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Personal Trainer Icons: Examples and Ideas

personal trainer icons

Learning how to brand yourself is incredibly important when you’re setting up a PT business, and personal trainer icons are one way to help you stand out from the competition. 

It can be hard to know where to start, which is why we’ve compiled the ultimate guide to personal training icons, covering:

As well as branding, another way to enhance your personal trainer business is to get qualified to offer more services to your clients. Get started with our Level 4 Sports Nutrition Course to attract more clients by offering both personal training and nutrition advice.

Browse our full range of courses by downloading our free course prospectus

What Is A Personal Trainer Icon vs Logo?

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The terms ‘icon’ and ‘logo’ are often used interchangeably. But what exactly is the difference between them?

A logo is a visual representation of a brand. It tells you who they are and often relates to the product they sell.

Graphically, logos can be any size, shape or colour. They can use text, images or a combination of the two. 

Icons, however, are different. An icon is a small pictorial representation of a concept or idea which usually replaces the text it represents. Graphically, icons are restricted to fit into a square grid which makes them easily incorporated into most designs.

You actually probably recognise more icons than you think because you see them every day, even if you don’t realise it!

Take social media for example. The Facebook ‘like’ is an icon, where the concept of showing approval or appreciation is represented by a thumbs up. 

Similarly, on Instagram, the heart icon is used to like something, you share posts with a paper aeroplane icon, and you save a post with a bookmark icon.

Icons are used for a variety of reasons, but are usually used to convey an idea which usually needs writing to explain. 

Within the realm of personal training, an icon for personal training is therefore a visual representation of your brand that conveys your values and ideas. We will explain this in more detail throughout this article! 

Benefit Of Using Personal Training Icons

Now we’ve covered what an icon actually is, let’s now explain the benefits of using an icon in your personal training business. 

#1 - Personal Training Icons Are Universally Understood

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One of the main benefits of using a personal trainer icon is that they can be universally understood. 

Since icons are purely visual and do not contain any words, their meaning can be understood by the majority of languages and cultures. 

This makes it a much more efficient method of communication, compared to having to translate a piece of text into several languages, for example. 

Rather than limiting your clientbase to just those who speak your language, your message can reach a much wider audience and help you make money as a personal trainer.

For example, an icon of a dumbbell is easy to understand across different languages and cultures, as it clearly conveys something related to strength and strength training. This is based on the shared universal knowledge that weights are used in strength training. 

That said, some images do rely on a certain level of mutual cultural understanding, so this is something to bear in mind when designing your personal training icon.

 

Attract More Clients With Specialist Qualifications

Bring more clients to your service by marketing yourself as a personal trainer & nutrition with our Sports Nutrition Course. 

#2 - Personal Trainer Icons Are Efficient 

Another benefit of personal trainer icons is that they allow you to convey a whole message about your brand quickly and easily. 

With just one icon, you can convey the same information as a lengthy piece of written text. This is important, as the brain processes images much faster than text. 

By using personal training icons on your personal training website, you can sum up a whole section of text with a single icon. 

In the example below, the clock icon indicates that the text is about something to do with times and timings. Then, if the reader is interested in that particular point, they can choose to read the whole thing. 

personal training icons

This is particularly useful on social media, where space can be more limited. For example, on Instagram, icons can be used for ‘Story Highlights’. 

As you can see below, this personal trainer has used icons on her story highlights to indicate different topics. For example, using an icon of a camera for ‘Results’ indicates that it will show before and after photos of her clients.

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#3 - Personal Trainer Icons Grab Attention

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Another major benefit of personal trainer icons is that they have a strong visual impact. This is important, as it can help attract clients’ attention to your brand!

When a potential client lands on your personal trainer website, for example, chances are they will want to find out information about you and your services as quickly as possible. They are unlikely to read through a whole chunk of text, just to get to the information they need. 

Large portions of text usually just overwhelm or disengage a potential client. 

This is where personal training icons can be used to grab the user’s attention, by summing up a whole section of text, and conveying the same core message as text would- such as in the example below:

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#4 - Personal Trainer Icons Make Navigation Easier 

Having a strong online presence is crucial if you want to be a successful personal trainer. A key part of this is making it as easy as possible for users to navigate through things like your website and social media- and personal trainer icons can help you do this. 

