A Complete Guide To Personal Training Over Zoom

Whether you’re new to the fitness industry or not, Zoom personal training is something that you’ve either heard of or taken part in. Whatever your experience, it is here to stay and with that in mind, if you’re a personal trainer looking to reach more clients - you should certainly consider researching how it can benefit your business. 

In this article, we will cover:

• Getting Your Zoom Session Setup From Scratch: Step by Step
• Conducting A Zoom Personal Training Session: A Checklist
• 3 Tips To Put In Place When Delivering Zoom Personal Training Sessions

Before we start, if you’re a personal trainer who wants to maximise their income and appeal to clients both online and offline, getting further qualifications under your belt is crucial and what better place to start than with our Level 4 Sports Nutrition Course.

Browse through all of our health and fitness courses in our downloadable course prospectus.

Getting Your Zoom Session Setup From Scratch: Step by Step

Step 1: Get The Right Qualifications For Zoom Personal Training

Before you hop online and start conducting your Zoom PT session you’re going to want to ensure that you have the correct qualifications behind you.

Just like working as an employed or freelance personal trainer, you’re required to have an Ofqual regulated certification to work as a PT, Zoom is no exception.

You will need a minimum of a Level 3 Certificate in Personal Training to be able to train people on Zoom for the following reasons:

• To ensure you know what you’re doing
• To be able to get PT insurance
• To maintain client safety
• To get employed by a gym and acquire experience working as a pt

You could potentially put your client in danger if you don’t know how to lead a PT session safely, which could in turn put you in danger with the law, potentially resulting in legal or financial issues. 

If you don’t have a recognised qualification, you will not be eligible to take out personal training insurance. Thus, with no insurance, you are practising illegally in the UK. 

This is nothing to worry about though if you have a qualification and you’re insured, as most policies now include cover for online personal training. Getting insured is as easy with the likes of Insure4Sport who provide a specialised policy for PTs who operate online.

It is actually really simple to make sure you have the right qualifications and policy - so this should be your first step before setting anything up with clients or promoting your services.

Step 2: Get Set Up For Delivering Zoom PT Sessions

Before you start advertising and marketing personal training via Zoom, you should ensure that you have all of the mechanics in place.

Here are the most important things to remember and complete first and foremost.

Check What Equipment Your Client Has

Using Zoom for fitness classes or personal training isn’t as simple as turning up to your gym and beginning your session with a client. You need to ensure that any equipment you need is to hand.

When it comes to equipment, Zoom personal training sessions are typically done at home and it's highly unlikely that every client you have has a home gym. 

With this in mind, you should consider the equipment you want to use in your sessions.

For the most part, you might want to stick to bodyweight exercises or, ask your client prior to the session what, if any, gym equipment they own and plan your session accordingly. 

You will get to know your clients before the session anyway during the consultation process so, you can simply add a question to your consultation form regarding the equipment they own. 

This makes it super easy for you to plan around what they already own without alienating any clients that have minimal or no equipment whatsoever.

Ensure You Have The Right Technology

After that, you should ensure that your technology is in working order and efficient enough to run a session without any difficulties. Afterall, your client is still paying for a session and they will expect it to be smooth and for you to be well prepared prior. 

Demonstrating an exercise effectively is one of the most important things you learn in a personal training course and to do this online, you need to ensure that there is a clear picture, sound and connection between you and the end user.

The best way to promise this, is by having a good camera. It is pretty easy to find the top picks when it comes to external cameras for Zoom, but below is a recommendation from a reliable source: Shot Kit, a leading authority in camera gear and photography.

The Logitech C920 S HD Pro Webcam is a good option for those who want good imagery along with professional features which allow you to avoid the grainy picture and lagging sound we are all used to seeing on a regular webcam. 

With a good camera and sound quality - paired with optimal speed internet in your place of work - you should be good to go.

Find a Suitable Studio Space

As you're working over Zoom, you don't need to ask 'Where Can You Train Your Personal Training Clients?' However, while sessions will take place from the comfort of their own home - you, as the trainer, might want a more professional looking space. 

Whether you set up a studio space in your own home or you rent somewhere, you should be presenting yourself as a professional. This means that your studio space needs to be free of clutter and should allow enough room for you to efficiently demonstrate the exercise. 

This might mean that you need to invest in a tripod or a stand that holds your frame in optimal position. This of course depends on you as an individual and how your PT business is run. 

