the Personal Training Cost of Certification

"What is the Personal Training Cost of Certification?" That is a question I am asked often by people considering a change of career to Personal Training. The answer is "it depends".

There are several avenues that you may follow on your path to becoming a Personal Trainer. If you decide to pursue a degree in Physical Education, Health Sciences, or Health Promotion there are the costs of a part-time or full-time college education. If acquiring a Personal Trainer Certification is your goal, then that cost will be your beginning expense.

Personal Training Certification Costs

If you do not have a degree, your Personal Training Certification will be an important key in building your reputation at your Personal Training studio, health club, or as an independent Personal Training business owner. The Personal Training cost of certifications may range from $199 to $500. In Chapter #2 we will take a closer look at the most reputable certifications and the expenses for each. If you begin your Personal Training career at a health club, you may be eligible for a discount on the initial cost of your certification.

Starting Your Own Personal Training Business?

In starting you own Personal Training business, you will have more than just the start up cost of your certification. Here are some of the other potential Personal Training cost associated with owning your own business:

• The cost of Incorporation or in forming an LLC
• Rent
• Payroll
• Marketing and Promotion
• Computers & Software
• Fitness Equipment
• Fitness Repair & Maintenance Costs

Your Rent Expense

If you choose to acquire a specific location to Personally Train your clients, rent will most likely be your biggest Personal Training Cost. This investment varies widely based upon your geographical location and the size of the studio.

Paying Your Employees

Your payroll costs are dependent upon your choice of employing others. Initially, it should be most profitable to "go it alone". As word spreads about your services in your community and online, it will be advantageous to consider hiring other Personal Trainers to increase your reach and expand the area of people you will be able to contact.

Marketing & Promotion

The expenses that you incur in this area will vary widely. If you work for a large health club chain or franchise, most of the marketing materials will be provided for you. However, you will have little control over the content of these advertisements. In this setting, your largest expenses will most likely be your business cards, (usually $30 - $40 for 500) which are often designed by the company.

Should you decide to start your own Personal Training Business, your marketing & promotion costs will likely include your website, purchase of advertising space from other websites, google adwords, local advertisements in newspapers, business cards, and other paraphernalia. Here's another look:

At the bare minimum, you should be investing in an SBI website (we will cover this extensively in Chapter #4) and utilizing other website advertising. Your minimum costs per year will usually be around $1,300. Many of the expenses vary because the amount of advertising options. For example, full-page ads in the Wall Street Journal run upwards of $200,000. Yikes!!!

Computers & Software

Owning a computer and using it efficiently will not only make your life easier, but it will open up several options for continued monetization of your Personal Training business.

We encourage you to speak to a qualified professional when selecting your computer hardware. Your software options should include a word processor, a spreadsheet creator, and an invoice option. You will be using these to communicate with your clients, set up easy to understand tracking files and programs, and to keep organized records of your accounts.

You may decide to go with all the bells and whistles, but the above mentioned are a necessity.

In addition, having a computer at your disposal will allow you to begin Online Personal Training, a fantastic method to send your Fitness Program Design around the world. I currently work with clients from Canada and England among others.

Fitness Equipment Costs

There are infinite ways to stay in shape using your own bodyweight as resistance, but you and your clients will probably want and need a little bit more than that. Here's where your equipment expenses come in. A good place to start is in figuring out the money that you are able to spend and then which equipment will serve your clients best.

At the minimum, we would suggest the following:

• An adjustable bench
• A dumbbell set
• Resistance bands
• Medicine Balls
• a Foam Roller

With the above materials, there will not be any repair or maintenance expenses added to your Personal Training cost. If you own a Personal Training studio and acquire some of the "big ticket items" such as treadmills, ellipticals, squat racks, etc., you will eventually incur upkeep expenses. It is never fun to see an "Out of Order" sign on your equipment.

Continue to: Chapter #2: Choosing a Personal Trainer Certification

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