5 Steps to Build a $10,000/month Fitness and Coaching Business in 2025 | Mind Pump 2525

here are the five steps you can take to build a $10,000 a month business as a fitness coach or personal trainer you can do it but you got to do it right let's talk about it I like this we're uh starting to create some content uh specifically for trainers and coaches or aspiring trainers and coaches uh which I I love to to speak to um I think most of my career I did that than I more of that than I did with actual clients well I I think if you know for uh people don't know when we started the show our biggest motivator was to try to shift the fitness industry in a in a better direction right to um to because we know that when it comes to fitness and health through exercise and diet and lifestyle you could solve a lot of The Chronic health issues that are out there a lot of the answers are out there but the fitness industry really wasn't doing a great job so our goal was can we influence the space in a way to where it really starts to make more a difference I can't think of a better way to to help people through health and fitness than by creating and training and coaching trainers and coaches why do I know this we were Trainers for years for for two decades I trained people and when I got good and it took me a while to get good okay it took me at least 10 years to get really good at what I did the impact that I had on people just through my ability to coach and the the ways I was able to coach them I mean it was it's pretty incredible it's in there's almost nothing more rewarding than helping someone transform their life through Better Health and nobody could do that more effectively than a good trainer or coach period there's no doctor that could do it as effectively there's no podcast that could do it as effective there's no book than actually having a person there with you week in and week out coaching you through the process again we saw it firsthand and it's it's incredible so I I I love speaking to trainers and coaches because um if if if they get better I mean we we get a step closer to solving these problems there's such a need right now too and it's it's interesting because you'd think that because there's so much information out there that's accessible now we used have to get um you have to pay to get access to a lot of this information and go through these certification courses and uh you know build a network to finally kind of learn how to how to do it how to actually like operate a successful business with this but uh you know there's such a need for trainers right now for people to be able to sift through all the nonsense uh and be able to be guided on like real true valuable uh Fitness practices well you know this one obviously this episode in particular is geared more towards the the business side of the trainer but indirectly we've been speaking to trainers since day one I mean I think that when we came together and decided that we were going to create this it really was kind of scratching our own itch like what would we have wanted as a young trainer uh coming up as far as information and so I I think a lot of times when we communicate on the podcast even even though it's attracted the general population and helps a lot of people that may not even be in this field it really was what would I have wanted or needed communicated to me as a trainer who's up and coming and who's helping all these people so really we've been talking to them the entire time I I think this episode in particular is a little more business focused which I think is important because you you got to be a good communicator you got to be a good trainer you got to know the things that we talk about on the show if you're going to be effective but you also have to be able to make money if you're going to stay in the business right totally cuz whenever I I the those that don't know this the turnover rate in in personal training is very high yeah very very high and so even though I was only leading Trainers for you know a small window of you know say eight years or so eight or nine years in my my life I got the opportunity to train a lot of trainers because it was normal to uh always always be hiring or letting go or watching trainers go uh it was the just constant turnover I never had the same staff month after month like there was always somebody new on boarding or somebody going out um you know and the kind of the 8020 rule was always really true with the the staff which was you know 80% of them were were struggling only 20% of them were really thriving and of course my job was always to try and bring those the struggling ones up to thrive but that was that was what the challenge was yeah you know it's um part of the reason why it's uh the turnover turnover is high is a lot of people who become trainers and coaches well first off it's a very rewarding career if you love Fitness and people so if you love Fitness and you love people it sounds like the perfect job and it is when you do it right because it's incredibly rewarding like if you if you're listening to this and you you love the gym you love Fitness modalities you love what strength training and cardiovascular training and Mobility training can do you love how the human body moves and how you can transform yourself from the inside out uh through Fitness you you love that and you love people you love you find them interesting you're curious you love meeting new people you you can you're a bit of a chameleon like I can hang out with almost anybody if we're talking Fitness or if I'm if I'm coaching them so rewarding to watch people Blossom I mean you get somebody to alleviate knee pain that they've had for 10 years that's life-changing somebody loses 30 lbs and keeps it off that's lifechanging and you were a part of that it's incredibly rewarding but the turnovers High because there isn't a lot out there that teaches these trainers on how you how do you turn that into a career right I think a lot of people I think trainers often will make the mistake and think well I'll get someone in shape and then I'll find another client you know the ones that really do well they end up building a client base that stays with them for a long time yeah so that's just the that's just the truth in other