For example, if you work solely as an online personal trainer, you could invest into a space in your home that would work as your studio. However, if you work in the gym and hybrid your online sessions with in-house 1-2-1 sessions, going to and from the gym might not be as easy as it sounds. 

If your gym permits the space, you could ask to book the studio in your gym for your sessions and work your schedule around hurdles that way. Alternatively, you could dedicate particular days to the 1-2-1 in house sessions and likewise, the remaining work days to your home studio for your online sessions.

This way, you can count on consistency, good internet connection and a uniform studio for your clients.

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Choose the Right Zoom Package for You

Finally, your setup will be complete once you have chosen a Zoom package. 

The amount of clients you have or project to have will of course determine which package you choose, but the good thing is that if you’re just starting out as a new Zoom PT, there is an option that is completely free.

You should consider what you want from your sessions though, for example, these are some factors you should think about before opting for a particular package:

• If you want to record sessions
• How long you want your sessions to be
• If you want to group sessions
• How much storage space you need

Below, you can see a comparison of the packages Zoom offers.

For the most part, the free package would be sufficient for many personal trainers, nonetheless, there are some benefits to a Pro package that would be even more fitting.

For example, if you want to hold group fitness classes online, you’re going to want more than 40 minutes to get through the whole session. Thus, a step up would be most sufficient for most personal trainers if you’re looking to keep a consistent and professional service going for an extended period of time.

You can find a full price comparison for Zoom here, where you can check which options you need and come to a conclusion on which package is most suitable for your sized business. 

Set Your Prices & Create Your Packages

Speaking of prices, you’re going to want to consider how to set your own prices and how you're going to charge your clients to make money as a personal trainer. Typically, Zoom personal training prices are more budget friendly for your clients, there are a few reasons for this.

The most obvious reason for this is that online training doesn't have as many overhead costs for the PT as face-to-face sessions. For example, when training over Zoom, the PT isn't required to pay rent to a gym, or cover the cost of equipment.

These reduced outgoings should be reflected in your Zoom prices, so when setting the prices for your online sessions, make sure to consider how much you charge for in-person training. 

For example, take a look at this personal training company that offers both in house and online personal training - you can see a clear difference between their prices.

Below, you can see the pricing structure for training online. 

And, below here you can see the comparison to in-house training. As you can see, there is almost a £70 difference between the first package which is a huge difference.

In terms of how to charge clients, this company has the right idea with their package structure.

By having clients sign up for a contract and charging them a set monthly fee, rather than selling PT sessions in 'blocks' like most PTs, they are maximising client retention and ensuring that they have a steady stream of income.

This is exactly what you should do, too. Rather than selling say a block of 10 sessions, which will inevitably mean that you have to re-sell to your clients once they've had those 10 sessions, you should create set packages and ask clients to sign up for 6 months worth of training.

You should ask clients to set up a direct debit for their payment, which will eventually lead to them seeing your Zoom PT services as a regular monthly bill that is automatically part of their budget. 

Clients are much less likely to cancel a direct debit than they are to 'forget' or outright fail to transfer a payment, which is how selling in packages helps to boost client retention and offer you a stable income.

Here's an idea of what those packages might look like:

Package 1 (£200 per month):

• 2 Zoom sessions per week
• Weekly check-in
• Phone & Whatsapp support

Package 2 (£250 per month):

• 3 Zoom sessions per week
• Weekly check-in
• Phone & Whatsapp support
• Full meal plans for clients

Once you have your packages in place, all you need to do is get clients to sign a 6 month contract stating and implement our proven PT selling strategies, and you'll have everything in place to run a lucrative Zoom personal training business.

Step 3: Promote your Zoom Personal Training Sessions 

Once you have the technicalities out of the way, as a personal trainer on Zoom exclusively or not, you’re going to need to promote this service to potential clients. 

Whether it’s on your personal trainer social media or in person at the gym you work in, promoting to the right people is key. As we briefly mentioned earlier, chances are that for the most part, your Zoom personal training cost is going to be lower than your in-house sessions. 

So, for the clients who you come across on the gym floor yet aren’t interested in your in-house sessions due to the price being a little higher, they may otherwise be intrigued in your online personal training prices at a more affordable rate. 

Some ways that you could promote your services include:

Creating A Simple Personal Trainer Website

Having a website for your business is vital if you’re providing an online service. It's also an affordable and effective way to advertise your services and generate enquiries.

