Getting clients prior to having SSC Cert

[Matthew Phoenix Pennisi]

This seems obvious to me but here it goes anyways: Can you talk to him about a possibility of an internship?

Yea this is a great call as well. Paul actually lets me coach people at his gym through their warm-up sets and he has let me shadow him on a couple private sessions as well. I haven't talked to him about an official internship yet, but I'm planning on doing so next week when my normal work schedule clears up. I just wanted to have some backup plans in place since I can't always make it to his gym before it closes during the week (due to unplanned work commitments).

@Andy - Again, this is super helpful. Thankfully, strength training has already taught me how to not be afraid of failure. Thank you for your objective point of view and the encouragement.

[Leah Lutz]

When I was coaching in prep for my SSC, I just offered to train anyone and everyone who stopped to talk to me about lifting. So if anyone made a comment about wanting to learn, or getting a better DL, or was slightly interested in the idea of lifting, I just said-"Hey, I can teach you!" I did that because I wanted to get a wide variety of people to coach in a fairly short time. Some people stuck with it for a couple of months, many were just interested in being helped once or twice, but I learned a lot about the models, different people, and coaching in a pretty short time.

[Matthew Phoenix Pennisi]

Thanks Leah! Where did you meet these people? Were they just other patrons at your gym?

[Brian Goldstein]

As someone who is also of limited coaching experience (but more self employment experience) this thread is incredibly valuable. Thank you all for everything you’re sharing

[Leah Lutz]

Thanks Leah! Where did you meet these people? Were they just other patrons at your gym?

So a couple of things-I am pretty friendly at the gym, any gym, so I meet lots of people. This was good for finding people to coach, it's not so good for having uninterrupted training sessions. :-) I know lots of people at my gym because I've been there for quite a long time. Many of the conversations about training came from people noticing that I was putting in a lot of training time. Then I also kind of begged some people I knew to just agree to have a couple of sessions. But once people saw that I was coaching, there were more people interested in help. I also started some pretty low-cost small group classes. This also let me coach a wide variety of people, and I got pretty good at coaching assertively and quickly because things move faster in a group setting.

Then I badgered some family members into being coached. :-)

[Brian Goldstein]

I am actually hosting a “Squat-er-Day” clinic for 5-6 of my friends who’ve asked me about strength training in the past, Matt. If this goes well I might make it a regular thing and work with my gym (a community center) to promote it.

[Matt Stacks]

I am actually hosting a “Squat-er-Day” clinic for 5-6 of my friends who’ve asked me about strength training in the past, Matt. If this goes well I might make it a regular thing and work with my gym (a community center) to promote it.

Just beware: there are a fair amount of legal concerns with this.

[amr388]

Hey Gang,

I am curious about what methods the coaches used to get clients prior to having their SSC Certification. I am trying to accumulate coaching experience, and have been able to get a hefty chunk of my friends and family interested in training. The problem I found is that though my friends accompanied me to the gym to train, they really did so as a friendly courtesy and didn’t have any intentions of sticking to the program long term. I also train a handful of my friends online and spend a couple hours on the form check forums every day, but I am trying to get more in-person experience. I am now trying to find random people to train, but avenues like posting ads on Craigslist have not been very fruitful so far in gaining attention.

Does anyone have effective strategies that attracted clients prior to having the certification?

Thanks!

I'm a 21 year old college student who trains at my university gym. I first offered to train my skinny friends and it was actually their progress that got other people to take notice and not my own progress. Just a personal anecdote. I have enough people asking me for coaching this method at this point that I have to turn people away because I simply don't have the time and don't think I should charge money until I get the credential.

[Bill Been]

So a couple of things-I am pretty friendly at the gym, any gym, so I meet lots of people. This was good for finding people to coach, it's not so good for having uninterrupted training sessions. :-) I know lots of people at my gym because I've been there for quite a long time. Many of the conversations about training came from people noticing that I was putting in a lot of training time. Then I also kind of begged some people I knew to just agree to have a couple of sessions. But once people saw that I was coaching, there were more people interested in help. I also started some pretty low-cost small group classes. This also let me coach a wide variety of people, and I got pretty good at coaching assertively and quickly because things move faster in a group setting.

Then I badgered some family members into being coached. :-)

If this initial contact takes place at a commercial gym, is it kosher to meet up and train those folks in that same gym? I always assumed that would be verboten and would leave me trying to convince them to come over to my garage gym. "Heh-heh-heh.....ya wanna like come over to my house and lift or something? Heh-heh...". "No, Beavis, I do not".

[Dlk93]

Just beware: there are a fair amount of legal concerns with this.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned, for legal reasons and experiential reasons, that you should get certified. Or, if not "should", at least it would help getting in the door to a lot of places. My PT cert is merely that for me at this point. I'm working in a local chain gym and I'd say out of 20 clients I've had about 5 actually do an official LP, while the rest I've at least gotten them stronger (albeit in a roundabout way) and gotten to teach them the lifts. This isn't to mention the ~100 consults I've gotten with potential clients in which I at least get to teach them the movements, even if I don't get to train them thereafter. I've also worked out with the GM to allow me to teach a squat class on the weekends, though I had to frame it as a "glute and core workout" so that people would people would be interested, according to the GM. All of that is far from optimal, but far from optimal is still closer to optimal than no experience whatsoever.

If you can get your experience efficiently without wasting your money on a cert then by all means do it. But it certainly has opened the door to experience I wouldn't have gotten otherwise, or that it would've taken be longer to get without it.

Just my $0.02