words if you do a good job over a few year period you'll end up building this client base kind of sticks with you very little fall off and then you'll fill in the gas but that stays with you for a long time the back half of my career was mostly the same people the front half of my career was a lot of different people because I would turn I would have lots of turnover with my clients trainers with lots of turn turnover of clients become trainers who are part of the turnover themselves so that's just a fact so when you look at really successful trainers who do well who do done this for 10 years or more who who've been able to support themselves and their families what you'll find is they have a base of clients how do they do it how did they do it how did they get there how did they build their business how did they turn this passion that is rewarding into not just a job but a career that's I think what we need to talk about yeah I love the I mean you you read you wrote out the five steps and and when I looked at the very first step um I love this as as the first one to talk about because I think uh every staff I ever had uh this was a constant conversation uh with them i' catch trainers uh in the back area where we used to have a break room and they'd have downtime and they'd be bsing in there or playing games or take off for lunch and get out or they'd have they'd have time to walk the floor and rack weights and you know they a lot of times would over complicate the the sales process or getting clients so much that it just starts with talking to people every single day we used to say uh be the mayor of your club right like and you don't have to be the most educated you don't need to be the most experienced but you quickly can become the trainer that is recognized by everybody that comes to that club more than anybody else by simply just being that person um and this one this one for me is is very powerful because I've admitted that on this podcast many times that I was the youngest uh the least educated the least experienced uh definitely wasn't super jacked or fit I didn't have a lot going for me when I got into uh the space but what I did do was I liked people I liked meeting new people I like talking to people I was excited about the information I was learning even though I didn't know a lot yet I every day I was learning something new and I loved teaching it and sharing it with my peers with the members and so I just was on the floor always and very quickly I was kind of known as the trainer in the club but not because I was super knowledgeable it was just because I literally just talked to people and helped people on the floor and it was it was so much more than any of my peers that it it quickly built that reputation that if anyone ever had a question they would come find me first and that allowed me to build and scale my business that so uh that really resonates with me Adam I was the same I was 18-year-old kid when I became a trainer didn't have a certification in fact I got hired before I became certified with the promise of going through a certification um and then getting certified by the time I got certified I believe it was three or four weeks later I had already had a client base that was waiting to train with me so in other words they hired me I'm not going to get certified till till you know a month from now and they waited how did I do that I was an evangelist for Fitness that's that's literally what it was I was excited about Fitness I loved what it could do for people I every time I'd learned something new couldn't wait to share it yeah and so what I did is I just talk to a lot of people all the time that's all I did that's what I did more than anybody else and this is something that trainers either a or scared of because they're afraid of rejection well here's a deal look what's an evangelist an evangelist is somebody goes out and preaches something but they do it in a way that is because they understand they trying to help other people so you look at a room full you're in a gym okay let's just paint the picture here you're in a gym there's 50 people working out in the gym you know that what you understand about Fitness could extend the lives of everybody in there and could improve the quality of life of everybody in there and you genely care about the people in there because you like people you're not going to talk to them how how dare you not share this message to these people now if they reject you that's okay but but if you don't ever talk to them they have they don't even have a chance to say no to you so you want to be that evangelist in your gym in your neighborhood in your business complex everywhere this works everywhere by the way not just in the gym in the gym is just the easiest because people are already in there to work out but I've worked I had a studio uh you know for for much much of my career in a studio you don't get Walkins like in a gym when I when I was first started I was in a big box gym people would walk in like crazy when I had a studio if I had a walk-in that was like oh my God what is What's Happening Here nobody ever walks into a studio so I would walk around my complex I'd walk around the neighborhood I'd walk into businesses and I'd evangelize at evangelize Fitness which always led to well I'm also a trainer the more people you talk to every single day the more money you're going to make the more lives you're going to change the faster your business is going to grow by the way this is true for the real world it's also true for the virtual world one of one a second mistake that trainers make around this is as they build their business they start to forget that they need to talk to people every day seed the world's best probiotic hands down try it out click over here well one thing too I you know I'm picking up from that it's like people buy into your passion and and you know that was something that um I definitely had that right out of the gates and this was something I wanted to do I love doing it myself I I know what an improvement it had made uh you know on myself and my clients that I had trained and I just really poured myself into my clients and like really got enthused with them and that actually built more opportunities for people to come by talk with me