Number of hours I should expect to train a week?

[BritLad]

Hi all, I'm looking to get certified and become a personal trainer here in the UK. It would be quite a career change for me (spent last 20 years in an office job) so I'm trying to work out some of the financials and get an idea of what my income 'could' be. The plan initially would be to work for one of the big fitness chains in the UK like ‘Fitness First’ as they only charge you an annual license (£200) and a weekly 'rent' (ranges from £25 per week in the early stages to a maximum of £80-£150 per week, depending on the location and demographics of the week) and after you pay those fees, you keep the rest.

Now I have a fair idea of what gym based PT's typically charge here in London (and therefore what I might charge) but I have no idea of how many clients or hours of client training is the norm? Obviously to work out the financials, I need to assume I will train clients for a certain number of hours each week. So my question is this, what a typical number of hours to do each week? 10, 15, 20hrs? Is say anything over 20 hrs doing exceptional well? .. and if I'm starting off, hour many hours should I expect during the first few weeks?

[Isaac Wilkins]

It's really variable depending on your business model and marketing. If you're working for a chain like Fitness First then I would try to fill up with 30+ hours of training, as that's how you make your money.

If you're running your own business then you need to make sure you have time to work on your business as opposed to just training. It's important to do that with a place like Fitness First as well, but chances are they have mechanisms in place to at least help you get prospects. With your own business you do it all.

Remember that chances are you won't work a normal schedule as well, especially starting out. If you manage to line up clients in a nice, even 4-8 hour stretch, then you're doing great. It's more likely to be one client here, two here, etc.

I found that when I was just training clients I might "work" a six hour day but I'd be at or around the gym twelve. You'll have a lot of unpaid time.

[Tom@foresight]

KNow this reply is a little late but if you are still about.

In the UK the market for PT's is starting to get a little crowded, and gyms are catching on to the fact they can let you take alot of risk in terms of getting clients and they reap all the rewards. You need to very carefully look at the ratio of trainers to members, to see if the market is there. Generally in a fitness club with say 5,000 members you will only get 1-5% training with a PT. If we assume 3% train once a week with a PT thats 150 PT sessions per week. So you need to look at what the other trainers are doing in terms of volume per week and do the maths.

I would say if you have never worked in the fitness industry do a stint as a instructor once you have qualified, before becoming a PT. You see a very different side to gyms and it will help you learn how to play the game.

Also have a look at my blog, i have just done an artcle on how to become a PT.

Hope this helps

TOM