The Personal Trainer Hustle (Sam Lopez)

What questions are you asking a potential client when you first meet them? I am sure you are asking about their goals and diet. What about going beyond what they want and figuring out what they need the most from you? Today I share with you four simple questions you can ask during your first meeting that will greatly improve your communication and connection to your potential client.

Question of the day: Do you think it's important for the personal trainer to look in shape in order to be successful with clients? Is that something that possibly factors into clients wanting to train with that trainer, on top of their skills? Or does that matter at all?

...yes! (and no kinda)

Everything you learn when getting your certification is important. Today I share with you the three most important concepts I learned from my certification and the ways they helped me in my career.

If you would like to purchase the book I mentioned in this episode you can do so with this link Illustrated Essentials of Musculoskeletal Anatomy book.

Today's question was sent in by listener Jennifer Medley. After 20 plus years in the physical therapy industry she decided to go into personal training full time. In today's episode I share some way in which having that physical therapy background can be used and marketed to in personal training.

Send in your question at personaltrainerhustle.com

Today's question, sent in by listener Shaw Roberts, is about what steps to take in order to succeed as a personal trainer having just graduated with a bachelors in exercises science. Eventually building up to a place where you would start your own business. In this episode I share with you my top seven mistakes new personal trainers make and how to avoid them.

Send in your questions at personaltrainerhustle.com

Find The Personal Trainer Hustle Podcast on Youtube 

Most people talk about what you should be doing. But very few ever talk about what you might need to stop doing.

Today was about the five things I had to give up in order to help my personal training career move forward.

Today's guest is a listener of the podcast who sent in a question that was answered in episode #69 of the podcast. Her question and situation intrigued me so much that I wanted to reach out and talk about her personal training business with her.

This episode is our conversation and the advice I shared with her when starting her business.

If you would like to support Yesenia in her journey please go follow her instagram @fitwith_anika_

Should you have one or both? What are the benefits of each? How can you use them to your advantage? These are all the questions covered in today's episode

Follow me on Instagram @personaltrainerhustle

Send in your own question at personaltrainerhustle.com

The question you ask when you first meet someone are one of the most powerful tools you can have in creating success for yourself. Unfortunately, most of us never get past only asking people what their goals are. I hope today's episode can get you asking questions that lead to paying clients. Which is, at the end of the day, what The Personal Trainer Hustle is about.

I decided to build a new personal training brand and I thought I'd share a real life update on what that looks like. Today's episode was just a live look into what I am working on and the things I have to put in place to have a simple and functional business.

This episode goes through the different business entities you should consider when setting up your training business and many other things to consider when legitimizing you business. I also share with you my thought process when looking to grow or expand my personal business.

Follow me on Instagram @personaltrainerhustle

Send in your own question at personaltrainerhustle.com

We all know that feeling. Those last few sessions are winding down and we aren't sure if this client is going to keep training with us. Should you say something? Say nothing?

Today I go over three things I have made sure to do with my team and my clients in order to increase the odds of keeping our clients renewing long term and taking some of the anxiety out of the process.

I got a DM on Instagram with an interesting list of questions today. A new trainer was wondering what she could be doing to improve her chances of getting her first personal training job at a gym. In this episode I cover a lot of the things I look for when I hire new personal trainers. I hope it helps!

Follow me on Instagram @personaltrainerhustle

Send in your own question at personaltrainerhustle.com

Today we got to talk with Megan Snyder from Megan Snyder Fitness in San Diego, Ca. We learned about her experience starting her career at a corporate gym and then starting her own personal training business while living in New York. We also discussed using different platforms for advertising and the differing results we have gotten from them. I hope you will listen and enjoy our conversation.

Follow Megan Snyder on Instagram @megansnyderfitness

Send in your questions at personaltrainerhustle.com

One day when I was out fishing something dawned on me. That fishing and building your client base are very similar! What I thought about that day is the basis of today's episode. These are the ten sales and business lessons I gathered from that fishing trip.