chat about what I was doing my clients and you know cuz I was probably a little more reserved in terms of being the Evangelist and being the the extrovert you know out there and I know there's a lot of trainers that are pretty reserved with that and they're just trying to you know manage what they can in front of them but really being open and and allowing yourself to grow and develop into that person where it's like I can just talk and communicate with somebody build a little bit of Rapport build off that Rapport one freaking day at a time man and it took me every single one of those days I was improving on that skill particularly and it can be done uh and this is a fear that you can work through yeah my favorite trainers to help were the trainers that absolutely wanted nothing to do with sales uh that I would help with this process and it's exactly what Justin said what it would look like is listen I don't I don't want you to go sell anything or present anything just go meet people just go meet people and learn about them genuinely just just go be that person get up there introduce who you are find out who they are learn and then I would actually tell them to come back and write it down so listen you go out there and you go meet a person on the floor then you come back and you have a little journal and you write down that you met Justin and he has two kids their names are Ethan and Everett and then that's it and then you just put that in your journal and the next time you see Justin walk in the gym walk up say hi to him again ask him about his two kids by their names watch how much it blows him away and just keep doing doing that I guarantee you won't have to sell anything I guarantee if you make an effort to do that with all these members in here eventually someone will ask you and then bring them to me and I'll close them I'll do it for you that's how literally how I would do it with my trainers and what makes this what makes you more effective that this is if you go in with the intention of getting to know people and help people not with the intention of to sell them something okay now what it leads to is the opportunity for you to talk about your services the opportunity for you to potentially sell them training for them to hire you but if you go in with the intention of just helping people this is what I mean by an evangelist is when I would walk around in the gym I just wanted to help people hey can I unrack that weight for you let me give you a spot what are you working on today have you tried this exercise like I learned something new let me talk about this I would just talk to people about these things and evangelize and it would open up conversations that led to what do you do I'm a personal trainer hey I'd love to take you through a free workout it just opened up those opportunities so one way you can put this into practice if you want to be that $10,000 a month trainer is to give yourself a goal every day of how many people you talk to it's a such a simple thing it's such a simple thing now the question might be well how many people should I talk to every single day the number can't be too big okay and the number so what do I pick then pick a number that makes you a little uncomfortable okay so if you're a bit of an introvert that might be three people people a day or two people a day every day I got to reach I got just go and talk to two people a day if you're an extrovert test yourself a little bit I could talk to two people no problem can I do 10 make that a goal every single day and do it no matter what now I think the goal should be different for online versus in person I think reaching two people online is easy in comparison in person but give yourself that goal hit that goal every single day no matter what this translates very directly into a successful business more opportunities more potential clients period end of story but this is one of the biggest things people me it also translates and you and you just mentioned it right now over into the digital world I mean these were principles that we built our businesses on long before social media existed and the only reason why I think this business was successful is because we took those same exact principles and we applied it in the virtual world I mean I remember when uh the Forum was this tiny group of 50 people you should have seen how much all four of us talk to those 50 people every single as if they were 50 people inside of our gym that haven't bought anything from us but we're in our tight little community and that's what grew it to this big old thing it's the same thing and yet you have these these now these trainers that are that are growing up in this world where we have digital media and you have these viral clips that go you know where people get a million people viewing them overnight and they sell all these things and people think that the the way to be successful online is to go viral and just get all this attention it's like no that's not that's not just because you saw somebody who got some success away first of all that's like the 1% and secondly that's not a sustainable business you're far better off growing slow with a small community and servicing and helping those people and talking to all them that's the formula which is the same formula that it was for Brick and Mortar so engaging in these conversations online whether that be in DMS or in forums or in a Facebook Community doesn't matter but even in the comment section yes comment sections whatever creating relationships and communicating and giving people value uh whenever you can as much as you can and that's what will build that community and from there as that community grows then the business can can build from there but the same principles apply it hasn't changed totally uh next is to and now I'm going to put this in Fitness terms because trainers understand Fitness if you want to get good at a squat or an overhead press or a bench press or a row the way you get good at it is you practice it you practice it all the time okay as a trainer you are not going to be good at presenting your services or selling your training packages or meeting people and getting that conversation from hey how you doing to you're going to show up at Wednesday at 4 o'clock to get a