Best Online Personal Trainer Certification

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Best Online Personal Trainer Certification

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There has never been a better time to invest in a certification as an online personal trainer. 

Not only is the industry as a whole earmarked for expansion — the BLS forecasts a 13% growth rate through 2028 — but the success of brands like Peloton, Mirror, and other online fitness options showcase America’s desire for convenient and at-home training. 

Couple this with the closure and uncertain future of many gyms due to coronavirus and you have a cocktail of opportunity for those trainers who are able to adapt to the times.

That said, it may seem like a no-brainer to get an Online Personal Trainer Certification but therein lies the question: what is the best online personal trainer certification and which is right for me?

Luckily for you, Fitness Mentors has done the heavy lifting for you and compiled this list of the best personal training certifications based on the following objective criteria:

  • Accreditation: third-party certifying bodies who ensure the health, safety, and standards for the industry.
  • Price: the costs associated with the online CPT cert.
  • Mentorship Structure: the interaction you can expect with mentors.
  • Primary Focus of Education: the primary educational focus you can expect from a particular certification.
  • Program Duration: how long the program takes to complete.
  • Location of Certification: the country the certification derives from.
  • Sign-up Process: what can you expect from the sales and onboarding process.

Today we’ll be looking at these popular online personal trainer certification options:

But before we begin, let’s distinguish some very important characteristics of online personal training certifications and personal trainer certifications you can get online. 

Online Personal Trainer Certification VS Personal Trainer Certification Online 

Our focus today is on online personal trainer certifications, or certifications that help you learn how to train clients online. Personal trainer certifications online refer to the standard in-person personal training certifications with online study options. An example of the latter would be the Fitness Mentors Certified Personal Trainer course, a class dedicated to certify trainers with the needed credential to train in-person clients.

Now that we are all clear on the differences between the two, let’s learn more about the best online personal training certifications. 

Related: How to Become an Online Personal Trainer

Accreditation

Accreditation is one of the most important aspects for personal trainer certifications as it sets the stage for trust and authority. Without an accreditation, trainers (and clients) won’t really know if any professional organization has reviewed the certification curriculum to determine its efficacy. 

For consumers, this also ensures their online trainer has gone through the required education to ensure their success and safety. There are certain limitations that exist with an online training environment and a certification helps trainers safely deal with those challenges through additional perspective and understanding of variables — such as form, injury prevention, and communication — that don’t exist as clearly via online mediums.

As it stands today, Fitness Mentors is the only company nationally recognized by the National Board of Fitness Examiners (NBFE), or any other esteemed certification body, to offer an online personal training certification.

Unfortunately, all other online training programs are not third-party reviewed or certified. This is partly due to the fact that online personal training is so new and likely due to the fact that a third-party accreditation is not free for a certification body. Thirdly, most online personal trainer courses are not steeped in science backed information but rather marketability, which makes them unlikely candidates for a third-party accreditation.

Personal Trainer Takeaway: A online personal trainer certification is not a requirement to coach online, however, it does showcase the quality and credibility of a certification as it relates to the trainers and the emphasis on science, business/marketing skills and a college-level curriculum. If this is important to you, the Fitness Mentors Certified Online Personal Trainer is an ideal choice.

Price

The Price includes the cheapest study option and final exam, where relevant. Keep in mind, however, that each of these products is not a formal certification, some are geared to be marketing tools above all else. They are noted accordingly.

Fitness Mentors: $699. Option to add a weekly mentorship program for $199/month.

TribeFit: $3,500 (3 month coaching program). Not a certification.

Online Trainer Academy: $799 for shortened course and $1,999 for complete course. Also offer level 2 Mentorship for a Monthly fee (Estimated at $400-$1000 per month)

Online Trainers Federation: Their bare bones intro course (not a certification), OC 101, is $199. It only runs twice per year, with the goal to upgrade you to the Elite which is estimated to run $300 – $600 per month.

PT Distinction University: Various courses with a la carte pricing. $1,100 for complete course package. Not a Certification.

Personal Trainer Takeaway: There are a lot of options for courses and the depth of the educational options are reflected in the costs. If you are just looking for one-off courses on very specific knowledge, the PT Distinction University has the lowest barrier to entry in terms of cost. You’ll sacrifice depth of knowledge here, however. If you are looking for in-depth knowledge from the ground up on how to become an online trainer, create a business, and market it, the most comprehensive courses are the Fitness Mentors COPT and Online Trainer Academy.

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What Cert is Best for You?

We designed this quiz to help you choose the perfect certification based on your learning style and goals.

Mentorship Structure

Today’s trainers may feel a bit overwhelmed when trying to take in all the components of online training. In addition to knowledge in program design, physiology, injury prevention, and client achievement, certain aspects of online training can be particularly challenging.

For example, learning how to set up your business for online training, taking your business online if you have existing in-person clients, learning how to generate online leads, and caring for clients via online mediums can be a struggle for many trainers unaccustomed to these challenges. 

Each program may have different approaches in terms of access to mentors versus having students solely rely on the digital assets they are provided. 

The Fitness Mentors Certified Online Personal Trainer has roots in college-level curriculum creation and has established real trainers as mentors into its program. In addition to access to instructors via phone or email, students can also leverage Facebook support groups to ask questions and help them gain real-world understanding of course contents.

TribeFit is thought to provide email access to a competitor. It was difficult to find any info on the site. 