Having a big and strong following on media platforms is absolutely valuable in any business setting. But just because you do not have one it doesn't mean you cannot be successful. Today I just rant and ramble about social media.

Today I got to sit down with Norberto to talk about his start as a personal trainer. We discussed some of the lessons learned so far and what is still to come in his fitness career.

Today I talk about the day I asked my manager how he had become the manager of our gym. At the time it seemed like an obvious question. Now when I look back I see the power it had in shaping what my life and career has become.

These are the biggest mistakes I made when I got my first personal training job at Bally Total Fitness and how I was able to learn from them and turn my career around!

Buy Uniform Shirt or Hoodie at The Personal Trainer Hustle Shop

Send In Your Question at The Personal Trainer Hustle

Watch & Follow on Youtube here

Today I got to talk with listener April who had previously sent in a question. After answering her question on episode 77 of The Personal Trainer Hustle I decided to reach out to see if we could dive deeper into her new personal training business.

Today we got real about starting a new personal training business. We talked about actionable first steps in getting your name out there and how to think about your customer when creating marketing material.

Note: You can listen to  a deep dive on flyers in episode 29 of The Personal Trainer Hustle!

Today's question: How do you overcome inherit shyness when it comes to training clients? I don't want my introverted personality to keep me from getting clients.

Listen to guest Crystal and I give our take on this subject.

If you would like to purchase the book mentioned in this episode you can buy it here: How To Win Friends And Influence People.

Today's question was sent in by listener Will M. His question is about starting a sports performance facility from home, with his wife, as former D1 athletes and new personal trainers. In this episode I share 7 points to consider in starting this business model.

Send in your questions at personaltrainerhustle.com

Today I am answering a question about miscommunication between the membership department and personal training department. How do you talk to someone who was not aware that they would be coming in for a personal training consultation? Have you also been in this situation? I hope today's episode give you some ideas for the next time this happens to you!

personaltrainerhustle.com

You may be losing clients due to intensity awareness. Here are five things to pay attention to during your first workout with a beginner to avoid making this mistake.

If you have a question you would like to send in please go to personaltrainerhustle.com and send it in. I will answer it in an upcoming episode.

You can get almost anyone to be more interested in your training. You simply have to ask the right questions and provide the right solutions. The problem is we don't know what to ask or when to ask it. Today I decided to give you my simple Q & A system to getting people more interested in what I have to offer.

Today's question was sent in by listener Nicholas Ramsey. In this episode I share my thoughts and opinions on following up with leads. Also, I give you three main questions to answer and consider for yourself when you think about your own follow up strategy.

I loved today's question and I hope you get something positive out of the episode!

Send in your questions at personaltrainerhustle.com

Before getting paid what you're worth you must first understand where you stand in the market of personal training. On today's episode I give you my opinion on getting paid what your worth and what that means to me. I also ask seven questions you should answer for yourself if this is a concept you have considered or wondered about.

Send in your own question at personaltrainerhustle.com 

Today I share with you my favorite sales movie Glengarry Glenn Ross and all the important lessons I took away from it. If you are a personal trainer in a corporate environment or are struggling to understand why sales is an uncomfortable and difficult thing. Today's episode is for you.

Youtube: Glengarry Glenn Ross

It is important what you say during a consultation. Say the wrong thing and you'll be left wondering why the prospect didn't buy. Say the right thing and you will drastically increase your chances of that prospect making a purchase with you. I hope today's simple tips can help you move things in the right direction.

The first meeting with a prospect goes by many different names and is done many different ways. Today I want to take you through an overview of how my team and I handle a first meeting and why it is so successful. Follow this three step formula and you will see the difference it makes!9.

Today I answer a listener question with seven pieces of advice on the subject.

Question: Can you give any advise on becoming a personal trainer later in life? I'm 60, retiring from my job at the end of 2024, and I'm building blocks right now to have my own personal trainer and nutrition bus.

You can send in your question at personaltrainerhustle.com

Do you really have a flexible schedule as a personal trainer? How could we think about our schedules in order to produce the best results for our personal training careers? Today we cover the truth around the personal trainers schedule.