There are plenty of softwares that offer free plans for you to set up a professional website including popular choices such as:

• GoDaddy
• Square Space
• Wix

Your website doesn't need to overly complicated or technical. In fact, if you really wanted, your website could be just one page. As long as there is a clear way for visitors to your website to enquire or book a consultation, you'll be able to use your website to:

• Promote your business
• Get clients

Below is an example of a really simple website that does exactly this. This site offers a simple overview of the services offered and a clear call to action - scheduling a free consultation. 

If you ask for an individuals name, number, and email in exchange for booking this consultation, you'll then have all of the contact information you need to go ahead and sell your Zoom PT sessions to that individual.

Consultations are the easiest way to sell as a personal trainer, which is why your other marketing strategies should also direct users to this page of your website.

Utilising Social Media Marketing

Social media is one of the most popular personal trainer marketing strategies used today, and for good reason. Not only is it both cheap and effective, but it’s also really easy to do thanks to the fact that most of us are already using the likes of Instagram and Facebook on a personal level.

Free tools such as Canva and Clips by Apple make it really easy to create professional-level images and clips that you can use to promote your business on a budget.

Some great ideas for content you could post include:

• Client testimonials
• General health and fitness tips
• Insights into your Zoom PT sessions

One thing that most Zoom personal training businesses fail to do when using social media marketing, is including a CTA in their content, captions, or bio.

A CTA, or ‘call to action’, is the key to actually getting enquiries and clients out of your social media marketing efforts. This could be encouraging clients to:

• Make a direct enquiry 
• Book a consultation 

Basically, you want to direct your interested followers somewhere useful so that you can sell to them.

This is something that we do on the OriGym Instagram page, see below how we are directing our followers to enquire about our yoga teacher training course:

This simple caption is what takes this post from informing followers about our course, to actually promoting the course and driving enquiries.

Utilising Paid Advertising Tool Online 

Another way to promote your services is with paid advertisements like Google Ads.

Google Ads allow you to pay to appear at the top of the page when someone searches a particular keyword.

For example, as indicated by the subtle 'ad' sign, the below online PTs are paying to appear at the very top of Google wheen someone searches 'Zoom personal training sessions':

There are two main benefits of Google Ads:

#1 It's easy to set up: If you have a Google account, you can easily set up Google Ads as the application takes you through every step.

#2 It's a lot cheaper than you think: Google Ads follow a 'Cost per Click' model which means that you only pay for your Ad if and when somebody clicks it. When you consider that somebody who searches 'zoom personal training sessions' and then clicks on your website is likely to be very interested in your services, the pay off is definitely worth it.

Despite what you might think, the cost of each click is extremely affordable. As you can see in the below screenshot, the cost of showing your Ad for the keyword 'zoom personal training' starts at £1.53 per click.

If you're worried about getting loads of clicks and racking up a big bill, don't. Google lets you set a budget for your Ads, and will stop showing your Advert once you reach your spending limit.

Paid advertisements like Google Ads are a reliable way of investing into marketing and if you have the financial ability, is definitely something you should try. 

If you’re solely becoming a Zoom PT, pursuing the likes of Google Ads that take the user straight to your website where they can then make an enquiry is one of the best ways to get Zoom PT clients. 

- - - - 

For some more useful information about how else you can make money as a personal trainer, check out articles below:

• 9 Innovative Ways To Earn Passive Income For Personal Trainers
• 6 Additional Personal Training Revenue Streams
• Top 7 Progression Opportunities For A Personal Trainer

Conducting A Zoom Personal Training Session: A Checklist

After you feel confident in the fact that you have completed all of your preparation, it is time to conduct your session. 

Before switching on your camera and sending the link right away, there are some small things to check off your list to ensure everything runs smoothly and no client time is wasted. So let’s see what to remember for your Zoom PT sessions.

#1 - Check Your Link Works & Publish It

Whether you’re conducting a 1-2-1 session or a class, the link has to work!

It may seem obvious, but it can be easy to get lazy sometimes when it comes to the finer details. But, your professionalism is what makes attention to detail so important and you will be remembered for these actions.

The good news is that you can confidently check this off your list by simply using the test feature on Zoom. By heading over to Zoom.us/Test you can check your internet connection is strong.

You can send the link to a friend too before your session to ensure that the link is working as it should.