The Online Trainer Academy also provides direct access to fitness business mentors via online chat and phone, as well as engagement with Facebook. Their Level 2 appears to have a weekly mentorship call, but exact information is not posted on their site.

Online Trainers Federation: Students have access to a Facebook group with non-paying students and paid students as well as the option for a weekly call that is only included in the Elite Program. Difficult to find any info on the site.

PT Distinction University has little to no mentor interaction as it seems the entire suite of coursework is built into their bundles or modules.

Personal Trainer Takeaway: The concept of online personal training can be daunting for some and access to real mentors invaluable in determining success. For trainers who are interested in a legit point of contact that is dedicated to your understanding of important concepts, opt for a certification with access to mentorship. 

Primary Focus of Education

As you can imagine, there is a lot of overlap in terms of some of the education you’ll take away from each course. Rather than focusing on the similarities, below is an overview of what makes each program unique: Fitness Mentors Certified Online Personal Trainer: Fitness Mentors’ COPT goes in-depth on business structure and learning how to build and sell an online business based on one of the six business models online trainers use (or the combination of the six). Additionally, they provide info and all templates on nutrition programs, online assessments, structuring memberships, affiliate programs, and other monetization models. Also included are brandable program design templates so you can start training immediately online. TribeFit: TribeFit’s focus is on marketing your business and building out your online training sales funnel. Difficult to find any further info on the site. Online Trainer Academy: OTA provides access to a physical textbook (digital as well) that some students really like. Their course also includes sales scripts, social media scripts and other documents that you can use to operate your business. Online Trainers Federation: OTF is geared towards health and fitness professionals that have experience with in-person clients but want to help scale their business to service online clients. They admittedly mention that if you are not a coach already, the program probably is not for you. PT Distinction University: PTDU provides students access to modules they can leverage as they see fit. A particularly unique option is the course with access to previously recorded webinars from fitness gurus. Personal Trainer Takeaway: Each trainer is unique in their approach and goal with online personal training. Those that want a ground-up baseline for building and scaling their business should go for one of the programs that focus on all aspects of online training such as FM COPT or the OTA. If you are a trainer that is more concerned with marketing an existing online business then TribeFit, OTF, or PTDU may be a better fit.

Program Duration

Program duration refers to how much time it takes to complete the course or the investment of learning you can expect from each course.

  • Fitness Mentors: 60-80 hours or one to two months, self-paced.
  • TribeFit: 3 months
  • Online Trainer Academy: 32 hours of content, self-paced.
  • Online Trainers Federation: 2 weeks for OC 101 introductory course. Elite course is continuous weekly meetings.
  • PT Distinction University: A la carte courses with varying lengths, self-paced.

Personal Trainer Takeaway: Consider the length of the course into your final decision as it relates to how quickly you may be able to monetize online training. However, consider that the more knowledge-rich courses will obviously demand a greater time investment for good reason.

Location of Certification

The Location of Certification refers to the country where the certifying company is located.

Fitness Mentors: USA

TribeFit: AUS

Online Trainer Academy: Canada

Online Trainers Federation: Canada

PT Distinction University: UK

Sign-up Process

We found that many courses have a considerable amount of salemenship involved in the sign-up process. Some students interviewed did not like that they were pressured to purchase a course via a sales call and preferred the straightforward approach of an easy checkout process. In the Online Training Education industry sales calls are used for very high ticket products to try and build the most value. 

  • Fitness Mentors: Open enrollment, start when ready, proceed at your own pace. No pushy sales calls.
  • TribeFit: Introductory call and then a sales call.
  • Online Trainer Academy: Open enrollment, start when ready, proceed at your own pace. No pushy sales calls.
  • Online Trainers Federation: Enrollment once every six months for intro course. Sales call required for the Elite program.
  • PT Distinction University: Open enrollment, start when ready, proceed at your own pace. No pushy sales calls.

Personal Trainer Takeaway: When it comes to the online world, many of us like it because it is convenient. Numerous students we spoke to strongly disliked having any sort of sales calls involved to get started with a course and preferred options where they could checkout online and interact with mentors on an as-needed basis.

Online Personal Trainer Certification FAQ

How do I become an online personal trainer?

To become an online personal trainer it is advisable to first have a certification in personal training. Then, it is up to you to choose the type of online training you want to offer clients and how to market your services.

How much should I charge for online personal training?

The amount you charge for online personal training greatly depends on the service you offer, your experience as a trainer, competitor rates, the economy, the target population of your services, and your cost to train a client.

How big is the online personal training and coaching space?

There are 330,000 personal training jobs forecast in the US by 2026. The exact number practicing online training is unknown.

What is the most effective approach to starting an online personal training business?

The best approach to starting an online personal training business is to transition your existing in-person clients over to online clients. This allows you to get better at online training and expand your existing services to further monetize existing clients rather than starting from scratch.

Is online training as good as in-person training?

Online training has many advantages over in-person training including: time-savings, flexibility, recording options, cheaper training sessions for clients, sharing of digital assets (meal plans, DIY workout programs, etc). They are different but can be equally effective in terms of client  results.

So What is the Best Online Personal Trainer Certification?

The best online personal trainer certification is the one that is best for you. Each course has its own unique product position as well as educational focus. Some focus on the full stack of knowledge you’d want to know about understanding the industry, focusing on a niche, and building a business from scratch. Others assume you already have training experience and are just adding another element to your offerings in the digital space. Other certs focus extensively on marketing and bypass business development fundamentals altogether.

At the end of the day the choice is a subjective one. You have to ask yourself what you want to get out of an online personal training certification and then find the course that works best for your specific goals.