free session you're not going to get good at any of that unless you practice it now there's two ways to practice it and they're both Val valuable one is to talk to as many people as possible we just covered that two is to practice it with a friend or a family member and pretend and the more this sounds silly but the more you practice the more effective you're going to be period end of story I I I would do this so often with my trainers that they could recite their presentations every other word I would get them so good that I'd say I want you to present to me and I want you to skip every other word and then they would slow down and do it because they had memorized they had it memorized how they would present their packages they had it memorized how they would book the appointment how they would confirm it that's how good you want to be because once you have once you have this presentation like the like it's subconscious now by the way this doesn't mean I'm going to have the same exact presentation to every single person I talk to but I have a very solid scaffolding and I could Veer off of it here and there depending on who I'm talking to but the order remains similar or the same and I don't mess things up because here's what happens when you don't practice your presentations you start tripping over your words or at best you don't sound confident and one thing will kill a sale faster than anything else and that's a trainer or coach who doesn't sound confident in their own Services remember the person sitting across from the desk from you or the person on the zoom call with you who's talking to you about potentially hiring you what you're asking them to do is to give you money for a dream I'm asking you to give me $1,000 to train with me for 3 days a week for this long in the pursuit of this potential 10 pounds of fat loss this dream this doesn't even exist yet but I'm just selling you the stream if I don't sound confident at all if I sound a little bit like I don't know what I'm talking about or maybe or whatever that person's not going to want to give you that money they're not going to want to hire you they will hire you based off your confidence more than they will based off your knowledge by the way knowledge contributes to confidence so I'm not saying you don't want to know anything it contributes to confidence but practicing a presentation over and over again so I would my trainers practice with each other and I would tell them role play all the time all the time I would prati I would have them practice with their boyfriends and their girlfriends and with the front desk and with their friends and then I would say okay tell your friend to be uh enthusiastic now tell your friend to pretend that they're not interested now tell your friend to to very be an easy person to sign up for an appointment I'll tell your friend to kind of give you a few objections and then practice and practice and practice the more you role play the more you practice this if you if you do this all the time you'll get better faster than if you don't do this at all so practice your presentation yeah you narrow it down a bit cuz there's a lot of unpredictable unforeseen objections or there's uh Just Energy you know maybe you you you're not ready for somebody with really low energy and you have to kind of figure out how to adjust your presentation that way but that was good about role playing it's like if we can at least present that so I'm not it's not going to trip me up where I'm going to be kind of froze and and that confidence level is going to go down because it's like I I haven't seen this yet and so to be able to role play that really helped a lot this is where I do think that um you know these groups or mentorships or investing in somebody who's got of a lot of experience and a lot of talent in this can be worthwhile right I know there's a lot of grifters online that uh do you know sales trainings and and uh stuff online it's and it is hard sometimes to find like you know which ones are the good ones that are that are presenting good information but I mean I I remember what um when we had Jasmine in there and like it totally resonated with me when she made that point about masterminds because I know I've said a lot of bad things about Mastermind groups and she's like you know I'm the type of person it doesn't matter like I'll find a way to get something out of it and so if you have that attitude when you go into these groups or you have opportunities to to learn from these people that are better we have these talks inside of our our trainer we have a a private forum for all of our our trainers that have gone through our course uh one of the things I always encourage all of them in that Community it's like you have all these these train that are trying to get better at their sales presentation trying to get better at their business and instead of looking at each other like you're you're competitive you're all fishing at the same little fishing hole like you need to learn to practice and roleplay with each other like I would love to see more of that because this is one of the best ways that you can sharpen your sword and all sales is is effective communication the way you're going to get effective at at communicating the knowledge and information that you're learning is by practicing it um I mean this is why too I was never afraid of saying things and fumbling word I mean it's still this day on that guy but that's the only way I'm going to get good at it is not being afraid of the people that are going to point out laugh at me who cares like that's if that's not the person I'm worried about anyways I'm I'm worried about the person whose life I can impact and I can actually help through the information I'm trying to communicate and the only way I'm going to get good at that is if I continue to practice these things and so if once you can get past that insecurity of what others are going to think about you this is the best way to get good at presenting Fitness is to purely just Practice What You Know Maps anabolic and the no bs6 pack formula were made to be stacked together to give you incredible physique and right now the $59.99 click right here to get started 100% next is and th this one this one's really helpful for when because