Question: I am NASM certified with a college degree, but never was confident enough to start. I decided to take the leap for my own business. What would you advice, knowing I am a little late to the game?

These three truths will make a big difference in how you see yourself as a trainer, a business and an individual. Knowing what it really takes is the first step in making the necessary changes to grow and succeed as a personal trainer. I hope my opinions and thoughts in this episode can be a guide in a positive direction.

Follow me on Instagram @personaltrainerhustle

Send in your own question at personaltrainerhustle.com

Today I cover a simple sales principle that is holding many personal trainers back in their sales process. If you have been trying your best with every potential costumer and still seem to get the run around from them. Today's episode might have just the information you need and point out a simple mistake you may be making during your first meetings with prospects.

Send in your question at personaltrainerhustle.com

Where does a client come from? Why do they sign up? And why do they stop training? These are some of the ideas and concepts I talk about today when discussing the life cycle of a client. It is important to know this cycle in order to create better systems and processes for your personal training service.

If you have friends and family that are willing to support you in the beginning of your journey that is amazing! But you cannot rely on that if you are going to build your brand in the real world. When I started I had a couple of friends support my business, but the reality was that that it was going to take more than just a couple of people to build a real business. On today's episode I go over the five main concepts you need to understand in order to build a brand beyond just a few of your friends.

You keep explaining the exercise, but the client doesn't quite get it. Every trainer at some point in their career will run into this situation. What should you say now? Do you just do something else?

Today we cover three important ways of communicating what you want them to do. Consider the training tips we cover today and analyze how well you are executing them, if at all!

How do you know what your client is feeling? How do you know if it isn't hurting gin a bad way? Or if your exercise selection is bringing back bad memories?

The only way to know is to watch, ask, confirm and adjust what you are doing during every session.

Today I go over some of the things I a worried about as I watch someone exercise.

Before you can call someone a client you must first take them through these steps. These five steps are everything that must happen in order to get someone from not knowing about you to becoming one of your paying customers. I hope today's topic helps you think about your processes and systems more deeply. 

On today's Q & A episode listener Sydney Carlile wanted to know what advice I would give when looking to start an online nutrition and/or weight loss business. In this episode I share my thoughts and give you all five main points to think about and consider when going into online nutrition coaching.

What are you thinking about when you start a training session? Do what is your plan and what do you remember about this specific client? Today I share with you the 5 most important things to remember about any client before starting a training session.

Today I got to interview with gym owner and private personal trainer Lesley Goldberg. She successfully owned and operated her personal training gym for decades. I had a lot of fun learning from my conversation with her. I hope you will as well!

Why do people why personal training? To reach their goals, obviously. But is there more to it? Check out today's three reasons why people by training for you.

Send your question into personaltrainerhustle.com

Follow me on Instagram @personaltrainerhustle

Have you heard of the 80/20 principle? Reading about it, understanding it and applying completely changed the way I thought about my personal training career. I hope today's topic can help you the same way it helped me.

Today I want to talk to you about hard work and how it relates to creating success in your life. I hope some of my ideas can help you think about hard work a little bit differently than most people. 

Flyers have been a common theme in some of my recent conversations. So here it is, a deep dive into flyers!

I have successfully used flyers in my business in the past and I believe todays advice will be helpful in yours.

If you have or are considering using this tool in your business advertising make sure to listen to day's episode!

Send in your questions at: personaltrainerhustle.com

Today we are doing a deep dive into all the parts of prospecting. Wether you have to prospect in the gym or at a shopping center today's episode will cover many different elements and techniques in prospecting. I share with you my personal experiences and advice for you to have a deeper understanding of the process.

Send in your questions at personaltrainerhustle.com

The journey of a personal trainer can be a long one. We prepare for the reps and the sets. But there are many things we are not ready for. One of them being the reality of building a client base from zero. Today's episode covers the reality of being anew coach, the time it takes to build a career and the unfortunate lessons we all must learn along the way.

If you are a new personal trainer I encourage you to listen to today's podcast and decide to commit to being a successful personal trainer.

