With its high hourly rates, personal training has sometimes been seen by fitness instructors as a ‘get rich quick’ scheme. However, the reality is somewhat different. IHRSA’s 2011 Profiles of Success report found that in the US, only 15 per cent of members pay for PT – and as a result, disillusioned no doubt by the reality versus their expectations, 57 per cent of personal trainers give up in the first six months.
Why is this? Is PT a service most members simply don’t want? Has the recession made gym-goers more price-conscious? Is the gym culture not supportive? Or is word-of-mouth not happening because clients aren’t seeing results?
US chain Planet Fitness stopped offering PT in 2011, claiming people were just using the service to “rent a friend”. But other operators might turn the same argument on its head, seeing the counselling aspect as a selling point of good PT.
Consultant and PT expert Nic Jarvis certainly believes that being successful as a PT requires innovation and a sophisticated skill set, encompassing knowledge of behavioural change, nutrition and counselling. But he feels that, at the moment, few PTs are meeting the grade: “Very often, clubs are just sending staff for a minimal amount of training to tick boxes. But for people to see results with PT, they need to change their behaviour, which is a mental shift and not a physical change. For long-term change, PTs need to be able to coach people through that behavioural change process.
“I’ve been encouraging the PTs I work with to target a younger audience – generation Y – as an untapped and potentially lucrative market,” he continues. “Many PTs are intimidated by this group and prefer to target older, deconditioned people, as it’s easier to put a programme together. Superior knowledge is needed to make a difference to an already fit 20-year-old – it requires a different type of programming and knowledge of nutrition.”
It’s this sort of out-of-the-box thinking that could boost PT in clubs, ensuring members are engaged, PTs retained and revenues boosted. We look at the innovation already bearing fruit for some entrepreneurial chains, clubs and individuals.