inevitably what happens especially as your career builds or just through different stages of how you feel like we all know sometimes you're mo more motivated and less motivated to work out or whatever same is true for learning so one thing that I did that uh in my career that actually had a huge return on my business was I actually in my schedule set aside 30 minutes every single day for Learning and so what I used to do in my schedule uh and now in the back half of my career is what it looked like so I used to train people my first client typically would be 700 a.m. or 8:00 a.m i' train till about noon from noon until about 3: I'd have a gap then it would start again 3 p.m. till about 7:00 p.m. or 8:00 p.m. and so what I would do is I'd work out at noon which would take me till about 1: 30 or 2 from 2 to 3 it's it would say learning and so what and no matter what no matter what I was going on I I saw that it was 2 o00 okay I'm going to learn something sometimes that was a YouTube video on something that was interesting other times I had uh some formal education or a book but it was always something that was related to my field so whether it be gut health or nutrition or exercise physiology or some new modal modality or a supplement I would learn something every single day or learn about something every single day and there's two reasons why this is super valuable now the obvious is you just you just know more right you're just going to become more valuable to people because you know more that's valuable but there's also the following you become more excited and motivated to talk about new things so it keeps that spark alive within you it also kind of keeps things fresh and I I this if you've look if you're a trainer now and you've been and you're somewhat experienced you know what it feels like after you get a certification or you do a new course you go back you're excited to apply things this keeps things new so in your schedule you should have 30 minutes every single day set aside for Learning and if as long as it's related to your field or your clients can even be business something that's related to your field this is a Surefire way to make you grow as a person and as a business but you got to schedule every single day otherwise it goes ups and downs you know listening to you talk about that and thinking back to my journey as a trainer like I don't think I ever formally uh blocked off my calendar to do something like that but then I also think that I had this huge advantage in this situation because I was the dumbest trainer and I was the least the least experienced in sales and so all of my peers there was something to learn from them on uh the fitness and trainer side all the sales people that worked there there was something for me to learn in sales and so every day I was always learning from one of them and then I was turning around and applying whatever it was I learned so that was what I love to do I love to grab the trainer had been there for 5 years already and had five National CTS and just understood you know physiology nutrition mechanics everything at a higher level than I did and then picking their brain about something and then going back and learning that referring it and then sharing it with a client and like I instantly would always try and take something as soon as I learn it and go try to practice it or apply it immediately then it becomes mine right like I didn't want I didn't ever want to just hear something go oh that's really smart or that makes sense and then just like oh file it away like I had to go put it into play and this is at least how I learn like I'm not somebody who can hear it one time and then it's forever mine it's like I have to hear it I have to try and say it I'll probably screw it up two or three times and then I got to go put it to practice with myself or somebody else and then it finally becomes mine and then I can start to get better at presenting it and so I just made that a habit every day if I wasn't learning something something on the fitness side I was practicing a presentation on the sales side and then turning right around and then applying those skills and then it was it was just a matter of time of doing that before you really start to sharpen that sword it also this is also one more thing it made it was it was valuable is as a trainer and this this is not in one of the steps but it is important your ability to have good conversation is actually very valuable as a personal trainer you be you're going to be with these people for an hour at a time usually week in week out for months years if you do a great job and you don't want to be boring uh you want to have good you know conversation this is like a guaranteed way to always have something great to talk about like if I learned something every single day or a little bit about something like this was this would always be the topic of discussion with my client like did you know what I learned about probiotics and did you know the gut health can do this and that and and they found value in it they found it interesting because I found it interesting and it was fun so that's just one more thing about it but blocking that 30 minutes a day is good because what you look this probably resonates with most trainers right now what you probably go through are spurts of learning and SPS of not learning so you probably have this like motivation excitement I go through oh my God I I just read this incredible book I was super into it and then three four months goes by and you don't really do much and he kind of falls off and then if you follow just like with Fitness if you follow your motivation it's going to be ups and downs but if you schedule it and make yourself learn something it's going to be consistent every I swear I have to look for it it was always presented to me from clients I was always looking at these opportunities where I was like oh my God like I don't know I got to go research that because it'd ask me a question or there was like something I was troubleshooting and it led me towards like some kind of information or some kind of book I needed to read or somebody there that had that specialty that I could pick their brain and it just really just have to stay ahead keep thinking forward and keep thinking