Why Every Personal Trainer Should Create an Online Course
You charge $150/hour for personal training. You can work maybe 25 client hours per week before burnout. That is a ceiling of $3,750/week and you are trading every hour of it for your time.
Now imagine a course you create once that sells for $197. If 10 people buy it per month, that is $1,970/month in revenue you did not trade time for. Scale that to 30 buyers and you have added nearly $6,000/month.
Online courses are the ultimate legacy revenue tier we talk about in the $10K Coach framework.
Step 1: Choose Your Course Topic
The biggest mistake is going too broad. Your course topic should be:
- Specific: It solves ONE clear problem
- Proven: You have already taught it to real clients
- Transformational: There is a clear before and after
Answer these three questions: What do clients ask about most? What do you explain over and over? What result can you promise in a specific timeframe?
Good examples:
- "The 28-Day Mobility Reset for Desk Workers"
- "Meal Prep Mastery: 4 Weeks to Effortless Nutrition"
- "The Home Workout System: Build Muscle Without a Gym"
Step 2: Outline Your Course Structure
Use the Problem-Solution-Action (PSA) framework for each module. A typical course has 5-8 modules, each containing 3-5 lessons of 5-15 minutes. Total course length: 2-4 hours.
Step 3: Record Your Content
You do NOT need a professional studio. What you actually need:
- Your phone (modern phones shoot 4K video)
- A ring light ($25 on Amazon)
- A lavalier microphone ($20 — audio quality matters more than video)
- A clean background
Keep lessons under 15 minutes. Talk to the camera like you are talking to one client. Do not aim for perfect — aim for authentic.
Step 4: Choose Your Platform
- Exercise Professionals Academy at TrainSpace: Built-in course infrastructure if you are on the platform
- Teachable / Thinkific: Popular all-in-one course platforms ($39-79/month)
- Kajabi: Premium option with built-in email marketing ($149/month)
The best platform is the one you will actually use. Pick one and launch.
Step 5: Launch and Sell
Pre-Launch (2 weeks before)
- Announce to your email list and social media
- Share behind-the-scenes content
- Offer an early bird discount (15-20% off for the first 48 hours)
Launch Week
- Send a 3-email launch sequence
- Post daily on social media with different angles
- Go live once to do a Q&A
Evergreen (ongoing)
- Add the course to your website and SEO strategy
- Create a free lead magnet that funnels into the course
- Mention the course in relevant social media content
Pricing Your Course
- $47-97: Short courses (under 2 hours, single topic)
- $147-297: Comprehensive courses (3-5 hours, full transformation)
- $497+: Premium courses with coaching access or community
The AI Shortcut
AI tools can dramatically speed up course creation: outline generation, script writing, slide creation, and quiz generation. The Epic Courses That Convert course inside Exercise Professionals Academy at TrainSpace walks you through using AI to go from idea to published course in days, not months.
Start Today
Pick the topic your clients ask about most, outline 5 modules, and start recording. The revenue you create will compound.
Start the Free Course Creation Masterclass Inside Exercise Professionals Academy at TrainSpace
Read Next: How to Build a $10K/Month Personal Training Business
