Using Personal Training As A Side Hustle

Operating a personal training side hustle has been proven to be both financially and emotionally rewarding. We’re here to explain exactly how you can pursue this role, and what your day-to-day operations may look like.

However, to begin a personal training side hustle, you’ll first need to get professionally qualified. OriGym’s Personal Training Diploma is endorsed by CIMSPA and regulated by Ofqual, certifying it to be of the highest industry standard.

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Contents:

• What is a Personal Training Side Hustle?
• Something to Consider Before Launching a Personal Trainer Side Hustle 
• How to Start Your Own Personal Training Side Hustle
• Tips for Running Your Personal Trainer Side Hustle 
• Tips for Growing Your Personal Training Side Hustle 
• The Benefits of Starting a Personal Training Side Hustle 
• FAQ

What is a Personal Training Side Hustle 

A ‘side hustle’ is a term commonly used to describe an additional job that can be taken on alongside a primary form of employment, with many choosing to work on a part-time, or zero hour, basis.

Reasonings behind this decision can range from financial profit to personal fulfilment, and are often specific to an individual. 

For example, if you’ve always wanted to become a part-time personal trainer, this side hustle can open the door allowing you to do so, all whilst bringing you job satisfaction and a higher rate of income. 

Furthermore, by engaging with personal training as a side job, you can learn key skills and gain industry experience, while still having the stability of your primary form of employment. This can act as a springboard, allowing you to launch a full-time career in fitness should you so wish.

Something To Consider Before Launching a Personal Training Side Hustle 

We can’t stress enough how important scheduling is when operating a side hustle. Deciding to take a side job can greatly affect your existing lifestyle, and what was once your downtime will now need to be dedicated to your PT side hustle. 

We advise anyone considering taking on this particular role to ensure they have exceptional organisational skills. Without an efficiently planned schedule and ability to stay on top of multiple tasks at once you may quickly burn out, both physically and emotionally. 

Schedules can help you differentiate between tasks within your full-time job role and personal trainer side hustle, allowing you to allocate time for each responsibility. This can include 

• What time you start and finish your full time-job
• When you need to be at the gym training clients
• Deadlines at your full-time job 
• Your clients existing goals and training programs 
• Reminders for when you need to contact your clients 

Therefore, we strongly advise that you take the time to really consider whether your current lifestyle can sustain a side hustle. The roles and responsibilities of personal trainer can be incredibly demanding at times, a factor which could potentially cause conflict with your full-time employment.

How to Start Your Own Personal Training Side Hustle 

Now that you’re informed on the circumstances that may surround you prior to entering the fitness industry, we can now discuss how to go about pursuing personal training as a side job.

#1 - Get Professionally Qualified

In order to work professionally in the industry as a personal trainer, you need to get qualified. 

However, the fitness education sector can be difficult for newcomers to navigate, and you’ll want to ensure you get the best certification for your money, one that will teach you about every aspect of personal training.

At OriGym, our Personal Training Diploma is held to the highest possible industry standards, thanks to regulations from Ofqual and endorsement from CIMSPA. 

If you’re interested in personal training as a side hustle, it’s highly likely you have a fairly busy schedule with full-time employment and other commitments. 

For this reason, we’d personally advise enrolling in either our online or blended learning courses.

Blended Learning: Takes an average of 8 weeks to complete, and will see you split your free time between online learning and in-person workshops at 1 of OriGym’s 12 training centres.

Online Learning: On average this course takes 12 weeks to complete, and will be done so through OriGym’s state-of-the-art e-learning platform. 

These courses can fit perfectly around your busy lifestyle, offering unparalleled choice when it comes to your exams, as well as up to 2 years to complete your entire personal training qualification. 

Both options grant you access to OriGym’s state-of-the-art E-learning platform and bespoke online resources, ensuring you can study wherever and whenever you wish. 

The blended learning module does feature some practical assessments, but you can schedule these at your own convenience. For example, if you work Monday - Friday then it is possible to arrange this assessment to take place on a weekend. 

The online-only study method does not require any practical assessment and for this reason, may be better suited for applicants who have an exceedingly busy schedule. 

We're one of the only providers worldwide to offer such flexibility, and with our course team on-hand 7 days a week to assist you with any issues you might have, our support network can support you regardless of how you choose to study.

