It started with Thanksgiving, and it’s been downhill ever since. No, I’m not talking about skiing, although I was pretty psyched along with the rest of the United States when Lindsey Vonn became the first American woman to win the downhill event.

Thanks to her general athleticism and that little thing called Olympic competition, I’m pretty sure she hasn’t been binge eating for the last four months. Unfortunately, or fortunately for you, a large number of non-athletes (also known as potential clients) can’t say the same.

When the Winter Blues Set In

The holidays came along, and there were cookies and pie and fruitcake. There were chips and candy on coffee tables as families gathered on the couches in front of football games on 56-inch high-definition televisions with fifteen-hundred-channel cable services. Then on New Year’s Day, the world made a global commitment to eat healthier, swearing off bad foods for 2010 and beyond.

But then the snows came, and they all found themselves trapped in our houses with leftover chocolate and bottles of wine. The winter blues set in, and they didn’t feel like doing anything at all. They curled up in front of the fireplace – or their 56-inch high-definition televisions with fifteen-hundred-channel cable services – and felt sorry for themselves.

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When it comes to exercise, typically more is better. The average person does not exercise nearly enough, if they did you would probably be out of a job.

But what about kids? Can kids play to much?

Apparently these kids did not get the memo to play with there friends outside.

Take a look at some these videos and let me know what you think.

Is this healthy? Should parents push kids this hard? Did these parents not accomplish something in there own life and are vicariously living through there children’s lives.

What are your thought? Great athleticism or child abuse?

Have you ever had a parent approach you to train a kid that was too young?

What makes you the personal trainer that clients come to see? You’re a personal trainer in a market saturated with probably dozens of local personal trainers.

What sets you apart?

If you don’t have an answer to the question, you might want to spend some time thinking about it. And for your reading enjoyment, here’s one idea.

Visions of Sugarplums Danced in Their Heads

You guide clients in their exercise regimes. You motivate them. You help them meet your goals.

If you’re good, you might even tell your clients what to eat. And if you’re anything like me, you’re probably recommending a high quality, organic, raw, sprouted rice protein shake with almond butter and flax seed oil, and a steaming cup of organic, fair-trade coffee for breakfast.

Duh. Isn’t that what we all want for breakfast?

Here’s the thing: your clients are not personal trainers. If they were, they wouldn’t need a personal trainer. With that in mind, you have to step back and think like a client instead of a personal trainer. The majority of your clients are motivated by their goals.

They have a vision of their final state. But they also have visions of sugarplums dancing in their head. And by sugarplums, I mean beer, wings, and chocolate. Read more…

So you know what nutritional supplements are, but you’re probably wondering what the heck you have in common with Dutch Speed Skater Sven Kramer, Olympic gold medalist in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Allow me to show you the comparison between you and Sven: (1) You didn’t win Olympic Gold in the Men’s 10,000-meter Speed Skating event, and (2) You could earn income via product sponsorships.

A Different Kind of Gold

Okay, to be fair, you probably weren’t even in the running for the Men’s 10k Speed Skate. And since you didn’t win, like Sven, you sadly lost out on about a half a million dollars. But I’m not here to tell you how to win Olympic gold medals in Vancouver.

As a fitness instructor, you probably already know what it takes to reach that level of competition, and it starts at a much younger age than you are now (assuming you’re legally old enough to have a job.) Not to mention, it’s way too late to get qualified for Vancouver.

However, I *am* here to tell you how to make a bunch of gold – of the cash and coin variety – without really trying, and it’s all related to fitness product sponsorships. Read more…

Sure, you want as many customers in your fitness boot camp as you can possibly get. The more paying clients you squeeze in, the more money you make out of that single session.

But if you target the right clients for your boot camp, you may end up with new long-term relationships that will help your personal trainer business to grow. It’s like that old saying. If you give a man a fish, he eats for a day. If you teach a man how to fish, he vanishes into a life of peace, solitude, and healthy fish oils and brain-boosting, heart-healthy DHA.

Okay, maybe that’s not quite what they say.

But the point is that cramming your boot camp with every client you can get your hands on will only feed you for a day. Target those clients who will keep coming back for more, and you’ll have enough fish, and enough healthy fish oils, to keep your heart and mind healthy for years to come.

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By now, we’ve been shoulder-deep in recession (and snow, for a good chunk of the United States) for way too long. It feels like forever, and it’s getting old.

Even though you know it’s good exercise, you’re still thinking that if you have to get that shovel out one more time, you’re going to break it in half across your knee and jam the splinters into the snowman in your neighbor’s yard.

And you’re thinking that if one more client stiffs you out of his or her bill, you’re going to break that client across your knee and jam the splinters into one of those coin-counters at the grocery store.

