Are you a Personal Trainer, or studying Personal Training?
Have you ever wanted to offer more to your clients?
If you answered yes, then you should definitely see what Courtney a Personal trainer located on the Sunshine Coast had to say about combining the two qualifications and how amazing they work together to achieve not only your client’s goals, but give you the edge providing the best experience and overall outcomes for your clients.
Value in combining Massage and Personal Training
Having a qualification that includes massage, taping, sports massage, injury prevention and rehabilitation, in conjunction with the Personal Training qualifications work hand in hand, as Courtney states that these two together adds additional skill sets, and assists in understanding the body’s anatomy when performing PT sessions.
Courtney states that people underestimate the importance of efficient movement patterns for overall joint health I think this qualification in conjunction with personal training will assist in developing an understanding. Further to this, these skills combined will assist to prevent injury.
Why would you want to have the dual qualification?
As a Personal Trainer currently working with clients daily, Courtney outlines that by having to two qualifications, she could use these skills for business and personal growth and development and being a step ahead of others. Also, being able to trigger point and demonstrate results instantly will increase client understanding of their overall health and wellbeing.
Courtney outlines that with the two qualifications she can offer a more balanced service and that her goal is to one day open her own business/centre which can offer Personal Training and group sessions, massage and nutrition.
How massage therapy can grow your personal training business by 300%+
Speak to many dual qualified PT/Remedial Massage therapists and they will all tell you that having both skill sets, sets you apart from your competitors, builds a stronger wider, sustainable business and give you variety each day as well as opening up a new market of clients who are looking to claim their health fund rebates. This is endorsed by the Australian institute of Fitness and many other PT, Sport and Fitness related industries.
Having both elements will almost guarantee a boost to your personal training business. Many PT’s have down time during the day; They are at capacity from 5am- 9am then again from 4pm -7pm in most cases. Having the dual skill set allows you to be making $80/hour from 9am – 4pm; this equates to 6 x $480 extra a day! That’s $2400 additional earning capacity a WEEK!
How to help your personal training clients train harder and recover faster with massage therapy
“Most people see themselves going into the gym and working their muscles hard and think the harder you work the more benefit you’ll get from it. But you want to recover as rapidly as possible from that exercise activity — because after recovery, the body adapts to the stimulation you’ve given it. The adaption is a stronger, healthier body in all the body’s physiological systems.
Massage therapy is a recovery technique recommended on a regular basis. When you’re massaging, you’re affecting the underlying biochemistry of the body. Not just the muscles, the central nervous and endocrine systems and every other system are affected by massage therapy.
Even most personal trainers aren’t aware of the effect of massage on the lymphatic system. One by product of fat metabolization is water. Water is removed through the lymphatic system. If that system is sluggish, the water pools between muscles and you will feel puffy. Massage helps in getting the lymphatic system to drain that excess fluid.”
Jim Bell, PhD, is the founder and CEO of the International Fitness Professionals Association and its two subsidiaries, Doctor’s Fitness Centers and The Fitness Institute of Technology. He has authored 12 books, 68 certification courses for the IFPA, six Fellowship Modules for the American Boards for Kinesiology, Nutrition and Sports Medicine, one certification program for the American College of Anti-Aging Sports Medicine Professionals and hundreds of articles for numerous publications.
As a PT you may have experienced clients cancelling or postponing PT sessions due to soreness or injury, this means a reduction on income and sue to cancelling with short notice it can difficult to fill that timeslot meaning that you may be sitting amount for up to an hour. Does this sound familiar, it’s a real gripe that mots PTs we speak to have with their clients and industry. Imagine converting that cancellation to a remedial massage service instead and your diary remain full. You now have the ability to have a full diary with little to no cancellations as you have skills that other Personal Trainers may not.
To assist your clients to train, prevent injury and recover will ensure your clients will be committed to their program with you from the start setting them up for a long sustainable partnership. Rest assured there will be times where client illness and other priorities will mean that you will experience some weekly cancellations. Industry average states that a PT should expect cancellations of at least 2-one hour session in a weekly schedule that contains 25 scheduled hours of training. Imagine how great this could be if you could turn that cancellation into a Remedial or even Relaxation Massage instead of a cancellation.
