The Poliquin Principles

Do you have any advice on how a new personal trainer can be successful and make a decent living in this competitive market?

I’ll share with you three simple rules to help make your personal training business more profitable.

RULE #1
Increase your energy. CPR and first-aid classes often teach that the first thing you should do when trying to help a victim is compose yourself. Take a second to take a deep breath and say to yourself, “I can do this!” Likewise, the first thing a personal trainer must do to earn more money is to take care of themselves. You don’t have to be able to snatch double bodyweight or be ready for a posedown with Arnold (that is, before he became governor; now he’s kind of let himself go), but your body needs to show that you practice what you preach. Along with looking good you need to do those things that will give you more energy, because to succeed in this competitive business you have to have a lot of energy and be on your game at all times.

The first step here is to take care of your blood sugar and cortisol levels, and this means starting with a good breakfast. A breakfast of egg whites, oatmeal and a banana may be one step better than sharing your morning with Tony the Tiger, but it’s far from ideal, as the high glycemic levels will make you tired and hungry for carbs. How about a ribeye steak, macadamia nuts and some blueberries instead?

RULE #2
Write down your goals. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. You need to write down specific goals, both long term and short term – don’t type them on a computer, but make it personal by using a pen and paper. Then, every night, review these goals before you go to bed. You need to internalize these goals and always keep them in your current state of awareness. Taking this a step further, I would also make what I call a Grateful Log, which, if this were the ’60s and I lived in San Francisco, I’d call a “Stop and Smell the Roses Log.” Here’s how it works:

Before you go to bed, write down at least 10 things you are grateful for. Every sentence should begin with either “I am grateful for…” or “Thank you for…” This simple practice is very calming for the mind, helps you look at the world in a positive light and prevents your mind from racing all night. As a bonus, the feedback I've gotten from those who have tried it is that it dramatically improves the quality of your sleep.

RULE #3
Learn more to earn more. Ours is a knowledge-based society, and the more you know, the more you can earn. I would shoot for reading at least 50 books a year. Even though much of my own reading is peer-reviewed exercise and medical journals, I average 16-18 hours of reading a week and often polish off several books in that time. And don’t just put those books back on the shelf and wipe the dust off the cover jackets once a year to impress your friends who visit, but frequently go back and review the material – you’ll be surprised what gems of knowledge you've forgotten.

In the personal training field, I've found that the top five earners make 80 percent of the money, and that they attend at least four seminars a year. In my PICP courses, the average PICP Level 1 students double their salary in one year. For those who pass Level 1, Level 2, P.I.M.S.T. and Biosignature, their income often quadruples. This is why our center went from holding 200 days of seminars in 2009 to 300 in 2010, with many having waiting lists.

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