Personal Trainer Burnout- Don't let it Happen to You!

Some personal trainers have maxed out their day with training clients from 6 A.M. to 10 P.M.  You would think at this point a trainer would not take any more clients with hours like these. But guess what? They sometimes do! To go further, some trainers go years without a vacation for fear of losing clients or not making money while they are off.

As a Personal Fitness Trainer, when you are working 10-14 hours or more a day, 5-7 days a week, it's easy to become burned out and get unmotivated. You lose your zeal and zest and really just going through the motions with your clients. You become trapped and stuck doing 1 on 1 training as you have no room for other money making opportunities or time to study your "craft". 

I have seen personal trainers that used to workout religiously stop working-out because they were too tired and burned out to train themselves.  It's funny when all your clients are in better shape than you are!

Personal Trainer Burnout is very common among trainers that are taking on more 1 on 1 clients than they should in a given day. I mean, how many clients can you see per day, 10, 15, 20?  And... How many days per week can you do this? 

I ran across the term traditional personal training as I have surfed the net and that's what 1 on 1 training is. While 1 on 1 training is still and always will be great, at some point  a burned out personal trainer should come on board with the "newer" style of personal training to save himself/herself from doom!

This "newer" style of personal training is seeing more than 1 client in an hour session. Semi-personal training is what it is called. Ok,  maybe this is not exactly new, but when you start doing it, it will feel very much new! Believe me!  When you can see 3 people in 1 hour versus seeing 3 people in 3 hours, you have 2 hours that can be devoted to doing other things. You can still have your 1 on 1 trainings , but adding group sessions will allow you to leverage your time and your income more efficiently!

Also, if you are booked to the roof with clients, it may be time to hire a trainer to assist you. It's all about getting your time and your life back before you get burned out. Don't allow yourself to become a slave to your work, when there are options to help free up your time.  All it takes is putting these things into action.

Don't let Personal Trainer Burnout happen to you. It's really easy to slip into if not careful. You are promoting your services all day and before you know it, you have more clients than you do hours in a day. Add group sessions to your agenda, hire help to help you make more money and have more time to do other things.

Much Success Personal Fitness Trainers!

Candace

 

Comments

[Adam]

Hey Candace,

Nice article and you hit the nail on the head. I actually walked away from personal training after only two years because of burnout.

I have just recently gotten back into it using the group training model and boot camps. A world of difference! More money and less time.

[Personal training systems]

I agree with you some trainers are very rude.I walked away from a personal training program coz of this reason only.