The Massage Therapist program at Demi International has been specifically designed to give you a specialised skills in strapping/fitness/sports and business and workshop designed to lead you into a personal training business. you could very well start boosting business right away. Combine the two where your client gets both; a great PT session followed by recovery massage all in the one session. It’s a fantastic way to ensure client retention and a new revenue stream to your personal training business.
Massage can be the best way to help with a speedy recovery post training. It has been proven to assist PT clients who have DOMS and are chronically tight and need more range of motion through stretching and recovery and therefore better assist their performance in the gym.
How great would it be for you to apply certain pre-training massage techniques before the workout as well as after to aid in recovery. Your clients will move better, with less pain and get results faster as their body’s getting looked after.
How to work less personal training hours and earn more by offering massage therapy to your clients
Massage therapists and PTs have many elements of their learning throughout their respective qualifications cross over; leaving the gap from one qualification to the other very small. You may start with a HLT52015 Diploma of Remedial Massage then do a Certificate III in Personal Training to Vice Versa; however, massage therapists mostly go through personal training largely due to the fact that when doing massage therapy, they do it one-on-one — and do one-on-one training in personal training as well.
The Dual Massage Therapist/Personal Fitness Trainer (MT/PFT) practice has always been a popular career path over the past 25 years; this is increasing even more recently with the support of the Health Funds who offer rebates for Remedial Massage Therapy which is seen as a great preventative to injury and illness.
It is estimated that 10-15% of people in the industry do both, massage therapy and personal training. The reasons for the crossover for both career fields are typically expressed as:
- Both fields are complementary health care modalities designed to help, not hinder, individuals.
- Both fields rely on the body’s own ability to heal itself, instead of relying on pharmaceutical drug therapies.
- Both attract the same type of people ; those who enjoy helping people live longer, healthier and happier lives.
- Both career fields attract the same type of clientele: Clients who are interested in generating their own sense of health and wellbeing.
In either career field, once the necessary level of rapport has been developed, it is relatively easy for a massage therapist to enhance their clients’ health and wellbeing by taking advantage of their additional personal training services.
Clients may only have one massage therapy session per week but would easily consider taking three to four personal training sessions per week from their PT. Why not be the person who can provide 5 services a week to your current clients?
Personal training and massage go hand in hand because they are both health care modalities; both prevent your need from having to go to a doctor. If I could wave a magic wand and get every man, woman and child in the world on a nutrition and exercise plan, you may think that 90 percent of all drug prescription use would go away in a year.
The reason people have heart disease, cancer and other diseases are related to lack of fitness.
Already, many evidenced-based medical researchers are proving the safety and efficacy of exercise prescriptions as a far superior modality over the typical drug prescriptions. These include evidence presented in major medical journals.
The only known way to reverse Type 2 diabetes was to increase muscle mass. The truly great news in this research was that this reversal occurred after the very first strength training session and every session thereafter.
Exercise and nutrition prescriptions have proven more effective than drug prescriptions for treating patients with anxiety, stress, depression, suicidal thoughts and other mental health issues.
The 7 ways to grow your personal training business with massage therapy
What I am going to identify for you are the 7 best ways you can start seeing growth and an increase in revenue in your PT business with Remedial Massage; these can immediately implement and are proven to provide a return on investment!
- TESTIMONIALS
It’s a great idea to get as many of your current clients that you can to write you some 5 star reviews and testimonials. You can then use these great endorsements to advertise your skills, give trust and credibility to strangers and give your business legitimacy.
Remember, you’re a stranger to a new client. They want to be reassured that you’re going to do a good job.
Fond Be afraid to ask! The only way you’ll receive a glowing client testimonial is to ask. Don’t be shy. Before you start sharing these just get your client’s permission so they are aware you will be sharing these.
- EDUCATE OTHERS ON THE BENEFITS OF MASSAGE THERAPY & Vice Versa
A great marketing tactic is to be a subject matter expert and position yourself as a thought leader in your area. When it comes to massage therapy, this could be some knowledge-based content that is valuable to new clients to give you some credibility. You could send to them content, how to, did you know….. prior to booking a consultation or re use some videos that you share on social media.
