Personal Training: 3 Keys To Training Clients In Their Homes

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Article Title: Personal Training: 3 Keys To Training Clients In

Their Homes

Author: Potts

Category: Wellness, Fitness and Diet

Word Count: 1885

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When considering your options as a personal trainer, one of the

very first things to decide is WHERE you are going to train your

clients. The most obvious answer for most trainers is to get a

job at a local fitness facility and train clients there. This

is certainly an option, and one that is recommended especially

in the beginning of your career. The structure and experience

that you will get by working at a successful gym or fitness

center is invaluable for a new personal trainer. However, there

are drawbacks to working with your clients at a gym, and some

clients will be unwilling or unable to workout at a local

facility. Don't lose those clients by not having other options!

Working out with your clients in their homes is an option for

any trainer, and by offering this option to your clients you

can increase your potential client base by a dramatic number,

and you may even decide to exclusively offer home personal

training. In order to decide if this type of business model is

for you, there are several points to consider, and they include

time management, exercise modalities to be used, and business

resources that are available.

Time Management

Managing your time and your schedule is a critical

consideration when deciding whether or not to work with clients

in their homes. Unlike working at a facility, the amount of time

that you need to dedicate to each client is increased, sometimes

to the point of even doubling the time spent for each client

session.

For example, let's use a standard one-hour training session as

our business model for this discussion. Although many trainers

are utilizing different training times with their clients these

days, one hour is still a good time frame to use for your

scheduling reference. You want to remember that as a home

personal trainer, you can be on a tight deadline to get from

one place to the next, so you don't want to schedule your

sessions back-to-back like you can when you are working at a

fitness facility.

You must also factor in your travel time to get to your

client's home, as well as to get to the home of the following

client, the client after that, and so on. If you live in an

even reasonably populated area, you will have to allow at least

15 minutes of driving time to and from every client's home, and

sometimes as much as 30 minutes per client, depending on the

size of the geographic area that you train in. Using our

one-hour training session as an example, just one training

session can cost you as much as 2 hours of your time.

A standard 8-hour workday will now only allow you to train

between 4 and 6 clients, depending on where they live in

relation to your starting point, as well as in relation to each

other. Your best bet whenever possible is to set up your clients

in a roughly straight line, or possibly a circle that brings you

back to your starting point at the end of the day. The last

thing that you want to do is set up a client who lives 30

minutes north of your starting point followed immediately by a

client who lives 30 minutes south of your starting point. Not

only will you eat up massive amounts of time driving to and

from your client's homes, but you will put serious mileage on

both your car as well as your wallet at the gas station! More

on that in the Business Resources section below.

Exercise Modalities

The next thing to consider is the type of training that you

will be doing with your clients in their homes. Unless they

have a full fitness facility set up - which is rare - it is

very likely that you will have to come up with ways to put them

through a vigorous workout without the massive amount of

equipment that is available at a full-size fitness facility. In

order to put together these home workouts, you need to address

the two different energy pathways that your clients will need

to use during their workouts: aerobic and anaerobic.

Anaerobic Workouts

Although many trainers are used to the massive resources

available at a local gym, getting your clients a variety-filled

and intense anaerobic workout in their home is actually easier

than most would think. With nothing more than an exercise ball

and a portable set of dumbbells, you can take your clients

through the full range of motion and exertion on almost the

same scale that is afforded those clients training at a gym.

If you are just starting out in the industry, or are simply

used to working your clients out at a fitness facility, you

should do some research on the Internet for dumbbell workouts,

bodyweight workouts, functional training, and sport-specific

training. Those 4 keyword combinations alone will net you

hundreds of websites with free or low-cost resources that will

teach you thousands of exercises that can be done with little

or no equipment.

The key to getting your clients a good anaerobic workout at

home is not the type of equipment that is used, or the actual

amount of weight that is moved, but rather the INTENSITY of the

workout. A bit of trial and error will teach you how to take a

client through their paces in a safe but intense manner that

will leave most people ready to call it quits in 30 minutes or

less!