about what kind of value you can continuously bring your clients well that leads perfectly into the the next point that s had which is to use social media properly to support your clients right and that is one of my favorite ways to teach trainers that are building an online present right now and they go like well what should I post I don't have to do it's like if you are training any clients and you're actually training them and you see them whether it's virtually or in person every day is going to be an opportunity for a post meaning if you are working with them you are probably addressing something Mobility related an acre of paining there were telling you about something that's related to their diet that they're having TR problems with uh a condition that you've never heard of before until you got that client I mean every day there's something that you are either communicating to that client or that you need to go back and learn about because you didn't know anything about it that's a post that and then what that does is that now serves as something to support that client that has it like say for example the first time you got a client that had gout you're like what is that I don't even know what it is I don't know what their diet should look like I don't know what's going on like then you go find out all these things about it you're like oh wow these are some foods that this person should stay away from I need to make sure I let my client know that they might not know that oh wait that's a post right there you know it's like that's how you come up with content and that's supporting the client and then you're also now attracting somebody else out there on the internet that may be going through the same exact thing and you now can speak to it because you've learned about it totally you know just to back up for a second with the learning um trainer webinar.com every other month we do a free webinar for trainers so if you need if you want a a resource just for free learning we do that every single month oh sorry every single other month uh when we get on there we talk about a different topic but with social media you know people I think oftentimes look at social media and they say this is how I'm going to build my business not this is how I'm going to support my business now you could try using social media to build your business and there's nothing wrong with that but the odds of success with that are small and dismal the odds that your social media will support your business and then you finding a way to support your business through social media and then the social media growing your business are much higher what do I mean by that if you're supporting your your business through social media it's already valuable if I'm just trying to build a business out of social media it's going to take a while before it brings me any value at all but what if I could use my social media in a way to support my current business it's valuable day one what does that mean I'm more likely to stay consistent with it because it's already valuable it's already going to build my business right out the gates because it's supporting my current business and then as it does a good job and it continues to grow through that people will share it and it becomes a business in of itself so what does that look like well can I create resources through social media that my current clients will find Value in who am I talking to in my social media my current clients how am I using my social media as a way to add value to the people I'm already servicing that's where you start because it's already valuable right out the gates otherwise I'm starting from zero trying to build this brand new business through social media which is fine again but give yourself a few years to do that why don't you just use your social media in a way in other words I'm training all these clients I'm gonna make a post I'm gonna send that post to my clients the why because this is what they need to hear or I just trained my client Susie she has an issue with back pain we looked at this and we did a couple exercises we did some bird dogs we did some pelvic T tilts that really helped her let me do a post around that then I'll send it to Susie then I'll send it to my other clients and then they're going to find real value in it if you use your social media properly to support your business it will be valuable right out the gate best way to do it yeah and plus that it's not annoying like cuz it in order to keep those touch points happening with your clients um I and this was an area I struggled with in terms of like texting them like finding out how they're doing like how's your diet going like BL la la like just trying to maintain that open channel of dialogue uh to to be able to have a post and then they know that it's on there they can kind of in the comment section we can talk uh and this is something too that's like you're constantly adding value other people might just watch you know from afar how I'm talking to my clients um and it just it just presents like a totally different uh area of opportunity where you can keep stoking that that constant communication and Rapport uh and it makes it easier for you to to keep your clients engaged and and keep them long term listen it's it's how we built this business uh one of the most common questions that I get asked or people are most surprised by is how do you guys come up with content every single day and all the time don't you and it's like because our because our customers because our people our community are steering the ship that's right that's where that was the that was the uh the qua that we did way back when when we first started doing this was we will allow our customers our little network of people when we first started to steer the conversation let them ask us what they want to hear about what they learn about and then we'll communicate that it's the same thing so this thing got built off of servicing a small network of people when we first started it's no different than if I had a tiny little client base and I'm trying to build an Instagram page I would literally try and service my people and add value to them let them steer the content that way like s said right away the the page becomes valuable because it's