Today I got to interview Angel Lorenzo the owner of FNZO Fitness in Las Vegas, Nevada. He shared how he started in the industry, the lessons he learned, and the struggles of starting his own brand. Listen to today's episode to hear the realities of personal training and how to change your mindset to grow your own career.

I know I struggled with this and I know you have too. How do you start showing someone prices after their first workout with you? What do you say? What do you do?

Today I went over a simple, but powerful technique I use that helped me present my personal training packages a lot easier.

These are ten things I would do if a was starting my career over as a personal trainer today. If you are just getting your personal training career started I would highly suggest that you listen to this episode and take note on the ten ideas I would implement if I was in the same situation. 

Send in your questions at personaltrainerhustle.com

Today I explain the difference between putting clients through exercises vs putting them through a training session. I explain the levels of thinking about personal training and how to continue to grow your craft in order to grow in your career.

When you first become a personal trainer you never expect that you will also be a sales person. This episode is a very important lesson in personal training sales for every new personal trainer.

Understanding this funnel of sales will help you see the process more clearly and highlight to you where you can chose to improve.

Send in your question at personaltrainerhuslte.com

These are three things to consider if you are looking to get beyond the ten client mark. While most personal trainers are always under ten active clients. Some manage to go beyond that. Sometimes even to twice the amount! What is it that they think and do that the rest do not? 

When I was new I struggled to get new client leads from my managers. I wasn't sure why the busy trainers seemed to get the leads even though they were already busy. It took me asking some questions and getting some experience to figure out what was happening! Once I did everything changed.

Today I sat down with an old friend to talk about sales, client retention, prospecting and much more. Mike and I both worked at the same Bally Total Fitness when we first became personal trainers. Since then, we both went on to have great careers in fitness and fitness management. There is a lot to learn from a guy like him. Hope you enjoy our conversation.

Jovan Sledge is the founder of Outwerk Bootcamp in Culver City, California. Today we sat down to talk about his experiences as a new personal trainer, what he learned that helped him succeed and why he started his own bootcamp and personal training brand. 

Today I went on a little bit of a rant about our brand messaging, our objectives with our content and losing track of our career goals. This is just a conversation to get you to think and consider your goals and objectives. I hope you will find something helpful and useful in the next thirty minutes!

As part of this mini series, today I covered the pros's and con's of being an in-house personal trainer. There are many pro's and very few con's to working inside of an organization, but it is up to you to know and consider all that working in a gym entails. Make sure to listen to the end to get the full picture of what this career path may provide.

Crystal is one of my personal trainers at Logic Fitness. In just a few months she was able to build her one on one client base up to 20. She continues to grow and adapt month after month. Today we talked about how we handle the things our clients share with us, what we do when we have to change the plan and the importance  of putting your team first.

Today's Question: Due to having a young one at home, I need to train people between 9am and 3pm. Is this unrealistic or do I need to be more creative on my business model?

In this episode I shared five strategies to help with this situation.

As a first business book I suggested Business Made Simple by Donald Miller. If you would like to dive deeper into business planning fundamentals you can purchase this book here.

How do you handle a potential costumer saying they need to go home and talk to their partner or spouse? Do you get aggressive? Do you freeze? Or do you treat them with respect and understanding?

Today I go over my personal method on how to best deal with this situation. I hope it can help you on your next first workout with a new potential costumer.

You can send your own questions to personaltrainerhustle.com

Are people really getting what they want and need from your first meeting? Or are they left looking for answers?

Today I want to share with you a recent client story and why they chose working out with us over other places they had visited.

Starting a part time personal training business on the side is a common place for a lot of us to start. We have a full time secure job and eventually want to make the transition to full time personal trainer. But how do you go about making that change? When do you take the leap? Today's episode will give you 5 things to consider in order to help you make the decision

Follow me on Instagram @personaltrainerhustle

Send in your own question at personaltrainerhustle.com

Tell me if this has happened to you. You are in the middle of you training session, just getting into the flow of it. You look up and notice the time. The session should be over by now!