Aerobic Workouts

Taking your clients through appropriate and effective aerobic

workouts can happen on many levels. The 2 obvious differences

are going to be whether they get their aerobic activity during

their session, or if you assign them activities to do after you

leave. You could also do a combination of both, depending on the

needs and the fitness level of the client.

If you are going to take your clients through an aerobic

workout during their session, you can either incorporate " heart

rate maintenance " exercises into the workout itself, or you can

get the anaerobic exercises out of the way, and then move into

an aerobic workout for the second half of the session. Just

remember that if your goal is to keep your clients inside their

target heart rate zone, there will be very little rest time in

between exercises.

However, before you blindly go forcing all of your clients to

stay inside their target heart rate zone for the entire

session, consider the fitness goal of the client, and the

metabolically intense benefits of structured strength training

compared to a session when you just make sure they are sweating

the whole time!

Another option for your client's cardio is to have them do it

on their own after the end of the training session. Obviously

they still need your guidance on what to do, how to track their

heart rate, and how long they should perform the activity, but

not all clients will actually need you to stay there and guide

them during the activity.

Also, it is not uncommon for people to own a piece of

cardiovascular training equipment such as a treadmill,

elliptical trainer, stair-stepper, etc. Nonetheless, most

clients will still need some specific guidance on how to

maximize the benefits from the type of equipment that they have

access to. Things like interval training, cross training, and

training at different heart rate levels are all things that you

should educate your clients on, especially if they are going to

be doing cardio on their own.

Business Resources

You must also consider the business resources that you will

need access to when training clients in their homes. The time

factor has already been discussed, and you should also consider

the daily expenses involved in this type of training model.

These include equipment expenses, " on the road " expenses, and

auto expenses.

Equipment expenses should be minimal. You may have an initial

cost, but after your initial purchases, all of those assets are

reusable. Basic items for home training include an adjustable

set of dumbbells and an exercise ball at a bare minimum. It

would also be a good idea to have a roll-up exercise mat, a

jump rope, and any other items needed for the type of

activities that your clients will be engaging in. A great

cardio idea for clients training at home is boxing drills. If

you were to utilize that type of training, then a decent set of

protective gloves for the clients would be in order, as well as

target mats that you hold for them to strike during their

drills.

In all cases, the items that you own stay with you, and they

are simply taken from one client's house to the next. It is a

great idea to have your clients eventually buy their own gear,

however, which keeps you from having to tote arm loads of

equipment into and out of their houses day after day. Also,

depending on the type of program you put them on, they may use

some of their own equipment in between training sessions.

" On the Road " expenses include food and drinks while you are

traveling. Depending on your schedule, you will be on the road

anywhere from 2 to 12 hours at a time! In those cases, you will

obviously need to plan healthy places to eat along the way, or

keep portable meals in your vehicle each day. In any event,

make sure that you consider the cost of eating away from home

as part of your business expenses.

Auto expenses are potentially the biggest expense that you will

have to face in order to train people at home. The wear and tear

on your vehicle - although accountable on your taxes - can still

be a drain on your financial resources. You have to keep your

vehicle insured, fueled up, and in good working order at all

times. The last thing that you want to do is be late for a

client session because your car broke down, or you ran out of

gas! Also, at anywhere from $1.50 to $2.50 per gallon, gas can

get expensive if you put in a lot of miles every day.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are many considerations when deciding

whether or not to train clients in their homes, and you must

weigh those considerations against the benefit of being " free "

from the gym trainer's normal boundaries, and instead being in

charge of your own day to day business. In return, you can

command higher per session fees for home training. Since you

are saving your clients a lot of driving time and gym expenses,

as well as giving them an opportunity to get healthy in the

privacy of their own homes, it is not unheard of for a home

trainer to charge $75 to $100 or more per session. Figure in

scheduling issues, the exercise program that you will have your

clients on, and the resources needed, and decide for yourself if

this type of training program will work for your business!

About The Author: Potts is the author and creator of The

Ultimate Complete Personal Training Business Kit, a quick-start

kit and business guide for new as well as seasoned fitness

professionals. Find out more about 's programs at

http://www.completepersonaltrainingbusiness.com or his personal

training site at http://www.aaronspersonaltraining.com

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