Sob Stories

You hear sob story after sob story about why clients can’t pay, why they just need you to be patient one more month, or they promise to come back to you when they can afford it. So you continue to close accounts, even though you know they really want your help and most of them would probably pay if they could.

Meanwhile, other potential clients would really love your services but they never walk through your door in the first place, because hiring a personal trainer is just too expensive. The sad truth is that you’ve got bills to pay, too, and you need all the clients you can get.

Admittedly, paying clients are the best kind. Therefore, you need all the “paying” clients you can get. Read more…

New Trends Create Personal Trainer Jobs

When you’re in the market for personal trainer jobs, it is important to stay aware of the latest trends. While you may prefer fitness jobs that involve teaching core fundamentals, the average person might not have the patience to participate in the typical workout plan. Occasionally, hot new fitness techniques seize the attention of the unmotivated. If they want to try something, you better learn how to provide it.

For example, some intuitive marketers really cashed in on the meaning of sexy abs by creating cardiovascular routines from pole dancing styles. Fitness pole dancing became an instant craze that attracted new consumers to the industry. This provided more fitness jobs for everyone. While this is an extreme example that might not work for you, it illustrates how certain techniques catch fire overnight. If you miss the boat on something very important, you may run into a stumbling block on your path to a personal trainer career.

Recognizing New Trends That Could Offer Personal Trainer Jobs

While you’re developing skills, it is important to recognize future trends that could create your unique niche. Hot new fitness training styles tend to emerge in specific ways. When you understand how this happens, you can take advantage of an upcoming trend to create a personal trainer career.

Here are some tips that will help you recognize an upcoming fitness trend:

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If you want to make more money as a personal trainer and enjoy what you are doing a lot more, run it like a business.

You already know how to organize and run a training session, that’s what you do, after all. What you should do is learn to organize your fitness business so it runs as well as those personal training sessions. For your clients, your goals are to provide guidance on them reaching their goals and give them an education on strength training, cardio and nutritional.

You give them a reason to show up at the fitness center and you make them accountable, while showing them how to track their progress. Do the same for your business.

Develop a Business Plan

Every successful business has a business plan made up of all the elements necessary to achieve the goals of the business. That main goal of any commercial business plan is to make a profit so the business is sustainable. The plan does not have to be some long-winded treatise with a lot of marketing buzz-words. It only has to lay out the basic goals and what you have to do to achieve them. The business plan is made up of a lot of sub-plans, much like your training sessions are made up of different exercises to tone and condition body parts. Your plan should include the following:

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Have you ever thought of marketing your fitness business to Seniors?

This niche could fill in all of the “dead-time” in your schedule. Of all the market segments in the fitness and personal training industry, there is one group of people that will work their schedule to fit yours – Senior Citizens.

Retired seniors in particular have a lot of available time, particularly during the day. Enterprising personal fitness trainers can fill in the blanks in their schedule of corporate training sessions, fitness classes and one-on-ones with the busy executives by offering special classes for retirees, classes that are tailored for their needs and physical limitations. Senior classes could be put together to fill in mornings and afternoons, when most clients are still at work.

The seniors market will run the gamut from fit-as-a-fiddle to couch-potato-with-health-issues, but programs may be devised to achieve their fitness goals. Most seniors will appreciate low-impact exercises and those that don’t overextend their arthritic joints, but there will be those occasional very fit septuagenarians who have been athletic all of their lives. These folks will have maintained some semblance of fitness and are capable of handling a more strenuous regimen. The only cautionary note is to warm them up first, then get them stretching before launching into the program.

Marketing to Seniors

Some of the means of marketing to seniors are through many of the organizations that cater to that crowd. Also, it may be possible to establish a relationship with assisted living centers to provide morning and afternoon sessions for their residents. Not only will you be building your business during normally unproductive hours, but you will be performing a service for these aging people as well.

Special Considerations for Senior Fitness

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Your Personal Trainer Business Needs a Trim Budget

A personal trainer business should not require a huge budget – it doesn’t have to. The fitness business is about marketing your unique skills to clients, and helping them achieve their personal goals.

Having low overhead costs allows you to profit without having to charge your customers unreasonable fees. However, marketing can be a massive black hole that eats infinite money if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Don’t let yourself fall into this trap. With the right knowledge you can market your personal training business without spending a fortune.

Social Media Marketing Can Promote Your Personal Trainer Business Within Your Budget

Everyone loves social networking websites. Facebook, Twitter, and the like have taken over the Internet, and chances are most of your clients and potential clients are on them.

Your customers enjoy telling people what they’re up to, or bragging about their favorite products to friends. When your clients can easily talk about your personal trainer business on a status update, their pictures become testimonials to how effective your services really are. When they upload new pictures and family and friends see the changes in body fat and lean muscle, they’ll have good reason to tell everyone how much you helped them. This provides social proof that your fitness business delivers real results. Seeing is believing.

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