These are simple steps just to ensure that your session goes as planned, as we all know technology can be temperamental.

#2 -  Ensure You Can See & Hear your Client 

So your link is working, your internet connection is strong and you’re ready to get started. 

However, you shouldn't assume that your client is tech savvy. Infact, it's a safer option to assume the opposite.

Zoom, has camera and sound on and off features. Meaning, it is easy to be muted and not even realise it. You should check that your client can hear and see you and vice versa, but don’t assume they know how to do this or it may eat into their paid time with you.

Instead, you could create a branded how-to guide with some simple screenshots and instructions making it clear prior to class what they need to do if they have any technical issues.

For example, take a look at this easy to follow infographic regarding how to set up an interview on Zoom.

You could brand an infographic like this and put the essential details on helping people get set up on Zoom, making the whole experience stress free for you and the client.

#3 - Enable the Recording Feature & Let your Client Know

The recording feature is a great part of Zoom that makes it unique from a 1-2-1 in house session. 

By recording the session, your client will be able to access it and repeat sessions if they wish. It allows for them to progress even on the days you aren’t on live zoom together. 

You should remember to always ask for permission before recording the session and getting consent. As long as this is given by the client, they will be able to look back on sessions and use them as progress footage over time as they improve.

#4 - Begin your Session

And that's it, all you need to do is begin your session. 

Once you have set everything up correctly and have checked everything off on your checklist - start the session and get to work right away with no interruptions.

3 Tips To Put In Place When Delivering Zoom Personal Training Sessions

Finally, as a Zoom personal trainer, you should concentrate on particular areas of your practice even more so when training online. 

So you should keep these top 3 tips in mind when you’re doing 1-2-1 sessions over Zoom, as though it may come as second nature in person, you have to take care when using technology as your communication medium.

#1 - Don’t Let Motivation Slip

Fitness motivation is one of the key reasons as to why clients pay for a personal trainer. Finding self motivation can be difficult, so you need to be that body for them.

In person, it is easier to distinguish if your client is lacking in motivation or not, however over Zoom, it may be a little difficult to tell as easily.

You should regularly check in with your clients, ask them before the session starts how they’re feeling and this will help you to motivate them effectively. 

You can ask simple questions, like on a scale of 1-10, where they are at during an exercise. Since using your judgement by just looking at them may be difficult, using the scale to determine their level of exhaustion is a better way to ensure that you’re being consistent with motivating them.

#2 - Communicate Effectively

As we just mentioned, during a Zoom PT session, communication is vital for motivation, but this isn’t the only reason. 

Sound my break during times when the connection weakens, so you want to ensure that you have heard everything you have said. Though you’re not in person, you are still responsible for their safety. 

Therefore, you should do everything in your power to keep them safe, and this is why effective communication is vital. You should check, every time you have instructed an exercise if they heard everything you said and are confident with the movement. 

Once you get the go ahead, you can get them to start the exercise safely. 

You want to ensure that they have confidence in you to say when they need to take a break, and the only way to do this is by building a level of trust between you and the client by communicating efficiently.

#3 - Actively Check on Your Client 

We will leave you with this final tip that encapsulates everything we have spoken about when it comes to running a successful Zoom personal training session. 

Actively checking on your client has never been more important. This is something you will learn during your education as a PT, as you need to be a motivator, but not push them beyond their limitations.

You should concentrate on your clients exhaustion level during a workout, but checking in on your client goes beyond the session. You should have regular progress meetings with your clients, check in with them emotionally and ensure that you’re doing enough for them.

By building this level of trust, your client will be more vulnerable with you and this allows for you to understand their strengths and limitations more and more as time goes on. 

With in house training, it wouldn’t be uncommon for you to see your clients around the gym outside of sessions. This is a great catalyst for building a professional relationship and for them to feel more comfortable in your presence. 

Therefore, you should try to reflect this as much as possible in your Zoom personal training sessions too. If you think they could benefit from a boost in confidence, you could invite them to a class for a free session to meet other clients.

This will help them ease into the process of online training as it can be daunting. Actively checking in on your clients is going to be the best way to get the most from your client and will ultimately help them reach their potential.

Before You Go...

To improve your service and appeal to clients both online and offline, you can do this by starting with our Level 4 Sports Nutrition Course, allowing you to market yourself as an online personal trainer and nutritionist. 

Alternatively, find plenty of other health and fitness courses in our downloadable course prospectus.