Both of these courses will teach the same modules, with the only difference being that online learning does not require students to attend in-person workshops. Once enrolled, you will learn from our team of expert tutors, who will cover such topics as:

• Anatomy, physiology, and kinesiology for exercise and health
• Principles of health and wellbeing for exercise, fitness, and health
• Applying nutritional principles to personal training
• Programming Personal Training Sessions
• Delivering exercise programmes for Personal Training sessions
• Learning The Business 

These classes will assist you by providing a well-rounded view of the industry, giving you the necessary practical skills and theoretical knowledge to become a successful personal trainer. 

For example, we believe that it's important to teach our students about the business side of personal training, in order to ensure they have a sustainable career. 

Without the knowledge gained through this module, a personal training side hustle could fail to take off the ground due to poor business management on the PT’s part. 

In addition to this bespoke component of the course, our team of tutors will be available to give you advice, even after you’ve graduated. 

This means that, should you decide to launch your personal trainer side hustle, you can contact our team by phone, email, or chatbox for guidance on any topic that you deem appropriate. 

Getting professionally qualified is simply a must, and whilst it isn’t technically illegal to train without a certification, you won’t be able to receive the necessary personal training insurance without one. 

Without insurance, you leave yourself open to serious legal issues. For example, if a client is injured or even dies during a session, you could be charged with corporate manslaughter, regardless of whether your routine was safe or not.

So, be sure to start off your personal training side hustle on the right foot and get qualified!

#2 - Decide How and Where You’re Going to Train Your Clients

Once you’ve graduated, you will be fully equipped with an array of knowledge relating to personal training. 

Following this, you need to decide how you want to put this into practice with your personal training side business. One of the first things you should be asking yourself is how and where you wish to train clients.

However, please remember that you’re operating a side business and unfortunately won’t have the time to explore the full scope of potential personal training career options that are reserved for your full-time peers.

We have curated a list of careers that are suitable for side-hustles and can easily be accommodated into any busy schedule, including:

Contracted roles in gyms - Popular gym chains are always looking for part-time workers. With this, you'll be required to work a set number of hours per week, and be paid a consistent salary by the gym. 

This is a great option for a personal trainer side hustle if you're self-employed, work on a very flexible basis, or work a limited number of hours per week. However, if you're already working a full-time job, we'd advise considering other options (like freelancing), as this does come with more significant demands in terms of the hours you'll need to work.

Working entirely freelance - Working on a freelance basis is arguably the best option for those looking to launch a personal training side hustle. This will grant you unlimited scheduling freedom, allowing you to choose the time, location, and clients that you wish to work with. 

Mobile personal training - Instead of a client meeting you at a pre-set location, mobile personal trainers will travel to a client. This can be beneficial for those looking to launch a side hustle, as you can keep work local, ensuring that you never waste precious time or energy travelling long distances to meet clients.

Online personal training -  The great thing about online personal training is that it can be done wherever and whenever. There are no limitations or constraints, meaning that you can virtually train clients to a schedule that is convenient for you.

Before you begin to create your personal training business plan for this side hustle, you should strive to determine which role will work best for you in the long run. 

There may be a number of factors which help to shape and determine your answer such as:

• Availability 
• Location
• Personal comfort 
• Finances 

However, regardless of your circumstance as a personal trainer you should always strive to provide the best possible service to your client. This means playing to your strengths and creating a business plan that is suitable for you. 

#3 - Research How To Get Clients

When initially launching your personal trainer side hustle you will probably have little to no initial clients. However, in order to ensure your business is sustainable you’ll have to learn how to recruit others into your service.

You can do this by:

• Building a reputation within the wider fitness community
• Building relationships with fellow personal trainers 
• Reciprocal marketing
• Social media 
• Personal trainer websites 
• Email marketing

Please note, all 13 of these methods won’t be successful for every single personal trainer. Each individual and business model is unique, meaning that what may work best for some may not work well for you when launching your personal training side hustle.

We would strongly advise attempting multiple of these approaches in order to maximise your potential client base.

From this research, you should be able to determine which methods of client outreach works well for you and your business. 

However, we advise all new personal trainers to not feel too disheartened during this process - getting clients is a hard challenge and not something that can just happen overnight. 

Take time to research and implement multiple methods and we promise you will be able to reap the rewards.

#4 - Design Your Own Pricing Packages

Designing pricing packages can be somewhat of a challenge for even the most advanced and experienced trainers. 

Thankfully, OriGym’s YouTube channel has a video that can help to guide you through this process in a manner that’s easy to understand. Check it out below!