making my business that I already currently have a better business because I'm providing something that my clients want and then guess what will organically happen you'll attract another person just like that one client who's got that issue it's like that's how you build that social media page now lastly and this is just general best advice uh I think for most trainers one of the most common questions we get are should I do this in person should I just do virtual which one should I choose now oftentimes other people answer this and say well which one do you prefer and here's the pros and cons of each and which one do you like more and etc etc honestly honestly the best people I've T because when I was training people back in the day we didn't do virtual so my experience was all in person but since starting the podcast we've worked and talked with a lot of train ERS a lot of coaches and the ones that do the best do them both a mix seems to be the best approach for most coaches and trainers what does that look like well it looks like in-person clients and then using the virtual methods to support and add value to those in-person clients for most trainers this is what this looks like so you have your your clients they train with you let's say once a month or once a week and then I use Virtual appointments to bolster that and service that or I have this many clients in person but I also have a virtual business that I build it's less expensive but it acts as a potential feeder to my iners but my point with this is just like with Fitness what's better for my back a row or a pull down why don't you do them both they both have value they're both done together we build you a more complete business if I were training people today for sure I would do both for sure I would try and Implement both yeah I think it's I think it's kind of a no-brainer I think this is something this is actually a really cool thing about our industry that didn't really exists 20 years ago mhm uh nobody was training anybody really online at all and even when the first dot bubble hit it was like there were some people that attempted to do it and just kind of fell on its face there is a huge demand in need for it now I mean there's a massive demand in need for it and it just opens up I mean before you had to build a business in your community so you had to be really good you had to be one of the best trainers in your town and you could only train those people in your town unless you were lucky and you were super well known you might be able to fly into town and get paid but you're talking about very trainers ever reach that level to where people are flying them in to come uh train with the Uber Rich right so it was very difficult to build your business you were limited to the area that you lived in where by opening up to the virtual world you now don't limit yourself and so the ability to have both of them in my opinion is kind of a no-brainer if you're building your business today 100% Doug we have some questions got some questions here the first one is how much does the average trainer make you know uh when you look when you go online and you look this up Google what they I want to hear what I want to say between 50 to 75 grand oh did you look it up yeah is it really that much that's what this says in the United States that's like Nationwide yeah Nationwide between 50 to 75 a year but that's actually better than what I thought well it doesn't take into account the turnover well yeah so those are people who trainers who've been trained career trainers oh so those are actually trainers that made it yeah exactly okay yeah see that's that's why so now uh can you you know this episode is about making $10,000 a month is that realistic yeah all all the good trainers that I knew were making six figures the ones that had their stuff together that were really consistent that had a base of clients that stuck with them because they did a great job that were organized that you know uh set time aside to talk to people get leads that understood presentation and sales like they were making you know six figures a year so it's totally possible but if you if you just stick around on average you're going to make pretty good money it's a pretty good PR hour job for for most people yeah I think I think it is I do think though there's advice that people obviously have heard us say many times about working at a big box gym first and really what that is is because you have the support of a big company that is that is really managing a bulk of the business and you have to your part of the business is your service and helping people and what most trainers sign up for and why there's such a high turnover is there there are a lot of trainers that think they're going to learn how to build business in general and then also be a a personal trainer at the same time and that's really tough to do if you don't jugle that's right if you don't if you are if you're not a already a Serial entrepreneur understand really grass business SEO you understand things like the how to run a p&l like you don't know how to do that and you're also trying to become a trainer at the same time the combination of two of those is overwhelming and drowns most trainers you're far better off learning about the the business part while also having the support of a a big box gym and then if you decide to LEAP into business now that being said there are big box type gems that are more high-end but they're still you still get the big feel you still get lots of and they'll pay their trainers a decent amount like I knew a couple trainers that made six figures working in oh yeah those types of gyms they they got their pay up because of certification courses they were they they were established and they worked in in these facilities that charged more right um and so even in a big box gym you can make six figures if you're one of the top trainers sure what kinds of clients are the best ones to get you know when you first get started Train everybody yeah Train everybody be as uh because you want to get a wide variety of people you want to figure out what works best for you I think the best clients to get are the ones you enjoy to train the most I I I don't know any any better way to answer obious yeah it's like the