How to Fit a Personal Trainer into Your Budget

Budget tops the list for reasons people justify going without a personal trainer.

I’m here to tell you that is a bullshit excuse.

This article is going to show you how to create more than enough room in your budget for a personal trainer.

The average rate for a 1-hour personal training session is $60. One session per week will total $240 per month.

I’m going to show you how to adjust your budget to afford two sessions per week.

Cut out the Supplements

If you’re a supplement junkie this is your lowest hanging fruit. Most people are taking at least one supplement, but you probably don’t need anywhere near the amount you are taking.

The only supplement that I recommend to everyone is creatine so that won’t be on the list of things to cut. It’s also one of the cheapest supplements at around .10 cents a serving.

I’ll list some of the most common gym supplements of common brands.

Removing these from your spending budget can open a lot of room for personal training.

Pricing is from Amazon, and these are for ~30 days worth of servings.

Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey Protein, 5lbs: $55
Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Casein Protein, 4lbs: $50
Optimum Nutrition Glutamine Powder: $15
Optimum Nutrition OptiMen (Multivitamin): $15
Cellucor C4 Ripped Pre Workout Powder: $30

Total: $165 per month

I advocate removing these supplements from your budget because they are supplements. 

Get your nutrition, technique, and training program dialed in first. That is where a qualified personal trainer comes in to the picture. 

STop Eating Out

Eating out is the #1 area to free your budget.

How much do you spend per month on eating? It’s a red flag If you don’t readily have a figure available for that.

If you aren’t already tracking your finances (this is a critical piece of adulthood), go download the Mint Personal Finance app from the app store right now. It allows you to set budgets, track spending, and set goals (like saving up to hire a personal trainer).

I guarantee you can free up enough money in your monthly food budget to afford a personal trainer.

Young adults average $151 on food per week. That’s $604 per month.

The average cost of a meal eaten out is $13.

Here is a post on Reddit detailing how to eat for $25 a week. And it really isn’t that far-fetched. It’s a meal plan designed around eating whole foods that you prepare yourself which is much healthier than standard restaurant food.

Even if you double that post’s budget to $50 per week to $200 per month that will still save you $404 monthly. Enough for almost 7 personal training sessions.

Healthy restaurant food is expensive. Healthy home-cooked food is cheap.

No More Alcohol

If you have health & fitness goals this one is a no brainer. Drinking alcohol is the single worst thing you can do for muscle building or fat loss.

And it’s expensive.

The cheapest drinks at bars are $4. Craft cocktails are $10-$15 plus tip.

Drinking habits vary wildly so I won’t try to put a monthly number on this one, but it’s easy to spend hundreds per month if you like going out.

Look at how much you spent last month on alcohol (out and at home) and re-appropriate that money to your health.

Cut out the Beverages

You don’t need juices. Stop drinking sodas.

Smoothies are glorified sugar drinks.

You just need water.

If you are a coffee drinker like me get in the habit of brewing it at home. Those $4 Vente Hazelnut Mocha Caramel Coconut Milk Macchiatos add up.

Think Long Term Health

How many out-of-shape, achey people do you know that go to the doctor way too frequently?

That’s what happens when you don’t prioritize your health at an early age.

Taking control of your health saves your future self money on medications, surgeries, lower insurance premiums, and less down time at work.

Now consider how many people you know (or maybe you) have hurt themselves in the gym? A great personal trainer will do everything possible to reduce your chances of injury in both the short term, and long term.

You will live happier, healthier, and longer by starting your exercise habit now.

Amortize It

Strength training is for life. It isn’t something you do for a few months and stop.

You will always need muscle. You will always need strength for life.

If you’re in your 20’s you have at least another 50 years to go.

Take the cost of personal training twice per week for 12 weeks (the average time needed to gain proficiency in strength training), and divide that by 50 years. Then divide that by 12 months per year.

$1440/50 years/12 months=$2.40 per month.

If you think about your education in strength training as a lifetime investment in yourself it will only cost you 8 pennies per day.

Conclusion

The first four suggestions are aimed to show you ways to make personal training fit your budget.

The last two suggestions help you justify spending that newly freed money on personal training.

Great personal training isn’t forever. It’s a short term investment in a long term education.