As an independent personal trainer or fitness coach, knowing how much to charge your clients can prove to be a challenge.
On the one hand, you want to ensure you are adequately compensated for your services. And on the other hand, you want to make sure your personal training clients are getting value for their money.
So, how do you ensure you are not undercharging or overcharging your services? Well, this guide has the answers.
In this article, you will learn more about the average personal training fees, various personal training pricing models, as well as the factors that determine personal training charges. We will also give you some personal training pricing tips, which will help you determine what service prices to put in your flyers, which you'll no doubt be dealing out.
1. Average Price of Personal Trainers
Most personal trainers charge by the hour. And according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 2020 median pay for fitness trainers and instructors was approximately $20.
However, the $20 per hour is the lowest in the industry. On average, you can expect to earn approximately $40 to $60 per hour, depending on the type of personal training services you are offering.
And as an independent trainer, you can even charge as much as $100 per session, especially if you have been in the industry for a while.
So, how much should you charge for personal training sessions? If you have just launched your personal training business, it will be advisable to start on the lower end. In this case, you can start with the minimum fee of $20 per hour.
And with time, your business will expand and you will eventually get a bigger client base. At this point, you can begin increasing your charges gradually.
If you are offering personal training sessions round the clock, you should consider raising your personal trainer fees to around $60.
Ensure you communicate with your clients in advance and explain clearly the reasons behind the price increase.
Some may decide to discontinue your services. And there’s nothing wrong with this. As long as your personal training clients are getting value for their money, then the majority won’t have a problem adjusting to the new pricing.
2. Factors that Determine Personal Training Charges
As noted above, there’s no fixed figure for personal trainer chargers per hour. They will vary from one personal trainer to the next. Here are some of the factors that determine personal trainer prices:
2.1 Location
Location determines the pricing of many products and services on the market. And personal trainer pricing is no exception.
Your personal trainer chargers per hour will largely depend on the rates the other personal trainers are charging in your area.
For instance, if you are offering personal training services in an affluent city or town, you can charge as much as $100 per hour. And most people will be comfortable with that figure since that’s what they are used to paying.
On the other hand, if you are operating out of a sparsely populated rural area, then charging such an amount will be considered too high. In such areas, the average cost for a personal trainer will be approximately $20 to $40.
2.2 Personal Training Expertise
Your personal training expertise will also determine your personal trainer’s fees. After all, your personal training clients are paying you for your skills, experience and expertise.
Hence, if you have been in the personal training business for several years, then your personal trainer prices will be higher than someone with only a few years of experience will.
Apart from experience, your personal training credentials and certifications will also come into play when it comes to determining the cost of personal training pricing.
If you have several personal training certifications, licenses and awards, you are allowed to charge a higher rate than a personal trainer with only a single certification does.
2.3 Duration per Session
Personal training sessions usually run for 30 minutes, 45 minutes or 60 minutes. Some may last for 90 minutes or even more, depending on the type of workout.
Some clients will prefer to attend a 90-minute workout twice per week, while others may prefer a 45-minute daily session.
Obviously, the longer the session lasts, the higher the personal trainer session price will be and vice versa.
2.4 Time of Day
Most personal trainers run sessions throughout the day, depending on the availability of different clients.
For instance, there can be an early morning session, a mid-day session, an afternoon session and an evening session.
As you may expect, most people will attend the early morning and evening training personal training sessions. And during such sessions, the personal trainer will have their hands full, attending to several clients.
To this end, some fitness coaches charge higher personal training fees for the peak session. On the other hand, they may charge lower than average personal training prices per hour for the off-peak personal training sessions.
2.5 Equipment Costs
Personal trainers can offer two types of personal training sessions. First, you can be operating out of a gym, where all your personal training clients will be coming for their sessions.
Second, you can opt to be training your clients in their homes or offices. For the latter, you will have to have to buy your own fitness equipment. Also, you will have to be hauling that equipment to the client’s location, meaning there will be added transport costs.
If you are using the second approach, then you will need to factor in commuting, fuel costs as well as buying equipment into your personal training pricing. Therefore, your operational costs will be considerably higher than someone operating from a gym will. And your personal trainer session prices should reflect that.
2.6 Clients’ Affordability
As a personal trainer, you will be dealing with people from almost all backgrounds. They will include celebrities, students, senior citizens and people who need specialized personal training.
Therefore, when determining how much to charge for personal training for different groups, you will need to consider whether how much the client can afford to pay.
For example, if you are training a celebrity or someone who requires specialized training, the cost of a personal training session will be higher than the personal training charges per hour for a student.
3. Personal Training Pricing Models
Whenever you get a new personal training client, the first question they will ask is how much you charge for your personal training sessions or classes.
It will be helpful to have a personal training pricing sheet detailing the different personal training models you have and the prices for each model – to simplify things for everyone.
You can have the personal training pricing sheet in physical or digital format, depending on the nature of your classes. Some of the most popular approaches to personal trainer pricing include:
3.1 One Price Model
The one-price model will be an ideal choice for seasoned personal trainers who already have several clients.
And this model, you will set a fixed price for everyone, which won’t change, regardless of the equipment used, location, fitness levels or any of the pricing factors discussed earlier.
3.2 Flexible Pricing
Also known as open pricing, this pricing model will allow you to adjust your personal training fees, depending on each individual client.
With this model, you can adjust the fees based on the client’s fitness levels, fitness goals, equipment costs or other factors.
For example, a client may request you to conduct a personal training session at their home. And this means you will have to incur travel expenses and time.
You can then adjust your pricing based on the expenses you will incur to train such a client.
3.3 Package Pricing
You can also opt to bundle your personal training services into packages, where you will be charging a certain dollar figure for a particular number of sessions. The clients can then renew once their package runs out.
With this package, you can offer discounts, which will encourage clients to book multiple sessions. Package pricing will be the ideal model for a group fitness instructor.
4. Tips for Raising Your Personal Training Prices
After offering personal training sessions for a while, you may decide to raise your rates. And you can decide to revise your personal trainer pricing upwards for several reasons.
For instance, you may have started with a lower than average rate. And you now want to adjust it in line with what other personal trainers are charging. Also, the profit margins may have reduced significantly, owing to the higher cost of living.
Whatever the reason for raising your personal trainer charges, you will want to do it without upsetting or losing your current clients. Here are some tips that will help you to navigate this process comfortably:
- Have a legitimate reason
- Announce early enough
- Increase your value
- Offer existing clients a loyalty bonus
5. Putting It All Together
Determining how much to charge for personal training can be the hardest decision you will face as a fitness coach. And we put together this guide specifically for you. We hope the information we’ve provided here will help you to come up with reasonable pricing for your personal training classes. Regardless of the approach you use, ensure you don’t undersell your services in an attempt to attract more clients or overcharge them, trying to make a quick buck. It should be a win-win for both parties.