ones you really click with and enjoy training like towards for me personally that looked like you got to earn your preference though totally yeah like to your earlier point I mean that's that's such a thing that's overlooked I think though like body's looking for a lot of these uh Mastermind groups and these other opportunities to really like fine-tune their Niche before they even get started uh which I think is a massive mistake because you got to be a good trainer to see all the variables uh and be able to be more predictive and prescriptive um and then we can start talking about like you know where's your passion really and where what kind of client is coming to you continuously that really matters the most that's that's a far better strategy uh I mean if you would have asked me when I first started training I would I thought I was going to be training pro athletes I'm the furthest I'm the furthest thing from that guy uh but that's what I thought I wanted and I thought that's what and so uh I think it's a mistake to pigeon hole yourself into a type of client uh first I think you should train everything because most all trainers that work for me ended up finding out later that they their Niche was different than what they thought it was you know they they might have came in think they're going to be all athletes and they ended up with the uh elderly you know or they ended up being all corrective like and Rehab people like you have no idea what you're going to be good at you you have no idea what the type of client that's going to resonate the best with you and so I think it's so important at the beginning to take anything and everything and then you learn that and then and then you have a better idea of like oh wow I seem to really get through to this type of a client and then maybe you build your Niche what hours do trainers work usually all of them yeah yeah when you first get started I mean I I'll give you guys a great example I I worked I started in 24-hour fitness and I took everything I could get my hands on at one point before I became a manager uh I trained I have 6 a.m. clients I'd train through I'd have a break I'd train through the evening I'd go home at 900 p.m. came back I had a 2 amm client would go back home go back to bed come back oh yeah because I took everything I took everything I possibly could because I was trying to learn I was trying to grow my business later on uh it it looked a little different but I would say the bulk of clients are going to be mornings and evenings midday uh people typically are at work and so typically it's like a you're either early morning or you're after work or both which is what I if you're building your career you take them all man you live in the gym I used to crack up when I get I mean obviously a lot of what I did was hiring trainers so they would you know and one of the things when they first come on board they tell you their availability or their schedule and I used I saw I could i' chuckle when I see a trainer be like I'd like to work from you know 9: to 300 p.m. and it's just like yeah would me too I would love to do that this the schedule doesn't work that way as a as a personal trainer um and in if you limit yourself to hours you limit yourself in the the ability how fast that you could scale and grow um I was 5:00 a.m. to 10 p.m. is I was basically open all day I was willing to take it and I've taken things outside of that I've taken in the middle of the night clients before I've taken 4:00 a.m. before yeah um but that was like my what I was trying I was and I was trying to to to get them as close together at 5 6 7 89 in the morning and then have a break and then come back and do four 5 6 7 and like trying but I would be open to take whatever because I just needed to build my book I just need experience remember uh I mean I love the saying of your first three years you're in the learning phase of your career not till the next three years of that do you get to the earn phase of your career so while you're in that learn phase I'm open and taking whatever I'm not even at the phase days of like you know trimming where my hours are and what type of client I want no I'll take anything everything whenever and that is an advantage if you're working at a big box gym with other trainers that are limiting their hours and you're the guy I used to love that guy or girl who worked for me who's like Adam whatever you tell me you tell me I I'll take a client whenever they're willing to come in because I'm trying to build my business and I loved having somebody who worked for me who was like that cuz I was like that and that that trainer ends up getting fed and getting their book built the fastest because they're willing to do that and then through time they build a reputation they build the skills they get better and then you can start to carve out and I've seen it all since I've had so many work for me I've seen actually some trainers build that ideal schedule I had a I had a top trainer one time that that's what he worked he worked from like 7:00 a.m. and was done by 1 or two and he had found a way to the few people that were buying personal training at 11:00 a.m. in noon and one he got him you know and so and he built this great schedule for himself like that and then I've had others that just worked the night shifts I've had it all but it's really tough when you're building your business to limit yourself to a block or say I'm only going to work these days that's right and again we do webinars every other month where we teach coaches and trainers how to build a more successful business the topics change each time it's at trainer webinar.com sign up for the next one they're live but you also get free replays all right I know you like that episode if you did check this one out 30% body fat for men this is way too high this is actually a bit high for women as well so in today's episode we're talk about how you can go from 30 to 10 what is 10% body fat this is when you have a visible six-pack can you go from 30 to 10% yes it's possible but not if you guess along the way so we're going to talk about how you can do that in today's episode now there's a huge range right of like body types some people can run uh a little bit heavier uh and or a little bit higher body