One key thing to take away from this video is the success of personal training monthly packages. 

Therefore, when starting personal training as a side job it may be wise to consider this approach when creating packages.

Keep these designs simple. Overcomplication will lead to lower closing rates, meaning you will have fewer clients and less money. 

The following table provided below is an example of a clear pricing package that clients can easily understand.

Price per session should reduce in price the more sessions per week a client buys, but the exact amount you choose to charge is entirely up to you. 

It may be worth researching fellow competitors in the local area in order to get a better sense of what they’re providing and charging. 

This can help to better inform you on how you should be designing your packages, as you can determine whether you’re going to price match them, or charge a higher rate for additional services your competitors don't provide.

But why are monthly packages so beneficial when setting up a personal training side hustle?

They keep clients paying regularly: This ensures that there are no gaps in your earnings, as clients will simply set up a recurring direct debit that goes into your account. Knowing this money is guaranteed will allow you to plan your finances for the month, including the purchase of new gear and equipment, as well as personal bills.

Avoids Complaints: The last thing you want is one client complaining that someone else is receiving the same training for a fraction of the price they’re paying. This will just paint you as someone who is biased and unorganised in business. 

However, with packages formatted in this way the only way that someone would be paying less is if they’re receiving fewer sessions per month. Meaning that your business model is balanced and fair to all your clients.

Therefore, we advise keeping all of this in mind when creating your PT packages. If this process is mishandled it could result in clients who refuse to pay for, or even read, what you have to offer. 

As evident from the four points provided above, a lot of time and dedication needs to go into launching a personal training side hustle. 

Whilst this may not be your primary source of income you still need to treat it with the same respect as your other forms of employment. 

Failure to maintain all of the aforementioned points will simply result in your business failing, meaning that your side hustle will not be as emotionally or financially beneficial as you’d desire.

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If you’re enjoying learning how to use personal training as a side hustle, we feel you may enjoy these other OriGym articles about advancing your career:

• 9 Best Gyms To Work For As A Personal Trainer
• How to Become a Freelance Personal Trainer
• How To Become A Self-Employed Personal Trainer

Tips for Running Your Personal Trainer Side Hustle

Operating as a personal trainer as a side hustle can be challenging, time-consuming, and emotionally taxing. Therefore, we advise following these expert tips in order to find financial and emotional success.

#1 - Identify a Gap in The Market

When deciding to pursue personal training as a side hustle you should be looking for gaps in the existing market. This will ensure you stand out among competitors and will potentially attract more clients to your business.

In order to find these gaps you’ll need to do market research, such as Internet searches and discussions with existing personal trainers. 

From this, you could discover that your local competitors only offer basic personal training. In this instance, one way to stand out among clients would be to achieve a specialist qualification, such as Lower Back Pain Management. 

This is considered to be a gap in the market, as you will be able to provide a service that your competitors do not. 

If you offer the exact same training as your competitors you’ll simply be lost among the crowd, with no defining traits or services to encourage clients to choose you over your competitors.

Therefore, you should always be looking to stand out, even if a competitor does provide a similar or identical service. If this occurs, try to think of an alternative way to approach your training from, in order to find a gap in the market.

#2 - Immediately Define Your Goals

When starting a personal training as a side job you need to immediately define your goals, this will help you to determine what you personally want out of the job. 

These goals must be specific to you, and can be personable relating to your emotional satisfaction, or they could be profitable and relate to financial satisfaction. 

However, these goals shouldn’t be too vague as this can lead to personal dissatisfaction and a lack of direction for your business. 

An example of a vague goal would be - “I want to get more clients”. This is considered directionless, as it doesn’t state how many clients the trainer wishes to recruit, nor does it set a timeframe that this goal should be achieved by. 

To avoid falling into this pitfall, OriGym advises implementing SMART Goals throughout your side hustle. This stands for goals that are:

An example of how to apply SMART goals to side hustle would be: “I want to recruit 3 more clients in 2 months”

This goal has specifically stated the trainer wishes to recruit a further 3 clients, which can easily be measured, in the time-bound deadline of 2 months. Whether these goals are realistically achievable is dependent on the individual.

When setting these goals you must be realistic and honest with yourself and your own capabilities. Don’t set something that is too far out of reach, as this will only lead to disappointment should it not be met.

#3 - Compartmentalise Your Side Hustle From Your Current Employment 

A personal training side hustle should never interfere with your primary source of employment. Be sure to maintain a meticulous level of organisation, in order to ensure that your focus on one role doesn’t affect the other. 

