By Derek Monson

It seems no matter where you are, or what you are doing, the discussion of our country’s troubled economy is always a topic of choice. With nothing but negative news and a sinking DOW, it’s normal for professionals in the service industry, like personal trainers, to start thinking about their job security, and whether their industry will still grow despite the looming double dip recession. Well fear not! I have found in recent news there have been some headlines showing fitness trainers and aerobics instructors won’t be as greatly affected as we originally thought, even with our economic woes.

This past week, when I was reading the online edition of the Boston Globe, the “Top 30 Fastest Growing Jobs by 2018” were featured, with number 30 being snatched by fitness trainers and aerobics instructors. The projected growth for the industry is whopping 29% or nearly 75,000 jobs which comes from the aging baby boomers, a generation “concerned with staying healthy and physically fit,” according to Bureau of Labor Statistics. Another reason for the increase comes from the decrease in physical education programs and an increased concern over childhood obesity, which is expected to continue the growth for personal trainers and weight-training gyms for children. With all this growth trainers, over the coming years, can expect to experience a surge in clientele.

So with all this “expected” wave of booming business how can you make sure you aren’t swept away? Client management! As business begins to increase trainers will need a way to stay connected and on top of their clients’ activities. This I found to be an important component to the growth of a personal training business.

Most of my teenage years have been spent working out and training with trainers, and I never seemed to pay attention to the business aspect of it. Now working with a company that helps personal trainers, I was able to quickly notice the void in efficiency that has been in front of me for years. For years record keeping for my training was done in pencil and paper and placed in file cabinets as tall as me. Every time I came in for training I would waste time fishing for my record to track my workout for the day. Now how is that efficient?

Also during my first year of training, physical results, visually, in the first year of training were not drastic, I lacked the ability to see what I was actually gaining from my training. The only way to see my results visually would have been to create graphs of my progress, which would have taken hours. Once again, how is that efficient?

So with all the obvious inefficiencies of the personal training industry, it came quite naturally when I had to develop little advertising pitches for TrainingPal. And here are a few, let me know what you think!

Managing your clients’ information, both new and old, can help make your business more secure and organized. With efficient retrieval of records and contact information your time can be spent where it matters, training your clients! TrainingPal also offers you the ability to message your clients through our messaging system giving you the ability to constantly contact active users.

But what’s the rush? Why now sign up now? Well, stay ahead of the curve and up-to-date with the latest in fitness management! As the industry expands trainers should be able to accommodate the growth. With an online data system trainers won’t have to rush into storing their records but rather add as they go, causing their client list to grow, in a manageable way, alongside their industry.