Evolution Fitness

Real-World Lessons for Fitness Professionals

By Craig Mills

Pricing: What Should You Actually Charge as a New Personal Trainer?

One of the questions I’m asked most by newly qualified Personal Trainers is:

“What should I charge?”

Sometimes the question is even simpler:

“What do you charge?”

Most people expect me to reply with a number.

I almost never do.

Not because I’m avoiding the question, but because knowing what I charge won’t tell you what you should charge.

Businesses review their pricing as costs, demand and services evolve. What I charge today may not be what I charge next year. More importantly, there are so many variables that influence pricing that simply copying another PT’s fees can actually hold your business back before it has even begun.

Geography Matters

Where you operate has a huge influence on what clients are willing to pay.

A Personal Trainer in Inverclyde may find £35 per session difficult to achieve, while a trainer in Glasgow, London or Sydney may comfortably charge considerably more.

That’s not because one trainer is necessarily better than another. Local markets, competition and purchasing power are completely different.

Comparing prices without considering location is like comparing house prices in Greenock with those in central London. The numbers alone don’t tell the full story.

Qualifications Should Create Value

Your Level 2 and Level 3 qualifications give you the opportunity to begin your career as a Personal Trainer.

They’re your starting point.

The question is: what do you do next?

Additional qualifications don’t automatically justify charging more. They only add value if they genuinely improve the service you provide.

For example, I’m a qualified Level 3 Assessor, which eventually led to establishing my own training academy. That qualification doesn’t simply give me another certificate to display; it means I spend part of my professional life educating and assessing other fitness professionals. That experience naturally feeds back into my own coaching.

I also hold the British Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (BACPR) Level 4 Specialist Exercise Instructor qualification, allowing me to work with patients progressing through Phase IV cardiac rehabilitation as part of a multidisciplinary team.

For those clients, the stakes are significantly higher. Every session requires careful planning, clinical awareness and the ability to recognise when something isn’t quite right.

Even if you’re not a cardiac rehabilitation patient, you may take reassurance from knowing your coach has developed those observation skills.

Similarly, qualifying as a Sports Massage Therapist didn’t simply allow me to offer another service. It gave me a much deeper understanding of anatomy, muscle function and common soft tissue problems. It allows me to better identify when pain or movement restrictions may be muscular in origin, adapt exercise programmes appropriately and know when further assessment or referral may be required.

Certificates themselves don’t create value.

The way you apply the knowledge does.

Experience Has Value

There’s no substitute for experience.

I’d personally rather be coached by someone who’s spent ten years solving real problems than someone who’s just signed their first ten clients.

Not because new trainers aren’t capable.

But because experience teaches lessons that simply can’t be learned in a classroom.

Every coach will eventually work with someone who moves differently, communicates differently, has an unexpected medical condition, loses motivation, struggles with confidence or presents a challenge they’ve never encountered before.

Those situations develop judgement.

The qualification gives you permission to start.

Experience teaches you how to excel.

Know Your Costs

Before deciding what to charge, understand what it actually costs to run your business.

Rent.

Insurance.

Software.

Travel.

Professional memberships.

Marketing.

Accountancy.

Equipment.

Continuing Professional Development.

Tax.

If you don’t know your monthly costs or your break-even point, you’re guessing your prices rather than calculating them.

Pricing isn’t simply about what you’d like to earn.

It’s about building a business that’s sustainable.

Don’t Compete on Price Alone

One of the biggest mistakes I see new Personal Trainers make is trying to win clients by becoming the cheapest.

On the surface, it feels logical.

Surely charging less than everyone else will attract more business?

Sometimes it might.

But there’s a hidden cost.

If you consistently undercut the market, you’re reducing your ability to invest back into your own business.

Lower income often means less money available for CPD, better software, improved equipment, marketing, insurance and specialist qualifications—the very things that improve the quality of your service.

You also risk sending the message that professional coaching is worth less than it really is.

You’ve worked hard to earn your qualifications.

You’re providing a professional service.

Compete on your professionalism.

Compete on your knowledge.

Compete on the experience your clients receive.

Don’t make price your only selling point.

Should You Research Your Competitors?

Absolutely.

Many business advisors recommend researching competitor pricing.

Ask what other PTs charge.

Speak to people who’ve used Personal Trainers.

Understand your local market.

I actually think that’s good advice.

But it shouldn’t be where your thinking stops.

Once you know the market rate, ask yourself one more important question:

What value do I genuinely bring?

The Conversation That Changed My Thinking

When I qualified as a Sports Massage Therapist,

I was preparing to launch the service alongside my Personal Training business.

I’d already been an established PT for around six years, so before setting my prices I decided to carry out some informal market research.

I sent one simple question into several WhatsApp groups made up of friends, family, colleagues and former colleagues.

I asked:

“If I could provide you with a sports massage that made you pain free, how much would you pay?”

The answers were exactly what I expected.

“£35.”

“£40.”

“I think £45 is about the going rate.”

Then one answer completely stopped me.

It came from my mum.

Her answer was:

“£300.”

I laughed.

“Really, Mum? You’d pay me £300 for a sports massage?”

She replied:

“Son… if you could take my pain away, even for half a day, I’d happily pay £300.”

That conversation completely changed how I think about pricing.

She wasn’t thinking about industry averages.

She wasn’t calculating an hourly rate.

She wasn’t comparing me to another therapist.

She answered the question exactly as I’d asked it.

What would becoming pain free be worth to her?

The answer was £300.

Clients Buy Outcomes, Not Just Time

That conversation reminded me of the old story about the experienced engineer who fixes a machine in minutes after younger engineers have spent weeks trying unsuccessfully.

The customer thinks they’re paying for a few minutes of work.

In reality, they’re paying for the years of knowledge, experience and judgement that made those few minutes possible.

Personal Training is no different.

When clients choose a Personal Trainer, they’re rarely choosing sixty minutes of supervision alone.

They’re choosing the knowledge, judgement, experience and support they believe will help them achieve the outcome they’re looking for.

The sixty-minute session is simply the vehicle through which those skills are delivered.

Stop Selling Hours. Start Explaining Outcomes.

Perhaps we need to change the way we think about pricing.

Instead of asking:

“How much should I charge per hour?”

Maybe we should ask:

“What outcome am I helping people achieve?”

When someone invests in a structured coaching programme, they’re not simply buying your time.

They’re investing in improved health.

Greater strength.

More confidence.

Better habits.

More energy.

Knowledge they’ll carry with them long after your sessions together have finished.

Price is what your client pays.

Value is what your client believes they’ll receive before they buy—and what they actually experience afterwards.

The better you become at creating genuine value, the easier pricing becomes.

So the next time someone asks me:

“What should I charge?”

I probably still won’t answer with a number.

Instead, I’ll ask them a different question.

“What value do you create?”