For example, don’t be answering calls, emails and messages regarding training sessions during your full-time working hours. This could lead you to underperforming in your existing role, which could get you into trouble with your employer.

Let your clients know that you have another job that demands your attention during set hours of the day. It will also help to provide a schedule of your availability, ensuring that these clients know when you’re available to take their enquiry. 

Furthermore, you may also need to inform your current employer that you’re running a side hustle, especially if you could be viewed as direct competitors within the fitness industry. 

If this is the case there may be a clause in your contract that forbids you to operate in your side hustle role. Should you be found breaching this contract without informing your employer, it could result in legal issues and/or termination from your existing role. 

Therefore, in order to create this defined separation between roles, you absolutely need to ensure that your employer knows what you’re doing.

#4 - Keep an Accurate Record of All Your Finances 

When running a business passion and knowledge can only get you so far. Whilst you may be a fitness expert with a specialist Obesity & Weight Management qualification under your belt, you will still need detailed records of your earnings and losses.

These records will allow you to see whether your personal training side hustle is financially successful or not. Without a record, you could be losing a significant amount of money without even realising it.

Additionally, a personal trainer with a side hustle must also record their finances for tax purposes at the end of the year. 

In order to keep track of your transactions be sure to pay close attention to your bank statements throughout each month. Alternatively, you can use online payment records to monitor your income and expenses, with apps such as:

• PayPal
• Stripe
• Monzo

We must stress the importance of keeping a note of every purchase or sale that you make in order to fill your tax self assessment. Failure to provide accurate information regarding your personal trainer side hustle can lead to serious financial consequences, such as owing a large lump sum of money.

#5 - Don’t Be Afraid to Ask For Help!

Taking the plunge and starting a personal training side hustle can feel somewhat overwhelming, especially if this is your first time working outside of contracted employment.

However, things don’t need to be as scary or stressful as they may appear, and you should always reach out if you’re struggling with any aspect of your side hustle. 

As discussed earlier in this article, if you have earned your personal training diploma with OriGym you can reach out to our team of expert tutors for advice and guidance on any topic you may be struggling with.

As an OriGym graduate, we will be sure to prioritise your question and provide you with an answer that will benefit your specific situation.

However, if you have graduated from another provider, this does not mean you have to suffer in silence. Reach out to other personal trainers in your area for advice, as they will know your specific market better than anyone else. 

If you find yourself in this position repeatedly it may be worth seeking out a mentor for support. If this is something that interests you, be sure to check out our article on how to find a personal training mentor.

Tips for Growing Your Personal Training Side Hustle 

Becoming a personal trainer as a side hustle doesn’t stop once you’ve earned your qualifications and gained a few clients. If you’re interested in finding further success, then you should be looking to expand upon your existing business model. 

This section is dedicated to just that, and will provide you with helpful tips, all of which have been specifically chosen to assist in your personal training side hustle.

#1 - Create General Fitness and Nutrition Plans

In addition to providing tailored training for your clients, it may be worthwhile ensuring that your side hustle features general guides for others to purchase. 

In this sense, you can use your PT and knowledge from your nutrition course, featuring workouts and diet plans that are more holistically focused on health and fitness, rather than the individual's specific goals.

This method of distribution would expand your side hustle to a section of clients that would otherwise go untapped. 

Remember, not everyone is comfortable with the idea of a personal trainer reviewing their workout or diet. For this group, being able to follow a premade template is the ideal solution to this issue, allowing them to work at their own pace.

This can be an easy source of revenue that takes very little effort on your behalf to create, just be sure to post regular updates in order to ensure these clients have updated plans to work off.

#2 - Create an On-Demand Workout Membership Website 

If you launched your personal training side hustle out of a love for teaching sessions then why not consider launching your own on-demand workout website. 

This is popular method of modern day personal training which we often associate with popular brands, including:

• Peloton 
• Daily Burn
• FIIT
• Zwift 

However, please keep in mind that the vast majority of brands lack the personable interaction that comes along with running your own business. 

You can differentiate from all of these aforementioned corporations by creating an on-demand membership program that clients have a direct involvement with. 

By doing this clients will feel a greater sense of comradery, and are more likely to want to stay subscribed or even purchase additional features. 