If you have any questions about any of the courses we covered or want to provide some suggestions based on your experiences with the course, please leave them in the comments below.

Instructor

CEO of fitnessmentors.com – Teaching 30,000+ students how to become CPT’s


BS Kinesiology, NASM-CPT, CES, PES FNS, MMAS, WLS, FM-CPT, ACE-CPT, Master Personal Trainer

Eddie Lester is the founder and CEO of Fitness Mentors. With more that 17 years experience in the health, fitness and athletics field, he has helped tens of thousands of personal trainers transform their careers and reach their business goals. With a background in Kinesiology and Exercise Physiology Eddie has assisted in research that is spearheading the exercise science field.

His in-depth knowledge of the Health, Wellness and Fitness industry has earned him a place as a regular contributor on high profile sites such as the Personal Trainer Development Center, (Dan to list top sites) online where he writes about nutrition and personal training.

His contributions to help personal trainers include a weekly blog, podcast, youtube channel and multiple books including: Business and Sales: the Guide to Success as a Personal Trainer.

Eddie’s Philosophy often times includes focusing on the bigger picture in which daily positive contributions lead to a major impact on himself, his family, his community and the world.

Eddie is commonly found at the beaches of Southern California with his wife Courtney and five kids.

Table of Contents

Comparing Online Trainer Academy VS Fitness Mentors Certified Online Personal Trainer: what’s the best online personal training certification?

Online-Trainer-Academy-VS-FM-COPT

Comparing Online Trainer Academy VS Fitness Mentors Certified Online Personal Trainer:

What’s the best online personal training certification?

An online personal training certification can be one of the most important pieces of education you’ll receive in your online business. With a structured course like the Online Trainer Academy or the Fitness Mentors Certified Online Personal Trainer you’ll have a good idea of how to monetize this hot trend in fitness and make money while you sleep.

In terms of what you’ll learn and what you’ll take away from each program, there are some major differences. Each program has its own strengths, so before you choose one it pays to understand which might be the best for you.

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What to know about the Online Trainer Academy and the Fitness Mentors
Certified Online Personal Trainer courses

The Online Trainer Academy (OTA) was the first of its kind and has built its reputation on the back of the Personal Trainer Development Center (thePTDC) website and its founder, Jonathan Goodman, a leading voice in the personal training industry for helping trainers succeed. The course includes video lecture presentations as well as textbook reading. The contents of the course are well-regarded for mindset management and overcoming mental roadblocks.

The Fitness Mentors Certified Online Personal Trainer (FM COPT) course is a 100% online, cutting edge course built by leading fitness education site Fitness Mentors. The head instructor, Eddie Lester, created the site based on years of experience as a trainer and college instructor teaching certifications. The course is centered around helping trainers determine the best type of business model to utilize, provides real mentorship from actual online trainers, a Facebook support group, and promises to teach the true application of online training concepts.

1

Cost

Online Trainer Academy has one package with two payment options: pay in full at $1,999 or use their 6-month payment plan for $366 a month (or $2,196).

Fitness Mentors COPT course offers two pricing tiers of $699 and $1,299, both considerably less expensive than the OTA. The $699 package, Online Trainer Pro, also offers a payment plan of $266 a month for 3 months (or $798). This package includes the final exam, a digital textbook, lecture video presentations, audio book lectures, actionable assignments, bonus learning videos, business templates, templates from other successful online trainers, and an online support group. 

The more intensive of the packages, Online Trainer Elite with Live Online 6 Week Course, offers everything in the Online Trainer Pro package with live online classes. It also includes a 6-week live online business course, and lifetime online trainer career mentorship.

Comparing the OTA and the FM COPT on price

For the price conscious trainer, the FM Online Trainer Pro comes in at full $1,300 cheaper than the OTA product and provides a certification that is recognized by the National Board of Fitness Examiners. This makes the OTA course almost three times more expensive. 

2

Overall education comparison

The core of the OTA course is based on video presentations and accompanying textbook reading. In all, there are about 14 hours of content where students will watch a video lecture and engage in some chapter reading. One-on-one feedback is available to fitness business mentors via online chats.

The OTA course is comprised of five modules:

  1. Getting Started- Determining what sets you apart from competitors; deciding what to charge; how to get your first few online clients.
  2. Structuring Your Business- Process-driven education on how to setup your online PT business, done-for-you intake forms, legal documents, etc.
  3. Taking Care of Clients- How to take care of clients and deliver great results.
  4. How to Get Clients- Learning how to teach clients about how you deliver results.
  5. Bonus: Skills Module- Tutorials on sales copy, online marketing, product packaging and pricing, and hiring.

OTA also has some additional coursework on Facebook/Instagram, and website success.

The FM COPT course is 100% online, includes over 60 hours of content including video lectures, slide presentations, actionable assignments, and chapter reading. The coursework was created by PhDs, college professors, and active online personal trainers. The active phone number is also a selling point for students who want to be able to ask questions to a live person on the fly.

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The FM COPT is made up of five major learning sections:

  1. Prepare Your Business- Step-by-step instructions for starting an online business and creating services to be successful online.
  2. Take Your Business Online- Educational principles on how to transition your business from in-person training to online training. 
  3. Generate Leads to Grow Your Business- Learning skills on digital marketing such as Content creation, SEO, web design, social media, and paid advertising. 
  4. Convert Sales- Learning how to utilize your own sales personality to set efficient pricing and close sales.
  5. Care for Your Clients- Retaining clients is of utmost importance to a successful online PT business. This section teaches best practices for supporting your clients and generating consistent income.