A good example of this is Instagram highlights. Using a trainer icon for the cover of your highlights makes navigation easier for the user, so that they can see exactly what a highlight is about. 

Similarly, icons can be used as navigation tools on your website. For example, they can be used to link to your social media pages:

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Making the user experience as easy as possible will keep potential clients on your website or social media pages for longer, making them more likely to enquire and become paying clients! 

#5 - A Good Personal Trainer Icon Helps You Stand Out 

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Perhaps the most important benefit of icons for personal trainers is that they can help you stand out as a personal trainer.

This is because the icons you choose are a reflection of your brand identity, so it is a great chance to convey what makes your business unique from everyone else’s. 

Whether you want to come across as fun and playful or sleek and professional, you can design your personal trainer icon to reflect your values and ethos. 

This will all help to set your business apart from the rest, by building up a strong unique brand identity. This will then help potential clients get a better idea of who you are and whether you are right for them!

Where To Use Personal Trainer Icons

So, now you know the benefits of using icons for your personal training business, you may now be wondering how and where exactly to use them.  

Let’s break down some of the main places you can use personal trainer icons within your marketing:

#1 - Use Personal Trainer Icons In Your Logo

As we mentioned, logos are different from icons. However, you can use a personal trainer icon as part of your business logo!

By this, we mean that an icon can simply form part of your logo, along with other graphic features and your brand name. 

Lots of companies choose to incorporate an icon into their logo design, because it makes the logo more recognizable, compared to creating a whole new shape or image. 

Take Instagram for example. Below is their logo:

personal trainer icons

Below is the Instagram icon:

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As you can see, their logo incorporates their icon, plus the brand name as text. 

In terms of personal training, the following logo is also an example of how an icon can be used within a logo. Here, the whole image is the logo, which includes the icon of a dumbbell.

pt icons

Using a personal training icon within your logo is a great way to strengthen your brand identity. To take the example above, including the dumbbell icon immediately conveys to a potential customer that the brand is to do with fitness, before even reading the text! This ultimately will help attract more potential clients to your business. 

For more help with this, check out our list of the best fitness logo tools

#2 - Use Personal Training Icons On Your Business Cards

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Personal training business cards are an incredibly useful marketing tool that you can use to attract more clients to your business. They are cheap, effective, and allow you to reach a wide audience! 

And one of the most important features of a business card is your personal trainer icon. 

It’s also a good idea to use icons for other aspects of your business card, such as icons for:

  • Email
  • Social media
  • Phone number 
  • Address/location (if applicable)

This is because a business card is a very limited space, so the amount of text should be very limited. Using icons therefore helps you convey the same information visually, rather than taking up space on the card with text.

Below is a great example of how trainer icons can be used on a business card. As you can see, they have not only used an icon within their logo, but also alongside their contact information. 

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This all helps you attract potential clients, as using icons on your business card helps make contacting you as easy as possible. 

#3 - Use Personal Trainer Icons On Your Website

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As we have said, having a well designed website is absolutely crucial for attracting potential clients. An important feature of your website design is personal trainer icons!  

Using icons on your website helps by:

  • Building brand recognition
  • Making navigation easier 
  • Summarising chunks of text
  • Grabbing the reader’s attention

Visually personal trainer icons afford you more opportunities to make your website exciting and engaging, especially when you can contrast colour and texture between your background site and your icon design.

You could use your icons as area headings, alone or with the relevant text description, to draw attention to the subject content as well as reinforcing the icon’s meaning across your platforms.

 

Attract More Clients With Specialist Qualifications

Bring more clients to your service by marketing yourself as a personal trainer & nutrition with our Sports Nutrition Course. 

#4 - Use Personal Trainer Icons On Your Social Media

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As well as a good website, having a strong social media presence is important when it comes to marketing your personal trainer business- and personal trainer icons can help you do this.

Your profiles need to be consistent across each platform to make you recognisable and build your brand identity, and using the same set of personal trainer icons is a key part of that.

As we have mentioned, Instagram story highlights are a great way to include your personal training icons in your social media. 

You could also use your icon on your feed too, to separate out posts on different topics, and tailor your page to fit your desired aesthetic.

We have a whole guide to personal trainer social media here, for more tips, ideas and inspiration.  

