How to start your own Personal Training Business - From Crunch to Life Time w/ Anna

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If you’ve ever passed a certification and still felt lost on the gym floor, this conversation will sound uncomfortably familiar—and surprisingly hopeful. We sit down with Anna, a Cincinnati trainer who went from textbook confidence to real-world clarity, trading fear-based assessments and complicated plans for simple, effective coaching that clients actually feel.

We start with her early days at Crunch, where 30-minute sessions exposed the limits of memorized protocols. Moving to Lifetime changed the trajectory: peer-led discovery sessions, floor observations, and direct feedback sharpened her coaching lens. Anna explains how learning by watching seasoned trainers, then being corrected, built a skill set no chapter could deliver. That shift is the throughline of the episode: master core movement patterns, keep programming competent and flexible, and use your freed-up attention to connect, listen, and guide.

From there, we dive into building a business without gimmicks. Anna breaks down a client-first model: start in a rented space, create clean discovery processes, charge with confidence, and build a referral network with physical therapists and chiropractors to keep clients safe. We also take aim at common industry traps—like misusing the overhead squat to scare people into buying—and outline a better standard: test only what you’ll retest, train what the goal requires, and treat psychology as part of the program. You’ll hear practical scripts, mindset shifts for pricing, and a clear plan for standing out in a crowded market by doing the quiet, expert things most skip.

If you’re a trainer wrestling with imposter thoughts, or you’re ready to go independent without getting overwhelmed, this episode gives you the blueprint: simplify, collaborate, and show up. Subscribe, share with a coach who needs it, and leave a review with one action you’re taking this week.

Want to become a SUCCESSFUL personal trainer? SUF-CPT is the FASTEST growing personal training certification in the world!

Want to ask us a question? Email info@showupfitness.com with the subject line PODCAST QUESTION to get your question answered live on the show!

Website: https://www.showupfitness.com/
Become a Successful Personal Trainer Book Vol. 2 (Amazon): https://a.co/d/1aoRnqA
NASM / ACE / ISSA study guide: https://www.showupfitness.com