Comparing the OTA and the FM COPT on education

There are some overlapping principles contained in both programs as to be expected. Both aim to prepare you for online training and how to setup your business for maximum efficiency and marketing. The learning materials of the OTA are about 14 hours, where the learning materials of the FM-COPT are around 60 hours. The FM-COPT also has a great deal more logical course progression given that it is created by former college professors, PhD’s, and those intertwined with professional course development. Further, the active phone number for the FM-COPT(424-675-0476) and online Facebook group makes it easy for students to engage with teachers and their peers.

Both courses also provide turn-key assets that allow the trainer to quickly on-board clients. FM COPT has 12 premade online training programs, 12 premade nutrition programs, and whitelabeled templates so you can easily add your branding and info to every program. The OTA has these types of assets as well, but they are mostly based in Google Docs (Google Survey’s, Google Sheets, etc). 

3

Course duration

The OTA website says that the course can be finished in 8-12 weeks with 3-5 hours of study time each week. There are no completion deadlines and lifetime access is provided. In short, the program is self-paced.

The FM-COPT can be completed in one month if 2-3 hours of aggressive studying are done each day. This approach is not for everyone, but is an option for those trainers who want to learn business skills quickly. A 1-2 month completion is recommended by Fitness Mentors as they say it is more compact in nature and provides the best opportunity for optimal comprehension.

Comparing the OTA and the FM COPT on course duration

Both courses can be completed quickly, however, Fitness Mentors has a study timeline that allows completion in one month. It is likely that both courses should be completed within 8 weeks for optimal comprehension.

4

Final exams

The OTA course is made up of five modules before getting to the final exam. Each module has 7-10 chapters, and they are followed by four bonus mini courses. The final is 60 questions, with a passing score of 75% or higher required to graduate. Any retakes after the first test are $50 per test.

The FM COPT is built more along the lines of what you’d expect from a well-designed college course, with step-by-step curriculum, and a career application as the primary focus. This leads up to an exam with 50 multiple choice questions. A score of 70% or better is required to receive the certification, and two exam attempts are provided. Failure to pass the exam on the first two attempts will result in a retest fee of $50.   

Comparing the OTA and the FM COPT on exam

The biggest takeaway with the exams is that the FM COPT places more emphasis on a National Board of Fitness Examiners recognition, and an exam to reinforce the true takeaway of the concepts. Both are around the same number of questions, although the COPT allows two chances before a retake fee and the OTA only one. 

5

What trainers think

The OTA has been around for a bit longer than the FM COPT and has a great deal of reviews with lots of high praise. Trainers that like mindset management and mental toughness types of learning will enjoy the OTA course. Further, the OTA provides a good number of premade templates, questionnaires, and resources to help trainers get started engaging with clients right away.

Trainers who transition from in-person training full or part-time love the Fitness Mentors COPT. It is the only program that teaches trainers about all six of the possible models of online training and provides education in a college-like, yet user-friendly, setting that allows trainers to build an online business, scale it, and market it. 

Comparing the OTA and the FM COPT on what trainers think

Trainers are trustworthy of products that come out of thePTDC/Jonathon Goodman camp because they know their/his materials to be well-respected in the industry. However, trainers who opt for the cheaper, new kid on the block FM COPT are pleasantly surprised on how the former college instructors have a knack for making students truly comprehend what they’re taught.

6

Adoption & reviews

Online Trainer Academy

Common reviews from around the web mention some similar strengths and weaknesses of the OTA course. There are also a lot of affiliate relationships with the OTA course meaning many online reviewers are getting paid should their review lead you to a sale of the OTA product. These reviews are obviously going to be a bit more biased and in favor of all things OTA.

The strengths of the program, as exemplified in this review, are the multiple learning formats — digital portal, physical textbooks, and video — that the OTA provides. This student in particular mentions he got a textbook sent to him in Thailand for no extra charge. 

Another reviewer said the course paid for itself within three months of graduating. They also said the OTA course makes no illusions that online training is not easy, which they appreciated. On the negative side, this reviewer said the fact that the course has no deadlines may make it difficult for some people to complete it, something that other reviewers mentioned as well.

Other negatives on the OTA from reviewers cite that there is not enough guidance on the information provided. On the plus side, there is a lot of good info, however, some graduates felt that it was hard to know what to do without guidance on all that information.

Fitness Mentors Certified Online Personal Trainer

Reviewers of the FM COPT praise it for providing real person mentorship and support groups to talk application over with Fitness Mentors’ employees or a peer group. Reviewers also liked the various different digital learning formats Fitness Mentors provides such as the — digital textbook, videos, audio books, business templates, and support groups. 

The FM COPT has also received acclaim for providing actionable advice on how to transition clients over to a hybrid model of in-person and online before going all-in with online training. Further, the structuring of the course contents to identify step-by-step how to create an online business that is based on your interests in fitness and wellness was also praised. 

The shortcomings of the FM COPT are brand awareness of the certification. Trainers thought that clients would not place much merit in it. Another negative of the FM COPT mentioned by one reviewer was the lack of a physical textbook. 

Comparing the OTA and the FM COPT on adoption and reviews

Overall, there are no glaring negative reviews with either course. Students of either course may be surprised how in-depth the curriculum is and how much there is to learn about online training. For many students, having access to support groups or mentors was highly valued and where the OTA fell short. For the FM COPT, its freshness to the market may turn some trainers off who are more familiar with thePTDC brand. 