#5 - Use Personal Trainer Icons In Your Email Marketing

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Email marketing is a great way to get new information or exclusive offers out to clients on a regular basis, as well as keeping them engaged in you and your brand.

You could use your personal training icons similarly to your website, where the headings of your newsletter are complemented or replaced by the relevant icon. 

For example, if you have a section on kettlebell training, you could use an icon of a kettlebell next to or instead of writing ‘kettlebell training’ as a title. 

Since most people will receive lots of emails in a day, this helps keep your potential clients engaged, rather than clicking back to their inbox. 

#6 - Use Personal Training Icons In Printed Posters

Although print advertising is less common than it used to be, there is still value in a well-designed poster when it comes to advertising your personal training business.

Placing a poster in local gyms and fitness centres allows you to reach your target audience at a place where they’re likely already looking for information about personal trainers.

Much like business cards, posters are fairly limited in space. However, using personal trainer icons allows you to convey the same messages in a much more succinct and eye-catching way. 

For example, if someone sees an icon of an exercise bike, they can quickly decipher that you offer spinning classes. This already gives them a strong idea of your personal training business, without even reading any words! 

#7 - Use Personal Training Icons In Your Merchandise & Packaging Stickers

trainer icon

Another great marketing strategy as a personal trainer to get your name out there is to offer branded merchandise. This includes things such as:

  • Clothing 
  • Equipment 
  • Water bottles
  • Gym bags

As part of the design of these products, it is a good idea to include your personal training icon. This helps strengthen your brand identity and increase the amount of people your business reaches. 

For example, say one of your clients is wearing a t-shirt in the gym with your brand name and logo on it. Their friend, or someone else in the gym, could approach them and ask where they got their t-shirt from. This then exposes your business to another potential client! 

Your clients are also likely to post on social media whilst they’re wearing your gear, which spreads your name out to an even wider audience. Getting an influencer to wear your brand is another great way to make yourself known.

Enjoying this article so far? Here’s 3 more we think you’ll love:

Personal Trainer Icons Ideas

Now we have established the ways in which you can use icons in personal training, it’s time to get creating your design! 

To do this, you need to really establish what it is you have to offer potential clients and what makes you unique. You can then look at synonyms and related ideas that you could use as an icon. 

Struggling for inspiration? We’ve got some ideas to help you get started! 

Personal Trainer Icon Ideas for Nutrition

If you’re a personal trainer who has completed a Level 4 Nutrition Course, you can use personal trainer icons to convey this aspect of your business.

When trying to design an icon relating to nutrition, consider some synonyms and ideas that relate to nutrition. For example:

  • Food
  • Drinks 
  • Specific diets eg. vegetarian
  • Plate
  • Meal plan 
  • Scales

Once you have come up with a list of ideas, pick out one or two that you think particularly resonate with your brand values. 

A popular icon associated with nutrition is an apple, as it symbolises healthy eating. The icon below combines this with a clipboard, thus also conveying the idea of meal planning. 

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Another option is to connect directly to nutrition is the image of a knife, fork and plate. The simple design is effective at showing you have the knowledge to provide dietary plans for your clients, and the colours are easy to change depending on the palette you choose.

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Personal Trainer Icon Ideas for Strength Training 

If your area of expertise revolves around strength training, your personal training icon can reflect this.

Some words and concepts associated with strength are:

  • Power
  • Muscles
  • Dumbbells
  • Barbells
  • Kettlebells

A muscled arm doing a bicep curl is a classic icon for personal training, especially for building strength and muscle.

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A kettlebell is a fairly unique and very recognisable shape, so this is another great option for a personal trainer icon that focuses on strength training. 

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Personal Trainer Icon Ideas for Weight Management

If you specialise in creating weight management programs for clients, then there are lots of potential personal trainer icons you could use. 

Some ideas associated with weight loss are:

  • Scales
  • Tape measure
  • Calories
  • Toning 
  • Fat loss
  • Bulking 

Remember that weight management doesn’t always mean weight loss- it can mean weight gain too, so you need to be aware of that when you choose your icon design.

A typical icon for personal trainers specialising in weight management is scales. It is a recognisable and simple design that you can then personalise to make unique to your own brand. 

