When considering your options
as a personal trainer, one
of the very first things to
decide is WHERE you are going
to train your clients. The
most obvious answer for most
trainers is to get a job at
a local fitness facility and
train clients there. This
is certainly an option, and
one that is recommended especially
in the beginning of your career.
The structure and experience
that you will get by working
at a successful gym or fitness
center is invaluable for a
new personal trainer. However,
there are drawbacks to working
with your clients at a gym,
and some clients will be unwilling
or unable to workout at a
local facility. Don't lose
those clients by not having
other options!
Working out with your clients
in their homes is an option
for any trainer, and by offering
this option to your clients
you can increase your potential
client base by a dramatic
number, and you may even decide
to exclusively offer home
personal training. In order
to decide if this type of
business model is for you,
there are several points to
consider, and they include
time management, exercise
modalities to be used, and
business resources that are
available.
Time Management
Managing your time and your
schedule is a critical consideration
when deciding whether or not
to work with clients in their
homes. Unlike working at a
facility, the amount of time
that you need to dedicate
to each client is increased,
sometimes to the point of
even doubling the time spent
for each client session.
For example, let's use a standard
one-hour training session
as our business model for
this discussion. Although
many trainers are utilizing
different training times with
their clients these days,
one hour is still a good time
frame to use for your scheduling
reference. You want to remember
that as a home personal trainer,
you can be on a tight deadline
to get from one place to the
next, so you don't want to
schedule your sessions back-to-back
like you can when you are
working at a fitness facility.
You must also factor in your
travel time to get to your
client's home, as well as
to get to the home of the
following client, the client
after that, and so on. If
you live in an even reasonably
populated area, you will have
to allow at least 15 minutes
of driving time to and from
every client's home, and sometimes
as much as 30 minutes per
client, depending on the size
of the geographic area that
you train in. Using our one-hour
training session as an example,
just one training session
can cost you as much as 2
hours of your time.
A standard 8-hour workday
will now only allow you to
train between 4 and 6 clients,
depending on where they live
in relation to your starting
point, as well as in relation
to each other. Your best bet
whenever possible is to set
up your clients in a roughly
straight line, or possibly
a circle that brings you back
to your starting point at
the end of the day. The last
thing that you want to do
is set up a client who lives
30 minutes north of your starting
point followed immediately
by a client who lives 30 minutes
south of your starting point.
Not only will you eat up massive
amounts of time driving to
and from your client's homes,
but you will put serious mileage
on both your car as well as
your wallet at the gas station!
More on that in the Business
Resources section below.
Exercise Modalities
The next thing to consider
is the type of training that
you will be doing with your
clients in their homes. Unless
they have a full fitness facility
set up - which is rare - it
is very likely that you will
have to come up with ways
to put them through a vigorous
workout without the massive
amount of equipment that is
available at a full-size fitness
facility. In order to put
together these home workouts,
you need to address the two
different energy pathways
that your clients will need
to use during their workouts:
aerobic and anaerobic.
Anaerobic Workouts
Although many trainers are
used to the massive resources
available at a local gym,
getting your clients a variety-filled
and intense anaerobic workout
in their home is actually
easier than most would think.
With nothing more than an
exercise ball and a portable
set of dumbbells, you can
take your clients through
the full range of motion and
exertion on almost the same
scale that is afforded those
clients training at a gym.
If you are just starting out
in the industry, or are simply
used to working your clients
out at a fitness facility,
you should do some research
on the Internet for dumbbell
workouts, bodyweight workouts,
functional training, and sport-specific
training. Those 4 keyword
combinations alone will net
you hundreds of websites with
free or low-cost resources
that will teach you thousands
of exercises that can be done
with little or no equipment.
The key to getting your clients
a good anaerobic workout at
home is not the type of equipment
that is used, or the actual
amount of weight that is moved,
but rather the INTENSITY of
the workout. A bit of trial
and error will teach you how
to take a client through their
paces in a safe but intense
manner that will leave most
people ready to call it quits
in 30 minutes or less!
Aerobic Workouts
Taking your clients through
appropriate and effective
aerobic workouts can happen
on many levels. The 2 obvious
differences are going to be
whether they get their aerobic
activity during their session,
or if you assign them activities
to do after you leave. You
could also do a combination
of both, depending on the
needs and the fitness level
of the client.