Some ways that you can involve clients include:

• Taking polls to see what workouts they want to see
• Engaging in regular chats and discussions
• Offering consultations to subscribed members 
• Providing incentives to stay signed up, such as branded merchandise

Much like the previous point, creating an on-demand service can help to expand your personal training side hustle to newer audiences. 

For example, the clients who subscribe for this may not live in your local area or country, and would therefore be otherwise unable to attend your sessions. You can make a real difference with an on-demand subscription service dedicated to your teachings.

#3 - Offer Different Services From Competitors

This point was touched upon within the previous section, but it bears repeating, as it's vitally important to identify gaps within the local market in order to provide services that your competitors are not.

We previously discussed how qualifications such as Sports Massage Therapy could benefit your clients following an intense workout. Certain individuals may be attracted to the unique offer of a sports massage to help them unwind after a workout.

But what about during the training session itself? 

Specialised workout qualifications such as a Yoga Teaching Diploma could see you significantly grow and expand your client base, in order to reach an audience that could otherwise be missed or overlooked. 

For example, yoga is incredibly popular in its own right, and attracts a different subsection compared to regular gym-based workouts. 

These individuals may have otherwise ignored your offer of traditional personal training, but upon hearing you provide a yoga-based service may be more incentivised to sign up.

Appealing to different demographics of clients is vital in ensuring that your business thrives. Yoga was just a given example, but if you can identify an under-represented group within your local fitness community be sure to capitalise on it as soon as possible.

#4 - Start Researching Ways to Market and Advertise Your Side Hustle 

Online marketing and advertising can seem incredibly intimidating at first, but we guarantee that the idea is far more stressful than the actual process. 

As a personal trainer, you should be looking to advertise your side hustle across various platforms such as Google, Instagram, and Facebook. 

Millions of potential clients use these platforms on an hourly basis, seeing your ad just once could prompt them to sign up for training, so make a good impression.

Some good news is that advertising on Google My Business is completely free. 

Google My Business, also referred to as Google Snap Map, highlights local businesses that show up when searching for a specific service. 

For example, when clients search ‘personal trainers near me’, they could potentially be greeted with your side hustle, granted that you rank within the local 3 pack.

Alternatively, Facebook and Instagram can be set up in order to fulfil a number of purposes such as:

• Get more engagement such as likes, shares and comments on a post
• Drive more targeted visitors to your website
• Get more Direct Messages from prospective clients
• Get more enquiries on Facebook or Instagram itself.

Facebook in particular holds a large amount of personal data, meaning that you can optimise your ads on the site to hit a very specific target audience. For example, if you’re looking to target female clients, ages 30-60 who want to lose weight then that is easily achievable.

Marketing and advertising are just processes which seem complicated in theory, but can be implemented by any trainer, regardless of experience in order to grow their side hustle.

#5 - Become an Affiliate For a Fitness and Health-Related Product 

Once you have established your personal training side hustle you will naturally find gear and products that are perfectly suited for your sessions. 

If you find yourself routinely using and favouring specific health and fitness brands or related products, then it may be worth investigating whether you can become an affiliate for it. 

You may be reading this section and rolling your eyes, believing this process to be something that only Instagram influencers are able to attain. However, many fitness companies use affiliate schemes to ensure that personal trainers refer their clients to their business.

The following fitness brands have affiliate programs that you can sign up as part of your side hustle as a personal trainer.

• Reebok - 7% Commission rate 
• Fitbit - 3% Commission rate 
• Argos - 2% Commission rate 
• BeachBody - 15% Commission rate
• Amazon - 10-12% Commission rate

These affiliate schemes are easy to sign up for and could help to grow your personal training side hustle with the aid of extra money every month.

#6 - Become a Sponsored Personal Trainer 

Similarly, if you’d like to reach the heights of fitness influencers you should research ways that could lead you to becoming a sponsored personal trainer.

In order for this to occur you’re going to need to produce high-quality social media content that will attract the attention of brands. This in itself is a challenge that will help to grow your personal training side hustle but can be achieved by creating the following content:

• Competition giveaways 
• Motivational quotes
• Diet and nutrition advice 
• Fitness and modelling tips
• Themed content for holidays or special events 
• Collaborations with other trainers
• Memes 

The biggest piece of advice we can give to maximise the potential of growing your clientele is to use hashtags, specifically 10 per post. Some can be general such as ‘fitness’ or ‘personal training’, whilst others should be niche and reference what the post is discussing.

As you begin to amass a following you may begin to encounter brands offering to sponsor you in one way or another. 