Why does this happen? Should it be happening? What do you do? Do you just give them extra time?

Today we get into why just giving clients more time might have unintended consequences and what you should do about it.

When you are a new personal trainer you will mostly likely have a hard time with the part of training nobody tells you about. That moment when you have to ask someone to try your personal training and then make a monetary commitment to a plan with you. While you may not be very good or even comfortable with the idea. There is a different way to think about the process that can help you through your beginner stages. That is what I get into to day. Your conversion rate! 

Question of the day: What makes a trainer realize when they can grow in their career?

Today I answer a listener question by asking seven questions in return!

If you have or are thinking about growth in your career, today's episode will give you a lot of insight and things to consider in your process. 

Today I wanted to talk to you about why some of the people close to us sometimes seem to doubt us the most. It is easy to get upset, but I want you to listen to today's episode and maybe think about it differently. On this episode I cover why people may not understand you and why you should keep going anyway.

To send your own questions to the show go to personaltrainerhustle.com

Today's question was sent in by listener Megan.

Her question reads: "My gym is located near 3 dance studios ( 2 for adults and 1 for kids). I was thinking of asking the studios if they could place flyers our for people that take the class and the parents that drop their kids off. Should I do a discount? Take a class? Would love to get creative here! Thanks!"

On today's episode I brainstormed a few unique ways to reach out to local businesses. I also shared how to think about your target clients in different ways in order to create flyers and deals that may intrigue them.

Send in your question at personaltrainerhustle.com

Online personal training has grown in popularity. Even I was able to take part in it during the 2020 business closures. It had many benefits as well as many difficulties. Today I want to have real conversation about what online personal training is, what it can do for you, and what to look out for. I hope I provide some new perspective for you on your personal training journey.

Have you ever heard the saying, "No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care."? In today's episode I discuss the importance of showing interest and care in someone. And why as personal trainers we can get distracted and miss the mark when it comes to being likable with potential costumers.

In today's episode I made reference to How To Wim Friends And Influence People by Dale Carnegie. This book is a power tool and a must read for anyone looking to develop their likability skills. You can support the podcast by purchasing the book through this link.

I wasn't going to post this episode. Sean said I should so...thank him for that.

Follow me on Instagram @personaltrainerhustle

Send in your own questions at personaltrainerhustle.com

Are you a new personal trainer? Make sure you are aware of these possible problems you may encounter when you are just starting out. Knowing and solving these three problems will help you get and keep more clients for your business.

Send in your questions at personatrainerhustle.com

Today I share with you how you can overcome new potential clients concerns by using your current and pasts clients success stories. Learn how to use this story telling technique and you will gain a power skill in the art of overcoming objections and concerns.

On today's episode I talk to you guys about what I have been working on during the holiday break and how you could benefit from thinking of all the steps that go into creating a new brand, service or product.

Where you chose to work can certainly influence how you move forward in your personal training career. Different types of gyms offer different types of challenges and opportunities. Today I talk about the main gym types personal trainers work in and what I consider important about each one of them.

Most of us have a hard time truly understanding what we do and the value we provide with our personal training. This is why we struggle with charging for our service and continue hear potential clients say they will "think about it". These are five things I have implemented for my self and my staff that allow us to continue to grow our client base.

Most personal trainers know and understand that good from helps in avoiding or preventing injuries in the gym. Today I wanted to share my three personal reasons why good form is important and why educating your clients in technique and form is so important.

Today's question: Have you ever dealt with a potential customer you did not want to train? Has there ever been a situation where, for whatever reason, you needed to decline someone? If so, how did you handle it?

...Yes.

Here are 7 tips if you are considering starting your own mobile personal training service!

Send in your own questions at personaltrainerhustle.com

Today we want to go beyond the scale when it comes to tracking your clients progress. Check out today's episode to learn five basic ways to track progress and why it is so important to do so.

In this episode I go through different examples of how many clients would equal different income goals.

Follow me on Instagram @personaltrainerhustle

Send in your own question at personaltrainerhustle.com

How do I explain what you do as a personal trainer?