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Overall verdict:
Comparing the Online Trainer Academy VS Fitness Mentors Certified Online Personal Trainer

For new trainers: It’s a draw, as the OTA is great at motivation and the FM COPT understands the psychology of teaching better than most fitness bodies.

For seasoned trainers: FM COPT, as the program has a focus on transitioning existing trainers to savvy online trainers.

For those with an existing web presence: FM COPT, as the program goes more in-depth with the various types of online businesses, or combinations of them, you can start. It also has brandable templates you can leverage immediately to sell and provide instantly to clients. These templates include complete fitness programs for all goals which allows you to focus on client care and acquisition as opposed to programming. 

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How to Become an Online Personal Trainer in 2024

How to become an online personal trainer in 2021

Chances are, if you are considering this niche you are attracted to it because there is no income ceiling. Online personal training works while you sleep, doesn’t care how many hours there are in a day, and doesn’t put you in a box that forces you to focus on time as an income limiting factor.

Simply put, online personal training as a business model is scalable. 

Creating online training service offerings that help people achieve their fitness and health goals, but do not require a ton of time, allow you to gain back that ever so important personal and financial freedom. 

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Watch Our Video: How to Become an Online Personal Trainer in 2024

 

So, this sounds fantastic doesn’t it? Of course it does, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. 

Today we will learn how to become an online personal trainer, the six different types of online personal training business models, touch on some online personal training revenue streams that you may want to consider, and learn a little about online personal trainer software.

But first, let’s define exactly what an online personal trainer is.

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What Cert is Best for You?

We designed this quiz to help you choose the perfect certification based on your learning style and goals.

What is an Online Personal Trainer?

An Online Personal Trainer is someone who enhances the health and fitness of others through internet-based technological mediums.

The definition of an online trainer is very broad, and to be frank, it is supposed to be. Online personal trainers can do the things that are normally associated with personal trainers — improve fitness levels, body image, health, and performance — all online.

With today’s technology, trainers can literally train anyone, from anywhere, at anytime. This gives every personal trainer an additional medium to earn money and increase their personal and financial freedom by creating an online personal training business.

But before you train clients using online mediums you first have to become an online personal trainer.

4 Steps to Become an Online Personal Trainer (the right way)

There is a logical path that exists for you to become an online personal trainer. In fact, we’ve created an entire course around it. Let’s discuss how to become an online personal trainer while also assuming you are already a personal trainer.

1. Transition Your First Client Over to Online Training

Before you go head first into online training, my recommendation is to transition one of your in-person clients over to what is called the “hybrid personal training model.” The hybrid model is a blend of traditional personal training (in-person) along with online personal training (more on the online personal training business models below).

This gives you some experience working with clients online and allows you to begin to develop additional revenue-generating programs in the process. For example, you can take an in-person client and create a PDF workout plan for them to follow and interact with them via online mediums. In between in-person workouts you allow your client to follow your guide and regularly check-in with them via email, text message, phone, or some other method that allows for tracking and accountability.

If you like the freedoms this hybrid method of training affords you, you will likely want to learn how to scale it.

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What Cert is Best for You?

We designed this quiz to help you choose the perfect certification based on your learning style and goals.

2. Get an Online Personal Training Certification to Help Structure and Scale Your Online Business

Let’s get something out of the way as it concerns becoming an online personal trainer. You don’t actually NEED any special certification to sell or provide personal training services online.

But, and this is a strong but, would you trust a doctor that didn’t have a proper educational background? Would you let a dentist with no dental education work on your pearly whites?

A professional with credentials is important to the consumer, as it builds credibility and trust, and therefore it should be important to you as well. Earning an online personal trainer certification provides you insight into assisting your clients online, understanding business and program creation, scaling your business, and provides you with credentials that were created to enhance the lives of your clients while protecting their safety. In short, in helps to maintain the integrity of the personal training industry as a whole with a set of principles, guidelines, and recommendations that help both you and your clients succeed using this great medium.

So, while you can skip getting an online personal training certification, I highly recommend you start here before establishing yourself as an online personal trainer.

This portion of your education will also help to transition you into a larger role as an online personal trainer while also allowing you more personal and financial freedom, the hallmarks of the online personal training industry.

3. Start Building Additional Online Training Revenue Streams

If step one taught you how to gain experience using online training and the hybrid model, step three will be the part where you really scale your online business. In the Fitness Mentors Certified Online Personal Trainer certification (FM-COPT), you’ll learn the various assets you can build to help you sell personal training online. 

Online personal training really weighs heavily on business structure, and understanding how to structure your business from start to finish is very helpful for new online trainers. For example, learning how to leverage online PDFs, video libraries, client management platforms, and integrate them into your website are all educational paths you can learn the hard way or the easy way. The FM-COPT will show you how to start building these assets as well as your new online business model based on the six kinds of online business models I’ll explain more below.

After you begin to build out these additional revenue streams, it’s all about getting more clients online.

4. Get More Clients Online

At this final stage of becoming an online personal trainer you’ve now learned some of the ins and outs of online training with your experience with a hybrid model, you’ve gotten a certification that helps set some structure and shows you how to build assets out to sell more services, and now all you need to do to be more successful is to get more clients online. 

