When your personal training clients walk away from a session with you, are they really satisfied?
Could you be doing more to help them get results in – and outside –the gym?
Many personal trainers begin their professional journey with the goal of helping people change their lives through positive and healthy action.
And they know that real life changes require a holistic approach to fitness, including a personalised diet and exercise routine!
However, far too many trainers underserve their clients due to a lack of applicable knowledge about nutrition science – and this is hurting their ability to deliver consistent results.
So, how do you really stand out from other trainers and attract the high-ticket clients?
You specialise and focus on offering a variety of services that are important to your niche!
Keep reading to learn more…
What sets you apart?
At the heart of every good business is a passion for the work, and a killer competitive advantage.
Your competitive advantage is what sets you apart from others in your field offering similar services, and it can be made up of different specialisations, services, results and talents.
When you start your business, whether as a sole trader or a larger business entity, you’ll need to examine your value proposition (the value of the service you’ll offer your clients) and how it stacks up against the competition.
In the personal training industry, you can create a competitive value proposition around almost anything that makes you unique, including:
- A program or service that focuses on a specific demographic (niche)
- A guarantee of results (with the stipulation that clients follow your program exactly)
- Additional advising, consulting, or coaching specialisations
- Certifications supporting your programs that other personal trainers may not have
- Location, facilities, and range of services
- Remote training capabilities – especially now!
Cookie cutter personal trainers and coaches who receive certifications from cookie cutter programs are a dime a dozen. Set yourself apart in creative ways through specialisation and a unique set of capabilities.
Are you doing as much for your clients as you could be?
As a personal trainer or coach, seeing your clients achieve healthy results should be your ultimate goal.
So, it’s important to stop and evaluate your programs for effectiveness on a regular basis. You should always be asking yourself, “Am I doing as much for my clients as I could be?”
The health, wellness, and nutrition industries are constantly being updated with new science, techniques, and teachings. Ignoring these is a huge mistake.
Make an effort to constantly continue learning and evaluating the impact you’re having on your clients. As a personal trainer, you should never stop advancing your skills to meet the growing expectations of the industry.
With that in mind, let’s consider some of the most beneficial services you could be offering your clients…
Exercise and fitness guidance
Many people equate personal trainers to people who focus solely on exercise and overall fitness. However, many trainers specialise in specific types of training like marathons or even strengthening exercises for a geriatric population.
To be truly effective, you need to pursue additional education in exercise, fitness and the very unique ways that variations in exercise impact the human body.
A one size fits all program will not be beneficial to your clients. Instead, you need to have the tools, knowledge, and certifications that empower you to create personalised exercise plans that promote individual goals.
Any trainer or coach can push a generic exercise routine. However, successful professionals will know how to create plans that are highly personalised for each client.
Weight loss advice and practical information (that aligns with what medical professionals recommend)…
Different clients will have different goals. And many people seeking out personal training services will also be focusing on potential weight loss. Even major athletes may have concerns around maintaining or reaching a goal weight to stay competitive.
While calories in, calories out seems to be the universal answer – it’s far from adequate when it comes to approaching sustainable weight loss through the science of nutrition.
As a personal trainer or coach, you should always refer clients to their doctor (or other medical professional) first for weight loss guidance. Then, you can build on these recommendations for optimal success.
Different bodies have different nutritional requirements and will need a more personalised approach to weight loss.
Generic recommendations won’t help your clients achieve lasting results, and there’s a good chance they’ve already tried these methods anyway. If a simple weight loss strategy worked for everyone – then it wouldn’t be such a prevalent problem.
It’s a complicated mix of diet, exercise, and psychology that you – as a personal trainer – should be prepared to tackle.
Achieving a certification in Advanced Clinical Weight Loss equips you help your clients move the needle on sustainable lifestyle changes AND provides you with an additional competitive advantage.
Supplement advice and expert insight…
Advising clients on the right supplements can be tricky (and should always involve referring them to their doctors first). However, having advanced knowledge in the right way to use supplements can help your clients make informed and effective decisions.
There are thousands of supplements and other additives on the market that make outrageous claims, and this can be confusing for someone who doesn’t know how to navigate nutrition.
This puts you in a unique position to help through an Advanced Dietary Supplements Advisor certification. Expand your skill set to maximise results for your clients and your business.
Being a Personal Trainer AND a Nutritional Therapist can help clients achieve optimal health…
At The Health Sciences Academy, we’ve studied other programs and found that, while some provide good generic nutritional advice, most fail to really dive into the science of nutrition.
As a personal trainer, you have a responsibility to develop a deeper understanding of nutritional science, and to share this knowledge with your clients.
Becoming a certified Nutritional Therapist empowers you to provide personalised advice to your clients, which gives you an edge on others in the industry who may not be as educated about the topic.
More knowledge translates into lasting results – which is what builds a successful business.
Are you ready to specialise, increase your value proposition, and own your competitive advantage?
If the answer is “yes,” which it should be, then you’re in the right place.
The Health Sciences Academy offers The Nutrition Business Explorer Program, which enables you to explore a wide range of certifications spanning important industry specialisations.
Click here to discover your competitive advantage today…