If you find yourself in this type of situation you may receive offers of the following types of sponsorships:

One-off Reciprocal Sponsorship - This may not be a financial sponsorship but can see you receiving something you want off a brand such as equipment or gear. In this instance, a personal trainer will usually receive the product in return for advertising on their socials.

They will then be given a bespoke discount code that their followers can use in order to purchase the same product. However, this will only be temporary and will expire after a set date.

Continuous Reciprocal Sponsorship - With the ever-growing power of social media brands are always looking to develop a long-standing relationship with fitness influencers. If you fall under this category, a brand will usually refer to you as a ‘brand ambassador’, who will promote their products all year around.

As with the one-off sponsorship, no fees are typically exchanged, but the service or products you receive will be continuous for as long as you remain an ambassador. 

Retention Sponsorship - In this instance, a brand will pay a retention fee, in order to ensure that the fitness influencer promotes their product on a regular basis. 

Reward Sponsorship - A reward sponsorship is granted following the success of a specific marketing campaign. A fitness influencer will promote a service or brand and will receive a payment based on the sales that their followers generate.

Ultimately, we can say that sponsorship can help to significantly grow your side hustle as it has the potential to be incredibly lucrative. Whilst this might seem unattainable when initially beginning your business, it can be achieved through hard work and dedication.

Implementing any of these recommendations can see your side hustle grow in numbers. Once again we would like to advise the importance of taking time to develop your client base, as this is something that will happen gradually over time rather than instantaneously overnight.

The Benefits of Starting a Personal Training Side Hustle 

Throughout this article, we have discussed the many ways that becoming a personal trainer as a side hustle can lead you to personal satisfaction and financial success. 

However, there are several other benefits to pursuing this career path, all of which will be fully explored within this dedicated section.

#1 - You Can Choose When and Where You Work

One of the most appealing aspects of becoming a personal trainer as a side hustle is that you get to personally decide when you work, and where you work. 

Whether you want to be in a contracted role with several hours allocated every week, or a mobile personal trainer who works on a freelance schedule is entirely up to you. This helps to alleviate any stress and negative feelings that may otherwise appear when taking on a second job. 

If you can’t personally take the stress of clocking into a second job following the end of an intense shift then you simply don’t have to. Make your schedule and approach to training work for you, as this should be a fulfilling role not a stressful one.

#2 - Have a Positive Effect on People’s Lives

In your current full-time job role, you may have no direct interaction with customers or clients, and may feel that you don’t positively impact upon their lives. However, by following personal training as a side job you can directly see how your influence is affecting the lives of others.

If you speak to any qualified personal trainer, they’ll agree that one of the most rewarding aspects of the role is the positive effect you can have on the lives of others.

Whether you’re helping a client to reach personal goals, recover from an injury, or simply being there for them, you can make a difference and positive impact on their lives within this role. 

Therefore, we can say that this positive impact won’t only benefit your clients, it can help improve your life too. 

Think how good you will feel by helping someone to obtain a fitness goal that they've been pursuing for years.

#3 - Adds Variety To Your Life

Feeling unfulfilled within your full-time role could negatively impact on your physical and mental health. It’s easy to become caught up with the ‘same-old-same-old’, but a personal training side hustle can add a distinctly unique sense of variety to your life.

Regardless of what classes you teach, or services you offer, you can constantly change things up and avoid boredom and repetitivity whenever possible.

Are you becoming bored with teaching aerobics classes? Then why not switch it up and pursue HIIT training instead - you’ll keep things exciting for you and your clients that way.

Unsatisfied with solely conducting regular personal training programs? Pursue another qualification and find a new area of interest such as yoga training.

Therefore, we can say that adding variety can not only benefit your life, but that of your clients too. 

You can avoid some of the bordeom we often associate with the same daily routine. With a personal training side hustle, you can really shape your own day and improve your happiness in the process.

#4 - Build a Side Business Without a Loss of Income

Launching a new career can be a somewhat risky financial decision. Leaving the safety and comfort of your regular full-time employment doesn’t always pay off, and those who rush into the practice full-time may, unfortunately, suffer the consequences.

However, when deciding to pursue personal training as a side hustle, this fear is non-existent, as you don’t have to instantly give up your primary source of income. 

Instead, you can rely on your existing salary to support you, paying for bills and food whilst you pursue your fitness passion on the side.