Notice I did not specifically mention marketing here as that is not the only way to get online personal training clients. There is an opportunity for you to bring your existing in-person clients over to your online suite of services and that is probably an easier transition than marketing itself. While marketing will eventually become an important part of scaling your business, I recommend using existing relationships to truly kickstart some of your online training while you laser focus your online business.

If you want some insight into marketing your business, check out our blog on personal trainer marketing and specifically some of the ideas that relate to websites or online services.

Read on to learn about the types of online personal training services can you offer.

Online Personal Trainer Business Models: The 6 Different Types of Online Personal Trainers

Coaching and training clients online can happen in countless unique ways but the starting point always remains the same: your goal is the focus on improving the health of your clients.

The way you set yourself up as an online personal trainer will dictate the ways you can make money online. It also will determine the amount of clients you can have.

These methods include:

  1. Private Personalized Online Training 
  2. Non-Personalized PDF Fitness Programs 
  3. Non-Personalized Video Fitness Programs
  4. Hybrid Online and In-Person Personal Training
  5. Live Video Chat Workouts Online 
  6. Online Group Personal Training

Let’s take a closer look at each variation to see how they create an online personal trainer business. As you read through these think about how they fit into your style of training and your personal interests for business development.

1. Private Personalized Online Training

The personalized element of personal training is retained in this type of online training, but the difference is this method is that the trainer does not work with the client in-person. Using various communication methods — phone, email, text, and especially software — the trainer provides their clients the tools and program needed to achieve a specific fitness goal. Using some of these same technological resources, the trainer is able to track client progress and ensure client success and retention.

2. Non-Personalized PDF Fitness Programs

Non-personalized PDF fitness programs are created by trainers for general or specific population types. These premade programs usually live on a website and are made available for download. This type of online training requires zero client interaction, but strong online marketing to help drive attention to the program and convince clients to make purchases. 

3. Non-Personalized Video Fitness Programs

Like the above PDF programs, these video programs also do not involve direct client interaction. Instead, trainers provide clients access to a video or a series of videos in which they can follow on their own.

4. Hybrid Online and In-Person Personal Training

The hybrid model is a mix of in-person personal training combined with online resources that allows trainers to provide hands-on services and reinforce them with online tools. These programs usually are more cost-effective for clients as they usually only see a trainer in-person a handful of times each month, and then are free to use the online resources to maintain their workouts on their own. This approach is a good starting point for trainers who are looking to transition clients from 100% in-person to a combination of in-person and online.

5. Live Video Chat Workouts Online

Live video chat or in-person online streaming is a form of training that allows a trainer and a client to see and interact with each other from their computers or mobile devices. A trainer who uses this tool can provide immediate feedback to clients on form, demonstrate exercises, and answer questions in real time. 

6. Online Group Personal Training

An extension of the above, innovative personal training software company gymGO also allows trainers the option to do one-on-one live streaming sessions or train and interact with larger groups of clients, all online. For example, trainers can hold a yoga, pilates, or other group fitness class and have the option to live stream it, record themselves and make their workouts on-demand via memberships. This potentially opens up the door for much larger revenue opportunities for trainers and this online training opportunity has been proven by Peloton with much success.

If you are looking at the above and are wondering if you can combine them together, you absolutely can. Just like in traditional in-person personal training there is nothing stopping you from adding additional services to your offerings. You just have to learn how to find the appropriate channels in which to deliver your services, market your business, and leverage software to your advantage.

In case you want some other ideas for how to monetize your online personal training business, consider some of the following to set yourself apart from other personal training businesses:

  • Nutritional Programs
  • Phone Consultations 
  • Weekly Phone Calls 
  • Email Support and Check Ins 
  • Online Assessments 
  • Memberships 
  • Affiliate Programs
  • Accountability Services

Considerations for Online Personal Trainer Software

If you are considering expanding your personal training business online one of the investments you’ll want to make will surely be software. Software will help manage your clients, help to deliver programs or services, automate specific tasks, house your documents or videos, and can even help with billing and payments.

Before you decide on a software you should first determine what features you need to run and operate your business. If there is one mistake I see too many trainers make it’s purchasing a software solely based on brands that they’ve heard of rather than features that they need.

Fitness Mentors’ view on online personal training software is that you should focus on finding something that saves you time. Having time allows you to scale your business and potentially make money while you sleep.

Another aspect of online personal training software to consider is how it will play into the evolution of personal training. For example, a recent article in the Wall Street Journal highlighted the trend in fitness for online training and on-demand and virtual, live streaming classes. Many of the existing online personal training softwares don’t allow trainers to leverage this, while newer technologies like gymGO are keeping up with the trainer of the future.

The point is, consider the services that you want to deliver, the demands from clients, the state of the personal training industry as a whole, and how software can help integrate all these aspects to help you scale your business. 

FAQs for How to Become an Online Personal Trainer

Any willing person can call themselves an online personal trainer, but just because they call themselves one doesn’t mean they are qualified. A true certified online personal trainer will understand health and safety protocols, program design, and more.

There are six primary ways in which online personal trainers can make money:

  1. Private Personalized Online Training
  2. Non-Personalized PDF Fitness Programs
  3. Non-Personalized Video Fitness Programs
  4. Hybrid Online and In-Person Personal Training
  5. Live Video Chat Workouts Online
  6. Online Group Personal Training

While there is no magic recipe for a profitable online personal training business, yes, online personal training can be very profitable. High profits for online personal trainers are particularly associated with those who can build a successful online presence, sell products or services through automated processes, and develop a scalable business model that is not contingent on the amount of hours in a day typically reserved for in-person training.