By creating useful, informative and educational content about topics your services relate to – for example ‘how massage can help you sleep’ – and then sharing them on your social media channels, you’re showing, rather than telling, that you know your stuff.
Be careful though people don’t want to be told, they want to be informed. And they want this information to be neutral and authentic.
- ADVERTISE WITH REMARKETING
Try some remarketing; It’s basically a second chance to advertise your business, repeatedly getting your name in front of people.
This occurs by using Google Ads or Facebook to advertise, cross-sell or nurture your audience. Essentially speaking, remarketing ads are shown to people who have visited your website. For example, following a visit to your blog to read an educational article, the reader will see an advertisement for your services on their Facebook feed.
Before they read your article, the person was a cold audience as they were not familiar with your business. Once they read it and know who you are, they become a warm audience. Therefore they’re more likely to book a session with you or enquire once they see a remarketing ad because they’re familiar with your expertise in massage therapy.
- CREATE A WEBSITE FOR YOUR BUSINESS
Having a website not only gives potential clients a place to visit to explore your services before speaking to you, it also gives your business more credibility. You want your website to be a true reflection of your business so it is important to keep it up to date. This includes, putting fresh content and images on your website regularly, advertising any offers you may have on, and updating your services, location and contact details. Having links to your business’ social media channels is a great way to gain more followers, and uploading testimonials from your clients is a great way to showcase the amazing work you do.
- START A BLOG
Now you don’t need to be the best writer, but by providing your clients more value by sharing relevant and informative information about massage therapy, your personal philosophies, and everyday tips to achieve better health and well being, you’ll be more likely to keep them on your books in the long run. You could publish articles about the benefits of massage therapy or how you can overcome a common injury, or DOMS with regular massages. Publishing a regular blog will also help boost your website’s local search results and establish you as a professional in the field – win win!
6. NETWORK & Attend Industry Events
If you want to stand out from other Massage Therapists, you need to show your personality and create relationships with your clients. This is where social media can be a powerful tool as visual marketing is important and allows businesses to develop unique, personal brands online. Remember – while social media is great, nothing beats face to face relationships building.
Business’ who promote themselves and keep up to date with the industry tend to do a lot better than those who do not. Find out what’s going on in our industry and community and be a part of it, even if you can only attend one event every six months – it is better than nothing.
7. LOOK AFTER YOUR CURRENT CLIENTS & CReate a Referall Campaign
While building your business, yes, getting more clients will increase your income, but maintaining your customers is just as important. So as soon as you bring clients on, you need to remind them that building a relationship with you comes with great benefits. Try offering exclusive deals to customers who like your Facebook page. Consider launching a raffle on Instagram, where everyone who shares or comments is entered for the chance at a discounted massage. Get creative and remember that adding incentives to your marketing can boost your reach exponentially. People want to feel special, and if you help them feel that way, they’re more likely to become repeat customers or even recommend you to their friends and family.
All good relationships benefit both parties involved, so when your clients refer your services onto a friend or family member, or when they share contact details of someone who could be a potential client – make sure you are giving something back such as a discounted or even a free massage!
Benefits of Dual Massage/PT Skills
One great health benefit to a Remedial Massage Therapist/ PT is avoiding wear and tear on your body. Many career massage therapists develop joint problems in the fingers, wrists, arms and backs. The combined career path enables you to give your joints a rest while increasing your income.
In addition to not just to saving your joints and increasing your income but imagine the difference you may make to enhance the lives of the men, women and children in our communities.
Massage therapists Demi International have had the pleasure of educating are a caring group of people who truly want to help people. We would love to see you further assist the community to pick up the mantle of personal training to help more people.
BECOME A Qualified REMEDIAL MASSAGE THERAPIST
Ready to take the next step in your career as a qualified massage therapist? Demi International offers an Accredited Remedial Massage courses certified by all 4 major health funds and we aim to provide our students with a highly practical skill based, well rounded and best value for money education.
07 5309 6635
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