Fit To Finance—How To Start A Personal Training Side Hustle | Essence

You’ve worked your way into being in the best shape of your life, and now you want to show others how to do the same. Amazing! And smart.

Per recent data, the personal fitness trainer market size has grown strongly year-over-year and aims to increase from $39.06 billion in 2023 to $41.43 billion in 2024. And on average, the personal trainers can rake in about $67,456; as of April 24, 2024 the range shows income levels between $48,675 and $82,880.

Nowadays, you can even personally train clients from your home as online fitness continues to become more popular. But how do you get started? Here are a few ways to dive in.

Get clear on how far you want to take it

There are varying degrees of fitness training. To call yourself a personal trainer, typically there are certain certifications required. But if you are a fitness enthusiast, there are no formal trainings needed to be able to share and sell your services. Getting clear about where you want to take your brand is important when planning your next steps.

For instance, Courtney Gilbert, a Chicago-based full-time physical therapist launched her personal training brand, Grind 2 The Goal in 2020 to help people not only reach their physical goals, but also develop mental fitness as well.

“I wanted to use the idea of breaking down your goals into smaller chunks to increase success with my 90 days goal planner, in which fitness had to be a goal,” Gilbert tells ESSENCE. “I then focused more helping people throughout the city of Chicago to help them primarily reach their weight loss goals. I emphasize how physical health can translate into other areas of life as you are pursuing goals.”

Tap into who you want to reach

Just like our bodies, everyone’s fitness goals are different so it’s important to figure out who you are most likely to best serve.

Rather than trying to contort yourself into different sort of fitness expert, focus on sharing what you already enjoy and can help others that are seeking the specific type of guidance you provide. For instance, if you’ve had an incredible amount of success in strengthening your glutes, keep your eye on that.

Create a coaching workflow process

Figuring out how you want to structure your coaching program is incredibly important in the beginning because it can dictate how it grows in the future. Get clear on if you want to provide pre-recorded sessions, one-on-one live trainings, group classes or all of the above. Once that has been established, take time to set up a few tools to build a strong foundation for your online fitness business.

Fitness assessment template: New clients should understand where their bodies are to best figure out how to reach their goals. Creating a form to help them do that can be critical in the beginning of any client journey.

Your products: It’s important to ask yourself about which services you want to provide…fitness classes? Nutrition guidance? Meal prep? Once this is decided, create a list and decide how you plan to market them.

Figure out your marketing plan

It’s one thing to have incredible workouts–it’s another to make sure the right people see them.

“When starting your online fitness business, it’s important to use digital tools to get the word out about it,” Gilbert suggests. “Of course, leveraging social media is the definitely one of the keys to success, but understandably, it can be daunting to figure how to get started there.”

Step 1

Once you’ve established your fitness structure and set your rates, next you should focus on figuring out which platform you’re most comfortable with. For instance, if you’re already familiar with Instagram, it may be best to start posting reels, stories or in-feed posts there.