The most logical way to start an online personal training business is to transition existing in-person clients over to online clients. Creating online workout programs and giving in-person clients access is one of many examples that can be used to start an online personal training business.

Online personal trainers should charge according to their experience, the target population they are working with, and how much value they are bringing to their clients.

The Fitness Mentors Certified Online Personal Trainer (FM-COPT) is the only company nationally recognized by the NBFE (National Board of Fitness Examiners) to offer an Online Personal Training Certification.

How to Get Hands-on Training to Build Your Online Personal Training Business

Starting an online personal trainer business has its challenges. Deciding where to put your efforts for the best chance of success and developing strategies can be a bit overwhelming. 

This is why the Fitness Mentors Certified Online Personal Training certification was created. This program, which is also offered as a Week Mentorship, will provide you the insight into creating the business that works best for you while revealing the best strategies for transitioning to a full or part time online personal trainer. 

 

We encourage this through 5 Major learning sections: 

  • Prepare Your Business – Learn the necessary tasks needed to prepare your business and create services for online success. 
  • Take Your Business Online – Discover the strategies that transition your business to the online space. 
  • Generate Leads to Grow Your Business – Learn the marketing, advertising, and outreach techniques used for attracting an abundance of clients. 
  • Convert Sales – Dive deep into defining your sales personality and use it to set efficient pricing and close sales. 
  • Care for Your Clients – Understand the best practices for supporting your clients and retaining their business to provide yourself with financial freedom and consistent income. 

Choosing to take this path toward creating the career that you envision is an envious task. Your passion for success will shine through as you learn every step toward becoming a successful online personal trainer. 

This passion will allow you to establish yourself as a leader in this new and fast-evolving industry. 

You will be backed by and supported by the quality education provided in this certification course, with the credential to assist thousands of people in improving their health, performance and overall happiness. 

Give yourself credit for taking this step and mentally prepare yourself for the commitment of completing this course and creating the life you want. 

Learn more about the Fitness Mentors COPT today.

Instructor

CEO of fitnessmentors.com – Teaching 30,000+ students how to become CPT’s


BS Kinesiology, NASM-CPT, CES, PES FNS, MMAS, WLS, FM-CPT, ACE-CPT, Master Personal Trainer

Eddie Lester is the founder and CEO of Fitness Mentors. With more that 17 years experience in the health, fitness and athletics field, he has helped tens of thousands of personal trainers transform their careers and reach their business goals. With a background in Kinesiology and Exercise Physiology Eddie has assisted in research that is spearheading the exercise science field.

His in-depth knowledge of the Health, Wellness and Fitness industry has earned him a place as a regular contributor on high profile sites such as the Personal Trainer Development Center, (Dan to list top sites) online where he writes about nutrition and personal training.

His contributions to help personal trainers include a weekly blog, podcast, youtube channel and multiple books including: Business and Sales: the Guide to Success as a Personal Trainer.

Eddie’s Philosophy often times includes focusing on the bigger picture in which daily positive contributions lead to a major impact on himself, his family, his community and the world.

Eddie is commonly found at the beaches of Southern California with his wife Courtney and five kids.

Certified Online Personal Trainer

Online-Trainer-Certification

 Take your career to the next level with the Fitness Mentors Certified Online Personal Trainer course. For new, or experienced, trainers: Learn how to start a personal training business online and gain insight into the strategies that drive successful client acquisition to ensure you make a living doing what you love.

Become an Online Personal Trainer

The Future of Personal Training is Virtual

$799

$999

40% OFF

With code “COPT40”

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(All products are accessible immediately after purchase)

Included FREE - Online Coaching Templates

Save countless hours on software, deliver an amazing experience for your clients, and operate like a true professional. These four coaching templates are done for you and completely customizable to you and your business. 

Workout Template
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Exercise Library
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Habit Tracker
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Nutrition Tracker
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Fitness Mentors COPT Course Options

Easy-to-follow, step-by-step curriculum, with business success as the primary focus.

Online Trainer Pro

$799

Meet Your Mentor - Eddie Lester

What is the Online Coaching Certification?

THE FITNESS MENTORS CERTIFIED ONLINE PERSONAL TRAINER CERTIFICATION COURSE WILL TEACH YOU HOW TO TRAIN CLIENTS ONLINE, GET NEW CLIENTS, SCALE YOUR BUSINESS, AND INCREASE YOUR PERSONAL AND FINANCIAL FREEDOM.

PERSONAL FREEDOM

The typical in-person trainer works with clients within 3.16 miles of their homes. Online personal training allows you to deliver assistance to clients wherever they are, often at anytime, at a scale never before seen by the typical in-person trainer. This provides freedom for you as a trainer to work when you want, where you want, how you want, and opens up the ways you can service clients who love the options to get assistance in numerous different ways.

FINANCIAL FREEDOM

The trainer of the future, and thanks to our COPT, the present, can learn to leverage six different methods of online training and create money-making opportunities for themselves while still serving clients. The way that an online trainer sets up their business will determine the amount of reach and the number of clients they can have. Making online income as a personal trainer can be done in many different ways and being at the forefront of exciting new methods will set you apart from the field.

SERVICE & ALTRUISM

What makes a personal trainer so unique as a fitness offering is the ability to earn the trust from clients looking to improve their health. This “personal” element of your service creates a connection between you and the client which satisfies a basic human need. When you build trust with clientele you are able to offer new online services to continue growing your business, while satisfying the thirst for your client’s interaction. The client will trust you to ensure they remain fit regardless of where or how you train.

