I need help with rates/length of sessions. - Personal Trainer Community - Forum

[Christina]

Hey guys,

I am trying to determine my rates. I know what most trainers charge an hour in my area so that's not the problem. Here's my question: How long do you train clients who are brand new to exercise? If you're only supposed to do one set of each exercise how on earth do you drag that out for an hour? That doesn't seem very fair to the client or trainer. I have a friend who is morbidly obese and new to exercise and she can only stay active (understandably) for a few minutes at a time.

Should I offer 30 minute sessions? Please help!
Christina

[muscletrainerdh-NSCA CPT]

I offer both Full Sessions (1 hour) and Half Sessions (30 minutes). But be careful, offering too many options may cause potential clients to balk at hiring you.

Especially if you offer different services for different prices.

If your Full Hour Session is $50 and doing a Fitness Assessment, Nutritional Counseling, or Body Comp takes 1 hour, don't charge less than $50.

I made that mistake when I first put up my website, but now have consolidated pricing so everyone knows $50 an hour is my going rate, regardless of the service being provided.

If the actual act of the service provided (take body comp for example) doesn't take an hour. Make sure you have a standard informational routine to go in to stretch the time out. (Explain about body fat, the different methods, etc.). In fact, any time you train your client you should have some "education" time so that they learn something new each time they meet with you. It shouldn't all be exercise.

A husband and wife client of mine pay for a series of hour sessions and then take 30 minutes each. LOL I guess anything to get the cheaper rate!


Hope that helps!

Dave

[Christina]

Hey Dave! Thanks for this info. I have decided that I will offer 30 minute sessions. You are right about setting aside time for educating the client. I have used 2 different personal trainers in the past. One worked at Bally and put me through cookie cutter routines and I learned practically nothing. The other trainer worked at Crunch and was a CSCS. He really knew his stuff and was a WONDERFUL guy but he didn't ever give me any handouts or any sort of educational material (which I would have really appreciated at the time). I plan on writing up short handouts/articles and passing them out to my clients on a pretty regular basis. If you ever want to swap educational material let me know.

Christina

[Sandy]

I know that 30 minutes go awfully fast. Sometimes I cant get in what I want within 60 minutes. Some people will go on and on about their personal life, and I have to quickly answer to make them happy and also let them know that they are here to work out, not to talk.

Sandy opcorn: I love this little guy... had to use him.

[rbd]

Sandy,

One way around the talking is keep them moving. It is to easy to get drawn into the trap of talking to much and you need to break that quickly and set the expectations early with your clients. If you keep them moving they first will get a better workout and second will not have the time to get into long conversations. 30 minutes can be plenty if you structure the workouts correctly.

Christina,

I think the time frame depends on the client and if you are training in a club or traveling. If you are traveling to their homes, you need to decide if 30 minutes is worth the travel time and charge accordingly. When doing 60 minute sessions think in terms of other things you can be accomplishing in that time frame. For instance start with some foam rolling to get them lose, then possibly spend some time stretching really tight muscles, then move onto some muscle activation work or turning on the core muscles, then move them into some type of movement prep work. This will take anywhere from 15-20 mintues. Now you can move into the hear of your workout - strength training. For the strength training utilize bi,tri or quadplexes to get more work done in less time. Always think density - how much quality work can I get done per unit of time. Finally you can end with some energy system work or some type of cooldown utilize some corrective exercises or stretching. I hope this helps with how to structure a 60 minute session. I think too man trainers only think about strength or cardio, when there is so much that can be done during the warm-up and please don't waste their time with 5-10 minutes on a cardo machine that will do nothing but waste their time and money.

Take Care,

Jeff

[Christina]

Sandy,

My problem is *I* talk too much. I can go on for hours! (Just ask my family and friends!) :lol: I am going to have to make a real effort to keep my trap shut. I am not a gossiper so if there is a plus side to running my mouth so much I guess that is it.

Jeff,

Thanks as always for your thoughtful posts and great advice!

Christina

[Sandy]

For one thing, there is'nt anything wrong with some talking. I always feel that you have to make it fun too. I certainly would'nt want to train with someone who has NO personality and NO feeling.

You can make it worth their while, make it fun and work them hard all at the same time.

Sandy

[rbd]

Sandy,

First of all I did not say there is anything wrong with talking, but too much talking or getting personal is a problem and easy to get into. I have seen to many trainers waste clients money by talking too much during the training session and not get them results. To many trainers try to be the clients friend and forget that this is business and their job is to get them results, not talk about themselves or let clients get to personal. You can't be everything to everyone, so know your boundaries and when to draw the line. You are in control of the training session, so if it gets out of control that is your fault. I talk with all my clients and they have fun, but I don't get carried away. Some clients just tend to talk too much and that is where you need to set up the structure of the training session, so you don't run into those problems. I hope this helps clarify my stance and by no means did I mean that you should not converse with your clients.

[Christina]

Hi Jeff,

I think Sandy was replying to my post about me talking so much (I didn't interpret it as her being critical of your post).

Either way though this is a good reminder for trainers to find balance between being friendly and being professional.

Christina

[Sandy]

I was'nt being critical of anyones post. I actually have seen trainers that do talk too much and that are wasting clients time and money. Then I have seen trainers who have no personality and just seem as if they are above anyone else and act as " O.K.... another client down, whose next?"

Sandy