How Many Clients Should a Personal Trainer Have?

If you’re still in the beginning stages of establishing yourself as a Personal Trainer, you probably want to figure out the best way to create a flourishing and successful business.  

That means there’s a good chance you’re also asking yourself: how many clients do I need? When it comes to personal training, numerous factors come into play. Are you leaning towards one-on-one sessions, small group training, or larger groups, or perhaps a combination? Are you considering part-time or full-time work? And what about your preferred session timings? 

What is going to be sustainable for you and your lifestyle needs will likely be different to another Personal Trainer. That’s why we’ve written this guide – to help point you in the right direction while building your personal training client base. 

How Many Clients Can a Personal Trainer Handle?

Before diving in, it's essential to determine the number of clients you can comfortably handle without compromising the quality of your sessions; and this depends on a number of factors: 

Session type 

It’s important to take into account whether you’re aiming to train only individuals or whether you’re flexible and want to incorporate group training sessions, too. If you have a couple of small groups that train together regularly, that’s going to broaden your services, and technically, the number of clients you can train will increase.

You can also conduct personal training sessions online, which is a way that many trainers diversify their income, increasing the number of people they can train at once.  

Length of the sessions 

Offering half-hour sessions may increase the number of clients you can fit into your schedule, but it may not weigh up evenly when you consider the extra time it takes to plan a different routine for each individual. Alternatively, if you do longer sessions, you may be able to charge more and reduce the amount of time you spend on preparation beforehand. 

The number of sessions per client 

This point plays a significant role in managing your schedule effectively. While accommodating a client's desire for multiple sessions per week may require more time, it also reflects their commitment to their fitness journey. By optimising your schedule to accommodate varying session frequencies, you can ensure each client receives the attention and support they need to thrive, fostering stronger client relationships and ultimately enhancing the success of your business.

Your personal circumstances 

Something important that we sometimes forget to consider amid the excitement and ambition is workload capacity. Do you want to work full-time or part-time? What kinds of other commitments do you need to make time for? Considering your family, your hobbies, your fitness goals and your financial goals will all come into play when you’re deciding how many clients are enough. It can be easy to burn out if you commit to more than you can handle, so it’s a good idea to find the right balance for your personal circumstances. That’s one of the best parts about being a PT – you have the flexibility to choose what works for you. 

How Many Sessions Does the Average Personal Trainer Offer? 

As a general rule, a dedicated person will train 3-4 times per week. Consequently, for a successful Personal Trainer to maintain a regular flow of work, they aim to offer 15-20 part-time or 30-40 full-time sessions per week, assuming they only conduct one-on-one training. However, this number will significantly increase if group classes or online sessions are incorporated. 

How Can You Build Your Client Base? 

If your goal is to reach 15 to 20 clients, you need to sell yourself as a fountain of fitness knowledge and expertise. Here are a few pointers to start.

Establish yourself as an expert online 

If you want to become an expert who’s sought after in your community, the best way to do that is by sharing your fabulous knowledge of all things health and fitness online.

The first port of call is to create dedicated personal training profiles on social media, like Facebook, TikTok and Instagram. Start connecting with potential clients in your area through relevant community groups and hashtags, take photos during workouts and share your story on your page.

And if you’re looking for inspiration for your social media content, we have some ideas for you: 

• What made you start your journey in fitness?  

• What are some of the challenges you’ve faced that others might be able to relate to?  

• What are the most common mistakes you see people make in the gym?  

Ideas for posts like these are great ways to create useful content for your community and show off your fitness wisdom.

Start a fitness blog 

If you have a website for your business, you could think about starting a blog. By writing short, sharp 500-word posts on a range of relevant subjects – fitness goals, how to build strength, being accountable for your training, or even your fitness story, you help to create credibility and personality for yourself as a Personal Trainer. You can then share snippets of these on your social media profiles.

Some general tips for writing about fitness online: 

• Don’t write with too much technical jargon unless you’re hoping to reach the elite market. If your main focus is the average client in your area, it’s best to keep your subject matter accessible and the language simple with lots of relevant fitness keywords. 

• Let your personality show through in your writing. Yes, you might need to sound like the proverbial fitness guru, but if you’re funny, be funny! Clients will be drawn to a colourful character, and it’ll help set you apart as a Personal Trainer. 

• Only write about topics that others might find useful or insightful. The ultimate goal is to get your website ranked highly on Google and have it show up at the top of searches, so keep your writing close to what’s in demand. 

Ask for Reviews 

Nothing will get people into their training shoes faster than a few glowing reviews, so don’t be afraid to ask happy clients to critique your training in local directories and on social media. 

Connect with your local gym 

For a readymade flow of people seeking exactly your service, you can’t beat the local gym. So offer your services and seek a few specialised group sessions per week if you can. 

Training groups can not only be lucrative, but they can also lead to more one-on-one clients as devotees seek a more personalised approach to their fitness needs. 

Dreaming of a career as a PT? Discover AIPT’s success-focused personal training courses – enquire now or call us on 1300 616 180 to speak with a Careers Advisor.