There are many different ways to become a personal trainer so there is no absolute answer to how much it costs to become a personal trainer but the following is a good rule of thumb as to how much you can expect to spend to start up a personal fitness business or as a personal trainer in the UK.

Education, Training and Certification
Initially, you should budget about £3,000 to gain personal training qualifications. This will cover courses in first aid and the basic fitness training courses and entry level certifications.

After you’ve got your initial qualifications and you are up and running, you’ll need to keep your qualifications upto date and will almost certainly want to specialise in a particular subject for which further training, certifications and qualifications will be needed. The costs of vary and won’t be needed immediately but you should budget for them in your first year. Expect to pay several thousand pounds for each additional course.

Business Formation and Equipment Costs
When setting up as a freelance personal trainer or fitness instructor – as opposed to someone employed by a gym or health club – there will be business start up costs to consider. These will include office equipment such as desk, computer and phone, office supplies, personal training insurance and possibly company formation depending on the type and legal structure of company you chose.

You should budget around £2,000 to £5,000 for these items but if you have things like a computer or phone already or can make do without desks, chairs etc in the initial stages you could cut your initial costs even further.

Fitness Equipment
As a personal trainer you’ll need various items of gym and fitness equipment to use with your clients – the tools of your trade. It’s tempting and easy to go overboard on items such as mats, weights, bosu balls and the like and buy lots of different sizes but you don’t need that much just to get started and as someone already into personal fitness you’ll probably have many of these items already.

What you will need however are items such as heart monitors and tape measures which you may not already have. My article what equipment do personal trainers need will give you all the information on the needed equipment.

Bottom Line: The start-up costs for your start-up business
In summary, you can get away with spending very little to start up a fitness business and this is especially true if you already have basic equipment (computer, exercise equipment and a vechicle). It’s one of the attractions of this sector that no significant start-up costs are necessary to begin trading. Indeed, I know quite a few fitness professionals who started up without spending a penny, using equipment they had at home and their contacts to get started and who have now grown very profitable businesses from these humble roots.

In the end, if you’re strapped for cash and are confident you can make your business work in the early stages with what you have there’s nothing to stop you and once you have a steady income you can then start to budget for the items, courses and equipment needed. Alternatively, you could approach a bank for a business start-up loan but you’ll need to demonstrate you have clear business plan and the skills and expertise to make it work.

Other articles on becoming a personal trainer you may find helpful:

• The top 5 must read books to become a successful personal trainer
• How much do personal trainers earn
• What certification & qualifications do personal trainers need?

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