AFPA Health and Fitness Blog

Most budding coaches in the health industry enter the field for the freedom to live on their own terms without the stress that comes with a traditional nine-to-five job. 

With the tremendous growth of the health and fitness industry over the past few years, choosing to become a personal trainer can be an extremely lucrative career path. But when bills are on the horizon and you still don’t have your first paying client, many newcomers can feel discouraged and give up too soon.

Just a few years ago, personal trainers had to rely on paper and pen to record client’s metrics and complicated spreadsheets to measure workout performance.

Let’s face it, there is so much to juggle as a fitness coach. From communicating with clients and developing programs to advertising and growing your business’s reach - it can be a lot. Adding video to your marketing strategy on top of that may seem overwhelming, especially if it’s not a medium you’re used to working with.

Editor's Note: This post was originally published October 2015 and has recently been updated and revised for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

In order to really get the most out of your Twitter account, it's important to follow other Twitter users that provide great insights. However, it's also important to exercise some selectivity about the accounts that you follow or you might find your news feed filled up with irrelevant clutter. This list of important nutrition voices on Twitter includes top nutrition experts, food experts, and food activists.

Everyone knows the importance of setting goals. As personal trainers, we’re constantly revisiting our client’s health and fitness goals to establish the right plan and steps to get them where they want to be. But when it comes to our own personal and business endeavors, we often forget about the importance of setting goals.

From losing muscle mass, decreased flexibility, compromised balance, old injuries and medical issues, training senior clients may require a more intricate approach and a different workout regimen compared to your younger clients. Training elderly clients aged 65+ doesn’t have to be complicated. We’ve come up with 11 key points for you to consider.

Establishing a thriving personal training business requires a consistent flow of both new and ongoing clients. If you’re a new personal trainer or don’t have as many clients as you’d like, focusing on getting more clients is likely a top priority.

Becoming an online personal trainer can feel daunting as a beginner. Especially when the competition in the industry is growing at a rapid rate. Fortunately, any thriving business can pinpoint their success down to a few core principles. We’ve come up with 22 powerful fundamentals that can guarantee you turn your personal training hobby into a lucrative business. 

Here are our top tips for starting an online personal trainer business: