If you’re looking for information about setting your rates as a personal trainer, you’re in the right place. After all, you’re more than just a personal trainer; you’re a catalyst for change, a beacon of health and fitness in your clients’ lives. But when it comes to pricing your one-on-one sessions, do you find yourself second-guessing? Let’s face it: setting the proper rates is as crucial for your business as the fitness plans you create.
This article is your compass in the vast sea of personal training rates. Dive in to discover a balanced approach to pricing that respects your worth and appeals to your clients, all while making your business thrive.
Remember, your skills and the unique experiences you offer are invaluable. Let’s explore how to translate that into rates that reflect your value and boost your earning potential.
Understanding the Basics of Personal Training Rates
Regarding pricing your training rates, you must first understand the local markets. If you’re training locally, in person, then you’ll want to find out what the competition charges. Similarly, suppose you’re offering one-on-one virtual training via video call or similar technology. In that case, you still must find out what the competition pricing is like. You’ll use the competition’s rates as a baseline to help you determine with more precision. For now, get started with the basics and find out what you are up against in the market.
In North America, rates as of the time of writing were between $60 and $80 per session(1).
Setting Fitness Rates: Balancing Value and Affordability
You know, to look at local competition to get a general idea of pricing in your area. You may be asking, ‘How do I charge the higher amounts and still get clients?’. In that case, you are wise to ask. The answer is by presenting potential clients with a value proposition they cannot refuse.
There are a few things to consider when determining your prices, market research, value of service, and demand. Let’s start by understanding how to do our research effectively so you don’t waste time.
Some personal training companies claim to go as low as $30 per session(2).
However, you’ll often find that rates only get this low when you offer a package deal. For example, suppose you provided six months of training where the client locks in multiple sessions. In that case, you might find that the per-session price drops dramatically.
Market Research for Personal Training Rates
As mentioned, you need to do market research to find the rates of personal trainers in your area. Suppose you are going to train online with a solution like Elite Trainr. In that case, you’ll still need to research local rates, but it will be in the geographic location you want to target first.
Here are a few things to find out about your competition:
- Local market rates
- Competitor experience and qualifications
- Types of services offered
- Length of training sessions
- Online presence and reviews
All of these items will give you insight into how the competition is going about their business. You may even find that the competition is lacking in one or more areas that you can exploit to grow your own business and reputation.
Assessing Your Qualifications and Experience
Once you’ve reviewed competitor rates, you need to assess your qualifications and experience and plan for marketing. Will you build a blog? A social media following? How will you stand apart from others in your target area? What sets you apart? These are all parts of building a value proposition, which is essential in understanding how you will portray your business to the world.
Personal Training Rates: Structuring Your Offerings
Structuring your rates can be a challenging task. On the one hand, you’ll want to keep things simple (the more complicated your pricing, the less likely people will buy). On the other hand, you’ll want to provide options. However, you don’t want to offer too many different pricing models because too much selection can have the same effect on a potential client as an overly complicated pricing structure.
As of the time of writing, most personal training services offer a set price for a session. Some state their session time to be an hour, some half that much. The median is a 45-minute session for around $70 for a solo session. Pricing typically comes down to package deals. Speaking of packages, the following are some options for you for your pricing and possible service package offers.
Group Training Vs. One-on-One: Pricing Dynamics
In my years of experience, I have found specific pricing models to work well for personal training services. Generally, you’ll find a one-on-one rate and a group rate. Some fitness professionals offer a pair rate as well, so two clients per session. The rates typically go down per person with more people added until you get to class pricing.
One-on-one personal training is typically the more expensive option as your time as a trainer will be reduced to a 1:1 ratio of trainer to client. For example, you choose to charge $75 per 45-minute session or $120 for two people for the same length of time.
In terms of profit, if your business model is to trade your time for money training a client, there will be little to no difference for you as a trainer in terms of the length of time spent. So, it makes sense to offer deals to clients who want to bring a friend or two to the sessions because you will pay the same amount of time but make more money, while your clients get a sense they are getting a discount per person (which is true, it is cheaper that way for the client). So, from a monetary perspective, the more people you can train at once, the more money you’ll make (if you follow that business model).
Specialized Training Programs and Premium Pricing
Premium or specialized personal training services typically cost more than generic fitness training. For example, you might have a technical personal training certification in something like managing fitness clients with Diabetes.
Remember, you’ll still need to do your market research to see what others who have a particular specialization charge. Still, generally, you’ll find where there’s a need and a lack of specialists, the higher you’ll be able to charge relative to the value of the service.
Remember, the location, value offered, certifications possessed, and other factors can all play a part in affecting pricing. Some personal trainers even charge upwards of $100 per session, depending on these factors(3).
Enhancing Value with Technology: The ‘Elite Trainr’ Advantage
Setting your rates as a personal trainer for one-on-one sessions is one thing; growing your business is something else. That’s why I recommend trying my fitness pro-management platform, Elite Trainer.
I built Elite Trainr for personal trainers like you and me. You see, when I started training, there weren’t many platforms to choose from and many had some of the required features. Still, it seemed that if you wanted a complete solution, you’d have to get and use more than one piece of software. For example, you might have to communicate via email and message via Skype and then use a different service for billing and yet another to build out workouts. Furthermore, you might have still more applications to use to track goals or nutrition.
I don’t mind telling you that it was infuriating. So, I decided to build the best solution out there. I bring you my Elite Trainr platform, built by personal trainers for personal trainers. It’s everything you need to manage and scale your personal training business.
Elite Trianr has everything you need: over 3,000 animated GIFs to teach clients exercises and deliver workouts, a robust nutrition and goal tracking, a white-labeled (brandable) interface, a client forum to communicate with clients, and more. The platform even has invoicing functionality, making managing all your client’s needs in one place easy and cost-effective.
Maximizing Your Impact: Setting Rates that Reflect Your Worth
Embrace the insights gathered from your market research, but don’t forget to factor in your unique qualifications, experiences, and the specialized services you provide. Whether it’s tailoring individual programs, leveraging the power of technology through tools like Elite Trainr, or simply bringing your personal touch to each training session, these are the elements that set you apart in a crowded market.
Ultimately, your pricing strategy should not only reflect the current market trends but also anticipate the evolving needs of your clients and your business goals. It’s a balancing act of value, affordability, and quality service. If you’d like to learn more about personal trainer rates, check out my article, ‘Earnings Unveiled: What Top Fitness Professionals Really Make’.
Article Sources
- “Our Unique Model Allows Us to Deliver Higher Quality Personal Training at an Amazing Price. That Means Lower Costs and a Better Training Experience for You. What’s Not to like about That?” 2021. Fithaus.io. 2021. https://www.fithaus.io/pricing.html.
- Admin. 2021. “First Class Personal Training.” First Class Personal Training. February 19, 2021. https://www.firstclasspt.com/what-is-the-cost-of-a-private-personal-trainer-in-toronto/#:~:text=The%20short%20answer%20is%2C%20personal,and%20%24100%20per%20hour%20session..
- Abner@sublimepools.net. 2023. “How Much Does a Personal Trainer Cost: Price Breakdown in 2023.” Freakin Fitness. July 13, 2023. https://freakinfitness.com/how-much-does-a-personal-trainer-cost-price-breakdown-in-2023/#:~:text=The%20cost%20of%20a%20personal,%24100%20or%20more%20per%20hour..