I am writing this week’s blog on semi-private personal training and how you can bring more money into your gym by implementing this one simple idea. Unfortunately, executing a successful semi-private personal training program in your gym is not as easy as I thought it would be when I began my research.
Why? Because deploying a group training session for two to six people with individualized goals requires advanced planning, thoughtful logistics, and a streamlined exercise program. Personal trainers must be deeply committed to the program and capable of high levels of sustained focus. While management needs to maintain an all-in attitude of oversight and diligence.
Yet the results can be a win for trainers, clients, and gym owners.
What is Semi-Private Personal Training?
It is group training for two to six members who each follow an individualized training program run by an experienced personal trainer.
How is Semi-Private Training a Win-Win?
- Trainers earn more per hour.
- Clients achieve faster results, receive greater individualized attention, and enjoy the benefits of group dynamics.
- Gym owners maximize their club’s real estate by increasing revenue without expanding payroll or square footage.
Is Semi-Private Personal Training Profitable?
From what we’ve learned, yes.
The strategy increases how much each member in the group pays and is typically just under the hourly rate of a one-on-one personal training session.
According to this podcast with the Two-Brain consultant firm, owners may charge twice as much for semi-private as they would for a group training session. For example, in cases where a club might earn $80 from a group class, a single semi-private class may bring in $230 per hour. In some gyms, coaches are paid three times as much per hour as they would have been for a group session.
The hour-long sessions typically include 2–6 people and are sold in blocks of six to eight weeks.
Another advantage gyms find is that semi-private group training is scalable. For example, rather than balancing 30 clients across a week, a training studio now needs only coordinate 12 sessions per week. For larger, busier gyms, 25 small group sessions per week is not unthinkable.
Yet, as with many profitable ventures, success is based on the groundwork, not on the idea.
How to Succeed at Semi-Private Personal Training
1. Draw Clients from Within Your Gym Community
Reaching out to existing clients nurtures and builds on existing relationships without increasing expenses. It also provides room for error. Current members already know and like you – they are willing to go through a few bumps as you iron out the logistics of semi-private.
2. Establish a Location in the Gym
A designated space raises the service’s perceived value without pushing out larger groups or irritating adjacent members.
3. Know Your Target Market
Gym bros in their 20s may not harbor the same goals as an office worker in their 40s. Semi-private relies on a strategic combination of exercise prescriptions, all performed at the same time. Each person’s workout is unique, but the functionality must be similar for their exercises to flow within a small space.
Daniel Purington of Woodslawn Fitness in Portland, Oregon, refers to this as “know your avatar.”
4. Set Goals for Members and Review Regularly
The objective of semi-private is quicker results within a group atmosphere. That’s not possible without a roadmap to success.
5. Test-Drive the Plan
Every semi-private training session’s success relies on good logistics. The location of benches, weights, and squat racks are critical in moving individuals through their workout seamlessly.
Purington asks trainers to submit their client prescriptions two weeks in advance so they can run through equipment layouts.
6. Run Personal Trainers through Beta Tests
Training two people on different prescriptions at the same time takes concentration, organization, and skill. Deploying an eight-week plan across six people in a single session requires even more planning. Rather than risking failure, take the time to train and prepare your team to ramp up.
How Semi-Private Can Go Sideways
From research across personal training discussion boards and leading podcasts, I’ve discovered this type of personal training is not for everyone. Without the right trainers and foundational planning, the program can fall apart.
Many trainers don’t want the hassle of designing individualized plans for people who are exercising together at the same time. Training studios that switch to semi-private seem to need to go all in – limiting client choices to maximize the revenue value from these classes.
In nearly all the cases I looked at, CrossFit gyms were the instigators of this program. Their clients were aging out of the heavy-hitting CrossFit methodology and looking for a more sustainable exercise program. For more information, I’d suggest scouring Reddit’s personal training forums – the trainers often provide a wealth of planning tips and suggestions for successful implementation.
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