Send in your questions to personaltrainerhustle.com

Throughout the years I've learned many lessons, techniques and ideas that have changed and help me grow my career. Today I went back to my first year of personal training and chose the three most important lessons I learned that year. If you are early in your career and looking to grow I hope these help you as well.

Today I talk about my start as a personal trainer and share my top seven life changing lessons in personal training success. When I started I was lost, confused and let down by the reality of creating a career in personal training. I had to learn how to grow my client base and sell myself as a coach. Today's episode will teach you the areas in which I made changes and how those changes changed the trajectory of my personal training career for the better.

Send in your question at personaltrainerhustle.com

What should a mentor have achieved? What does a mentor actually do? Where do I find a good mentor? In this episode I cover all of these things and more!

Follow me on Instagram @personaltrainerhustle

Send in your own question at personaltrainerhustle.com

It's Thanksgiving 2023 and before I head out to visit family and eat some turkey, I wanted to share with you five things I am grateful for daily. Happy Thanksgiving!

After a while it is only natural that both you and your clients begin to lose focus on their goals and objectives. When we begin a training program motivation and excitement are high, but as time goes on and clientele grows sometimes we start to just get through training sessions. Today I wanted to share with you three things I made sure to do to keep myself and my clients engaged in their fitness plans.

When we are trainers we have a responsibility to our clients. We think about their workouts, their diets, their goals and concerns. What we don't always think about is what our managers goals or concerns may be. Today I cover five things that I know I have considered about my trainers when I have been a manager. My hope is that in knowing them and considering them you can put yourself in a better place to succeed!

I am not a social media expert, but I have used social media to grow my business and get sales through advertising. In this episode I share five ideas to create better converting content for your personal training business/brand

Follow me on Instagram @personaltrainerhustle

Send in your own question at personaltrainerhustle.com

When I was a new trainer trying to figure out how to approach people at the gym I wanted to quit! I was not the type of person to just talk to strangers. I really though that if I had to find my own clients my personal training career would have to be over.

Thankfully, I did not quit. I got some advice, I read some books and I got creative! For an introverted personal trainer like myself I believe today's episode could be a game changer.

Today we get back to basics! These are three simple things you can do on your next consultation to increase the odds of your prospect becoming a client. The best part is that they require no skills or studying. Just simply be mindful of them and they will begin to work.

Not all personal trainers are one-on-one coaches. There are many coaches that opt for training people in groups. Whether you venture out on your own or decide to work at a group fitness gym. This episode will give you some of the major things to consider in this career path.

Prospecting is a simple method of introducing yourself and your product to potential costumers. Though not talked about much anymore, it is a classic and proven way of getting leads. In today's episode I talk bout what prospecting is, why it works, how it works and some strategies to apply when doing it

Follow me on Instagram @personaltrainerhustle

Send in your own question at personaltrainerhustle.com

Today's listener question: I am 16 years old currently getting my personal trainer license. What do you think should be my first steps to grow my fitness business?

In this episode I share 10 pieces of advice for anyone starting a personal training business.

Resources:

Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs:

https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

Personal Development:

Anything by Earl Nightingale

The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale

Anything by Jim Rohn

The Day That Turned Your Life Around by Jim Rohn

Listener Question: How do you go about giving nutritional advice as a personal trainer? I see a lot of personal trainers selling meal plans and macro programs but have also heard that's out of a personal trainers scope of practice. Is it wrong or right?

I have made reference to consultations in previous episodes. Today I wanted to go deeper into what that really means and why a consultation is important. Text books show you the physical part of meeting a new potential client. On today's episode I want to show you mental and emotional part of that first meeting and why building that trust matters.

Sometimes you meet a potential new client and start to realize something isn't going quite right. Maybe they are not sharing their true goals, they seem to not be interested or surprise you with the knowledge that they already have. 

Today I am giving you a simple tool to help get through these uncomfortable moments and increase the chances of things going your way.

Follow me on Instagram @personaltrainerhuslte

Send in your questions at personaltrainerhustle.com