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A tape measure is a more conventional weight loss icon for personal training that focuses on body shape and fat reduction.

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If you’re interested in this area of personal training, OriGym’s Level 4 course in Obesity and Weight Management qualifies you to specialise in this particular niche. 

Personal Trainer Icon Ideas for Hitting Targets or Reaching Goals

If you are a PT who specialises in helping clients reach certain goals, your personal training icon can help you reflect this. 

These goals could be anything from completing a 5k run to marathon training, from losing weight to reaching a deadlift PB. 

Some words that could inspire your personal trainer icon here are:

  • Winning 
  • Victory 
  • Prizes
  • Medals
  • Targets
  • Ambition 

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Gold medals and blue ribbons have long been associated with the idea of winning, so using these colours in your personal trainer icons will be recognisable for your clients. 

This is particularly good if you specialise in helping clients reach a goal that has a prize at the end, such as a race.

This icon design is also relevant for multiple disciplines, so it’s easy to customise it to the types of goals you are helping clients achieve.

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Another good icon for personal trainers is a checklist. This is a good option if you specialise in step-by-step plans for reaching goals, as indicated by the tick boxes. 

Personal Trainer Icon Ideas for Cardio

As a personal trainer, you may have clients who want to improve their cardiovascular fitness. This could be in order to build up stamina for something such as a race, or to improve their overall cardiovascular health. 

Choosing the right personal trainer icon can help you convey to potential clients that this is something you can help them achieve. 

Some ideas and concepts we considered for this are:

  • Heath 
  • Heart 
  • Lungs
  • Running 
  • Athleticism

In the icon below, the heart and heartbeat line present a strong link to cardiovascular health. This indicates that you specialise in this area.

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The whistle is another personal trainer icon associated with cardio health, particularly team sports. This is therefore a good one to choose if you are a PT who helps clients improve their cardio for a certain sport. 

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How To Make Your Personal Trainer Icons Unique

When you’re just starting your personal training business, you need to find what makes you unique, if you want to stand out from the competition.

One way to do this is by using your personal training icons to add a sense of individuality to your brand identity.

But at the same time, it also needs to be widely recognised, so that potential clients will engage with your brand. 

When you’re thinking of designs, there are various factors that will impact how your trainer icon is perceived, which we will outline in our tips below!

  • Use Colour In Your Personal Trainer Icon

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Colour is arguably the most important thing to consider when it comes to your personal trainer icon design, as the right choice can make or break how well it is received by your audience.

 

Attract More Clients With Specialist Qualifications

Bring more clients to your service by marketing yourself as a personal trainer & nutrition with our Sports Nutrition Course. 

Choosing the right colour for you comes down to the main impression you want your personal trainer icon to make on a potential client. You could choose:

Warm Colours

Tones like reds and oranges are great for strength training icons because they’re strong and energetic colours

Cold Colours

Lighter pastel blues and purples would be better for yoga or mindfulness inspired images, because the intended mood is calmer and more soothing.

Black and White

You may just decide to have your trainer icon in black or white to make it stand out against your chosen background. 

This can look sharp and professional, as well as being easy to replicate on different backgrounds and textures. It’ll also be easier to market because your personal trainer icon will look effective on any colour of merchandise.

Multiple Colours

However multiple colours can make images more realistic, and the design can be more intricate. You could also use several colours to connect with different groups or values that may not be reached by other personal trainers.

When deciding on the colour of your personal trainer icon, try saving your design in several colours and tones. You can then compare them to each other to help you decide on the best option.

  • Decide Whether Your Personal Trainer Icon Will Be Outlined Or Filled

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Another visual element to consider is whether you want your personal training icon to be filled in solid colour, or just use the outline of an image.

An outline looks modern and sleek, making it easier to notice smaller features that may be important to understanding the icon. This could appeal to a client looking for a trainer with a more professional appearance.

A line drawing is more complementary to other design choices like backgrounds that can make it stand out, and usually looks better when you’ve chosen a single colour.

Solid icons definitely make better use of bold colours, and look more effective if you choose a multicoloured design- they can appear more approachable than single line drawings.

Whilst a solid block of the same colour is more immediately eye-catching, it can be overwhelming on small surfaces like business cards or social media.

So when considering the style of your trainer icon, consider what platform you will be using it on.