JOB SECURITY

In a world where the fitness industry is overcrowded with thousands of different opportunities to get in shape, and dominated by large fitness companies, how does the personal trainer stay relevant? The answer is accessibility and trust. Taking your service online allows you to adapt to this change by being able to provide workouts and advice at any location in the world, at any time.




Learn Six Ways to Monetize Your Personal Trainer Business Online

THE FITNESS MENTORS CERTIFIED ONLINE PERSONAL TRAINER COURSE IS SETUP TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THE MANY OPTIONS YOU HAVE TO PROVIDE VALUE TO YOUR CLIENTS AS AN ONLINE PERSONAL TRAINER AND HOW TO MONETIZE ALL OF THEM.

Learn how to structure business models for all the below:

You’ll learn how to create and offer these services as options for your clients and how to customize them into a business model that creates personal and financial freedom. Additionally, you’ll learn about other value-added services that can create lasting client relationships and increase goal achievement all while adding dollars to your pocket.

Here are a few of the additional services you’ll learn how to offer and monetize in our course that will set your business apart from other online personal training businesses:

The Future of Personal Training is Online Coaching

We built this course to teach you what you need to know to be a part of the evolution of the fitness industry. Don’t get left behind. 

BUT I DON’T HAVE THE TIME.

The course is entirely online so you can sign on and complete modules at your leisure. If you only want to work a few minutes a day or a couple hours a week, this course works at your pace. Plus, the course is intended for you to actually free up more time while making more money, so you’ll be able to get any time you invest in the course back, and more.

BUT I DON’T WANT TO SCHEDULE ANOTHER EXAM.

This course is 100% online and contains a 100% online certification exam. Don’t leave home to study or take the exam if you don’t want to.

BUT I DON’T KNOW WHAT KIND OF ONLINE PERSONAL TRAINING BUSINESS TO START.

After you take this course you’ll be familiar with the pros and cons of six different online training business models as well as dozens of different services you are sure to resonate with. You’ll have an idea of what works best for you and you’ll have access to our coaches and mentors who can help you make critical decisions.

BUT I DON’T WANT ANOTHER RE-CERTIFICATION FEE.

Unlike other personal trainer certifications, the FM-COPT has no recertification necessary.

BUT I HAVE NEVER DONE TRAINING ONLINE.

Sure, online training is not the same as in-person training but the accomplishments you set for your clients are the same. The only difference is the medium is one that works better for you and the client. We’ll guide you step-by-step how to structure your business, work with clients, and generate more clients all online.

BUT I DON’T HAVE A WEBSITE OR SOCIAL PRESENCE.

We built this course from the ground up understanding that many trainers will have zero experience with the online world. Our easy-to-follow material and access to real instructors provide you with all the tools you need to create a business model, set a strategy, and start driving online sales through various online mediums like your website or social accounts.

Learn the Best Strategies for Transitioning to a Full or Part Time Online Personal Trainer

AND GAIN INSIGHT INTO CREATING A BUSINESS THAT WORKS BEST FOR YOU

We encourage this through 5 major learning sections:

Prepare Your Business – Learn the necessary tasks needed to prepare your business and create services for online success.

Take Your Business Online – Discover the strategies that transition your business to the online space.

Generate Leads to Grow Your Business – Learn the marketing, advertising and outreach techniques used for attracting an abundance of clients.

Convert Sales – Dive deep into defining your sales personality and use it to set efficient pricing and close sales.

Care for Your Clients – Understand the best practices for supporting your clients and retaining their business to provide yourself with financial freedom and consistent income.

Easy-to-Implement Strategies

100% ONLINE
COURSEWORK

100% ONLINE
CERTIFICATION EXAM

NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED
BY THE NBFE

Study Timeline

Find the best study timeline for your schedule.

One hour per day, 5 days per week: This Creates a completion time of 12-16 weeks or 3-4 months.

One hour per day, 7 days per week: This creates a completion time of 8-11 weeks or 2-3 months.

Average 10 hours of total study time per week or two hours, 5 days per week (2 chapters per week): This creates a completion time of 6-8 weeks or 1.5-2 months. (This timeline is most recommended as it is compact in nature and provides the best opportunity for optimal comprehension.)

4 Week Timeline would require you to study 2-3 hours per day. This study timeline is reserved for those who are looking to complete the certification as quickly as possible and start earning income as a Certified Online Personal Trainer.

FM-COPT Certification Exam

If you pass the FM-COPT Exam you will be awarded the Fitness Mentors Certified Online Personal Trainer Credential (with 100% course completion) and you will be able to download your certificate immediately. 

If you fail the FM-CPT Exam on both attempts you will need to purchase an exam retest ($50). Instructions will be presented in your exam attempt email notification. Follow those instructions to purchase the retest and feel free to reach out with any further questions.

Don't Take Our Word For It

Our students have a 99% pass rate when using our study materials

"I am currently going through the online course for the Fitness Mentors' COPT and it is great stuff! The team at fitness mentors does a great job of laying out the material in an efficient and easy to apply way and it results in me absorbing the material better!"
Justin K.
FM COPT
"I've had nothing but the best interactions with Fitness Mentors; first, with supplemental materials for my NASM certification study, then with completing their own CPT certification. Now I'm on to their Online Trainer Certification and it is truly top-notch! Thank you, Eddie and Team Fitness Mentors for the high quality of service you provide."
Kirra M.
FM COPT

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