If you are going to take your
clients through an aerobic
workout during their session,
you can either incorporate
"heart rate maintenance" exercises
into the workout itself, or
you can get the anaerobic
exercises out of the way,
and then move into an aerobic
workout for the second half
of the session. Just remember
that if your goal is to keep
your clients inside their
target heart rate zone, there
will be very little rest time
in between exercises.
However, before you blindly
go forcing all of your clients
to stay inside their target
heart rate zone for the entire
session, consider the fitness
goal of the client, and the
metabolically intense benefits
of structured strength training
compared to a session when
you just make sure they are
sweating the whole time!
Another option for your client's
cardio is to have them do
it on their own after the
end of the training session.
Obviously they still need
your guidance on what to do,
how to track their heart rate,
and how long they should perform
the activity, but not all
clients will actually need
you to stay there and guide
them during the activity.
Also, it is not uncommon for
people to own a piece of cardiovascular
training equipment such as
a treadmill, elliptical trainer,
stair-stepper, etc. Nonetheless,
most clients will still need
some specific guidance on
how to maximize the benefits
from the type of equipment
that they have access to.
Things like interval training,
cross training, and training
at different heart rate levels
are all things that you should
educate your clients on, especially
if they are going to be doing
cardio on their own.
Business Resources
You must also consider the
business resources that you
will need access to when training
clients in their homes. The
time factor has already been
discussed, and you should
also consider the daily expenses
involved in this type of training
model. These include equipment
expenses, "on the road" expenses,
and auto expenses.
Equipment expenses should
be minimal. You may have an
initial cost, but after your
initial purchases, all of
those assets are reusable.
Basic items for home training
include an adjustable set
of dumbbells and an exercise
ball at a bare minimum. It
would also be a good idea
to have a roll-up exercise
mat, a jump rope, and any
other items needed for the
type of activities that your
clients will be engaging in.
A great cardio idea for clients
training at home is boxing
drills. If you were to utilize
that type of training, then
a decent set of protective
gloves for the clients would
be in order, as well as target
mats that you hold for them
to strike during their drills.
In all cases, the items that
you own stay with you, and
they are simply taken from
one client's house to the
next. It is a great idea to
have your clients eventually
buy their own gear, however,
which keeps you from having
to tote arm loads of equipment
into and out of their houses
day after day. Also, depending
on the type of program you
put them on, they may use
some of their own equipment
in between training sessions.
"On the Road" expenses include
food and drinks while you
are traveling. Depending on
your schedule, you will be
on the road anywhere from
2 to 12 hours at a time! In
those cases, you will obviously
need to plan healthy places
to eat along the way, or keep
portable meals in your vehicle
each day. In any event, make
sure that you consider the
cost of eating away from home
as part of your business expenses.
Auto expenses are potentially
the biggest expense that you
will have to face in order
to train people at home. The
wear and tear on your vehicle
- although accountable on
your taxes - can still be
a drain on your financial
resources. You have to keep
your vehicle insured, fueled
up, and in good working order
at all times. The last thing
that you want to do is be
late for a client session
because your car broke down,
or you ran out of gas! Also,
at anywhere from $1.50 to
$2.50 per gallon, gas can
get expensive if you put in
a lot of miles every day.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are
many considerations when deciding
whether or not to train clients
in their homes, and you must
weigh those considerations
against the benefit of being
"free" from the gym trainer's
normal boundaries, and instead
being in charge of your own
day to day business. In return,
you can command higher per
session fees for home training.
Since you are saving your
clients a lot of driving time
and gym expenses, as well
as giving them an opportunity
to get healthy in the privacy
of their own homes, it is
not unheard of for a home
trainer to charge $75 to $100
or more per session. Figure
in scheduling issues, the
exercise program that you
will have your clients on,
and the resources needed,
and decide for yourself if
this type of training program
will work for your business!
Aaron Potts is a Personal
Trainer and Fitness Success
Coach whose customers include
consumers as well as other
fitness professionals. Sign
up for a free edition of his
Workout of the Month Club
or his value-packed Fitness
Journal at http://www.fitnessdestinations.com,
or visit his coaching site
at http://www.ptsuccesscoach.com
Resources - Link Exchange
