Statistically speaking, 80% of personal trainers drop out of the industry within the first two years of their employment.
That is an absolutely massive number, why is it so big? Why are these personal trainers dropping out so often and so soon?
Well, it’s multifactorial.
Sometimes it’s an education problem, sometimes it’s an expectation problem, and sometimes it’s a laziness problem…
But most of the time, it’s because they went broke really fast and had no other options than to quit.
Of course, they could have recognized their mistakes and turned themselves around – but that’s too much work right?
It’s the industries fault! Not my fault!
Wrong.
Here are 10 reasons why you’re still broke and 10 reasons why 80% of the personal trainer’s dropout of this career within two years of their first day at work.
1. You Sign Up for MLM Scams.
If you’re the personal trainer who makes their clients uncomfortable by relentlessly offering them pills they don’t need, sauna belts that are laughable, and detox programs that have no basis in science – then don’t be surprised when you don’t get your clients any results and you become an unpopular trainer.
Magic pills don’t work, drop this area of your business and invest in learning what does work.
2. You Act Like A 14-Year-Old.
Showing up late to training sessions and checking your phone during conversations is what clueless teenagers do, not professional trainers.
If you want to text people, do it on your time and not on your clients. Oh, and also, nobody believes you when you say it was “bad traffic” for the 10th time you’re late.
3. Nobody Cares About Your Recent Break Up.
Do you think I want to pay you $50-100 per hour to hear you talk about your personal life?
No.
I am paying you to become a healthier person, not be a part of your circle of drama.
Put another way, my goals didn’t include hearing about your chaotic life, and come to think about it, I’m not sure if I want you as a trainer anymore since you don’t seem to be focused on me at all during this hour.
4. “I haven’t got my workout in yet today, instead of your session, how about you just do my workout with me?”
Embarrassing.
I seriously can’t even comment on this.
5. “I’m the cheapest trainer in town!”
Here was your genius game plan.
You were going to lower your price, so you would steal everyone else’s clients – and then still nobody hired you.
And the few that did are completely miserable morons who even complain about that price.
You can’t be the best and the cheapest, the lower you price yourself the lower people are going to think of your abilities.
Would you buy the cheapest doctor in town to do your parents heart surgery?
Neither would I, I wouldn’t trust them.
Personal training isn’t any different.
6. “You see that girl over there? I’ve seen her in the gym before, she does the stupidest workouts with the worst technique!”
Unfortunately for you, a lack of class and a lack of funds normally go hand-in-hand.
7. Pseudo-Master Trainer Reporting for Duty.
Yup, I have one year of experience and one weekend certification under my belt.
But don’t worry, I know everything about everything and I have more than enough ego to go around for everybody to talk about.
8. The Video Doesn’t Match the Audio.
Like it or not, the clients in our industry make visual decisions in an instant before they ever hear you open your mouth.
You have to practice what you preach and preach what you practice.
If you don’t look the part, why would I hire you? Would you hire you?
If you don’t look the part, it means one of these things:
- You’re not passionate about what you’re doing.
- What you know doesn’t work.
- What you know does work but isn’t sustainable long-term.
I’m not saying what I’m thinking, I’m saying what your prospects are thinking. If you fall under none of those categories, then start showing it with your actions and not your words.
9. You Post About Politics Online.
“Wow! That guy has a 700-pound dead lift! I wonder what his views on politics are?” -Said no one ever.
Being passionate about politics is fine, but if you’re interested in not immediately alienating 50% of your audience and therefore 50% of your revenue, you should probably leave these conversations for your next family holiday.
You know, where getting in arguments is normal and accepted.
10. “We’ll initiate a deficit to promote the catabolic process of beta-oxidation in which fatty acid molecules will then be in the cytosol and mitochondria for eventual citric acid cycle metabolization with the end point of ATP generation”
Oh I get it, so you mean going on a fat loss diet right?
But you’re just jargonizing terms to sound more intelligent than the process actually is?
Trainers who don’t speak on their client’s level or in their client’s language aren’t impressing anyone but themselves.
I often see jargonizing used as a tactic by coaches to retreat when they do not have an adequate answer for a client’s question, but still want to appear as if they know everything.
Stop, just stop.
The coach’s goal is to serve the client, not your ego.
Communicate in a way that is on the behalf of the client, the clients learning, the clients experience, and the clients progress.
Jargonizing for the sake of jargonizing will only make your clients feel like they aren’t smart enough to know what to do, when really you aren’t smart enough to know how to coach them properly.
Closing Thoughts
Harsh article?
Maybe… but you can’t make this stuff up and I see it all the time.
Being a broke personal trainer is a state of mind, an attitude, and self-destruction all rolled into one.
You are paid exactly what the market thinks you’re worth, and if you are underpaid, maybe it isn’t them.
Maybe it’s you.
Dan Garner