  • Decide Whether Your Personal Training Icon Will Have A Background 

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Once you’ve decided on an image, you need to decide whether you want a background, or whether your icon for personal training should stand alone.

A background could help your icon stand out from the page and give it definition. If you’ve chosen to have your design in white, a background will mean you can use the icon on any surface and have it look clean and sophisticated.

However, backgrounds can look less professional and distract from the idea you're trying to convey in the first place. 

Whichever you choose, think about where you will be using your personal trainer icon, as this will affect whether you should use a background or not. 

  • Decide Whether Your Personal Training Icon Will Have A Shadow 

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Similar to choosing a background, you could change the whole look of your personal training icon with the addition of a shadow.

A shadow could make your icon more lifelike and effective, as well as helping it stand out on the page and attract attention to your brand.

However, they can be distracting and take up more space, which negates the whole purpose of icons being small images to help you convey ideas in a limited amount of space.

Deciding against a shadow would be better for outlined designs, as they would be swallowed by the shadow and you’d lose any effectiveness of the image.

Again, think about the context in which you are using your trainer icon in order to help you decide whether to use a background or not.  

The Best Tools For Creating A Personal Training Icon

So, now that we’ve covered out tips for creating a good personal training icon, it’s time to start putting pen to paper!

If you have the budget, graphic design is one of the tasks that you can outsource as a personal trainer. However, if you want to do it yourself, here are some of the best design tools for you to choose from.

Canva

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Canva is one of the easiest design softwares to use, especially for beginners.

Not only is Canva super simple to use, but you can access a huge range of design content for free!

Their stock images can be dragged and dropped into designs and customised so that you can get the look that you’re aiming for. 

Outside of your general trainer icon design, they also have specific templates for specific platforms, according to different dimensions, including:

  • Facebook icons
  • Instagram story highlights icons
  • Twitter banners
  • Business cards

These features make it easy to keep your brand consistent, as you can use the same design across several platforms.

Adobe Photoshop

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If you’ve got a bit more skill and budget, one of the best design tools you can use is Photoshop. 

With Photoshop, you can design your own images, edit pre-existing ones or a combination of both.

Photoshop requires a bit more skill and practice to use than others, so you should take your time and play around with all of the features before you try creating your own designs. Not only will this teach you what works and how to use it best, you’ll get better and quicker at designing.

Once you’ve created your trainer icon, you can change the file in a wide range of formats. This makes it easy to then insert it into a range of different things, from your social media to merchandise! 

IconsFlow

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IconsFlow is a website specifically for creating and designing icons for web or print content, making it ideal for your personal trainer icon design. 

Depending on your budget, you can choose from a free version, or pay for more design capacity and storage.

The design tool is fairly simple to use, but it is worth taking the time to practice each setting so you become familiar with how it works. With IconsFlow, you can adapt and customise dozens of different templates to suit your needs.

The site also supports uploads of other designs, so you can update any personal training icons you’ve previously made or start completely from scratch. 

IconsFlow allows you to change the colour and size of your design, as well as easily adding a shadow or background.

VistaCreate

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Part of the Vista family, VistaCreate is a relatively easy icon design tool that can support you in the creation of your personal training icons. 

VistaCreate has lots of features to help you make the most of your creativity. With thousands of designs to choose from, you’ll be sure to find something that fits your vision. If not you can upload new designs and edit them until you’re happy. 

Alongside the actual icon design, VistaCreate lets you easily add backgrounds to help your image stand out. 

Plus, their inbuilt scale and balance controls help your design look professional regardless of your editing skill! 

Before You Go!

Now you're feeling inspired to enhance your PT business even further, get started with our Level 4 Sports Nutrition Course. You can attract a range of clients to your service by marketing yourself as both a personal trainer and nutritionist.

Download our free course prospectus to browse the full range of fitness courses we offer. 

Written by Rachel Stevens

Content Writer & Fitness Enthusiast

Rachel is a freelance content writer and fitness enthusiast based in Liverpool. She completed her BA (Hons) in Egyptology and Ancient History, followed by a MA in Ancient History, at the University of Liverpool. She has a keen interest in many water-based sports, like kayaking, in which she holds a 1-star qualification with the intention of progressing further. She is an avid reader, runner and yoga enthusiast.

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