If worse comes to worst and things sadly don’t work out for your side hustle, then you won’t be left with a mountain of debt or unpaid bills. The financial safety net provided by your full-time salary will be there to catch you and help you get back on your feet.

Alternatively, you may find your side hustle to be more financially rewarding than you initially expected, which could prompt you to take on the role full-time.

#5 - Potential To Go Full-Time

Finally, we can say that another benefit of this role is that it has the potential to grow from a side hustle into a full-time career. 

Taking the plunge to fully enter the fitness industry can be intimidating, especially if you’re already comfortable within your existing full-time role. 

Therefore, launching this side hustle could be viewed as testing the waters, allowing you to determine whether it's something you wish to pursue even further. 

However, it is worth noting that operating in a full-time personal trainer position is very different from a side hustle. 

Just be sure to make the right decision for yourself, and not rush into things without a detailed business plan in place. 

You can also learn more about what you can expect of a full-time role in personal training with our complete exploration of the roles and responsibilities of a PT.

FAQ 

How Much Can You Earn With A Personal Training Side Hustle?

If you’re deciding whether to become a personal trainer as a side hustle, you’re naturally going to be interested in your earning potential. 

Before we get into the details of this section, please keep in mind that the average salary of a PT working full time will greatly differ from those who are only operating side hustles.

For these individuals personal training will be their full-time role and primary source of income, meaning that they will likely earn significantly more money. 

According to PayScale the average salary of a personal trainer is £24.80 per hour. However, your final earning potential is dependent on how many hours you have available for your side hustle.

Whilst the information provided by these can provide beneficial insight, they aren’t completely reliable, due to the fact that they are estimates created by data of one-to-one sessions. 

They fail to take into account the potential earnings of group or class sessions, which could see you earning more than the figure given above.

Furthermore, these sites also fail to consider the varying rates at which personal trainers charge for their sessions. For example, trainers with several years worth of experience under their belt will be able to charge more than another who has just kick-started their career. 

Therefore, we can argue that there is no definitive answer to what you could earn with a personal training side hustle. In reality, your earnings will be dependent on your availability to work and your current level of experience.

Do I Need Insurance To Run a Personal Training Side Hustle?

The direct answer to this question is yes. In order to safely practice personal training you will need insurance, regardless of how often you engage within this job.

As discussed within the main body of this article you will need a personal training diploma in order to purchase this type of insurance. 

Leaving yourself uninsured could result in severe legal issues should a client become injured either in your presence, or through your teachings. 

Getting insured is a simple process and can be done through sites such as Insure4Sport. An average package will cost you around £40 per month, and you’ll receive coverage of up to £1Million.

Through Insure4Sport you can receive public liability, personal accident and personal income insurance, protecting you should any of the following incidents occur.

• A client damaging your equipment 
• A specific action is brought into question if a client is injured 
• You personally become injured during a session which means you’ll miss work
• You require physio treatment for an injury suffered at work
• Your equipment is stolen
• An employee is injured during your session and claims compensation

Failure to insure yourself can result in a greater financial loss or even prison time, so be sure to save yourself the unneeded stress and be sure to protect yourself legally.

Do I need to Inform anybody About My Side Hustle?

Whilst you may think you can keep your side hustle to yourself as it is outside working hours, you still need to inform your full-time employers as well as HMRC.

Most employers won’t mind you having a side hustle, as long as you aren’t working directly for a competitor, costing them money, or allowing it to affect your full-time work in any way. 

Additionally, during your training you’ll have to take extra care to avoid any potential injuries. If you have to take a prolonged period off sick from your full-time job in order to recover, your employer may become dissatisfied and view you in a negative light. 

Furthermore, you’ll also have to pay tax on all the additional income you earn from your personal training side hustle.

With a side hustle there is, unfortunately, no-tax-free threshold, and everything you earn can be considered to be tax-deductible. 

When launching a side hustle as a personal trainer you will need to register as a sole trader on the UK Gov website. 

Here you should make an effort to make your income tax and NI contributions as early as possible unless you wish to pay it off in one lump sum at the end of each tax year.

Before You Go!

Building a business from the ground up is no easy task, and should only be undertaken if you’re prepared to put in the work and have an unshakeable passion for health and fitness. 

But before planning your own side hustle, remember that every good career begins with a good qualification and OriGym’s Personal Training Diploma is recognised as an industry leader for its unrivaled quality. 

Furthermore, by downloading our FREE prospectus you will be able to view a plethora of other OriGym courses, helping you stand out from your competitors.