morning to early lunch , go and see the family for a couple of hours , then head back in for the evening .
What do you do in any downtime during the day ?
I love to walk the dog and see my son when I get the chance . I do prioritise my training and food prep as it ’ s what gets me through the week , but I have learnt to auto-regulate much better so I don ’ t burn out .
How much do you charge ?
My PT sessions are $ 100 per hour . Our Small Group and semi-private training sessions are available in packages .
How many clients do you have ? Personally around 20 , though the studio has between 80-100 .
How long , on average do your clients stay with you ?
I ’ ve always found retention to be pretty good . I came to Australia from the UK six years ago and have been training some of my clients since then . People ’ s circumstances can change but generally I get a year or two out of people .
How do you get new clients ? Word of mouth is the most common method , although we do a lot of social media , including paid adverts , and we do face-to-face outreach into the local community weekly . We have a strong community belief , and regularly hold events for the local community .
Do you vet / question clients before you agree to train them ?
I have a questionnaire for them to fill out before they come along and then an initial fact finding assessment when they first come in .
Do you ever turn clients away or refer them to other PTs ?
Thankfully the only time I ’ ve referred clients on was when I have been too busy , there has never been anyone I ’ ve thought I couldn ’ t work with – I ’ d be very surprised if I came across anyone like that . I hope I can add value to anyone ’ s program , and unless they had a very skewed moral compass that was negatively impacting me , I think we could find common ground .
What differentiates you from other trainers ?
That ’ s a really tough question . At TFP we are driving experience-based training where clients value the moment over the results . Not that results aren ’ t important , but they will come with the consistency you get from enjoying what you do . We also have different fundraising events set up to raise awareness and get the wider community active . I think this sets us apart from the norm .
What do you do in terms of your ongoing education ?
I try to be as current as possible and find that constantly educating myself stimulates me in the job and in my family life . I have been a regular in the Paul Chek program for the last few years and I can ’ t recommend it enough . I did a lot of movement systems when I first started and have just started dabbling in Animal Flow which , as I said before , I ’ m a bit obsessed with ! We also practice the kaizen theory in the studio , whereby we aim to get 1 % better each day . To action this , we catch up once a week and set personal development tasks , whether its reading , listening to podcasts or researching anatomy , it keeps the brain ticking .
What ’ s the best thing about being a PT ?
The variety of people I get to work with and the platform it has given me to create all the different events and programs I can think of .
And the hardest ?
Being self-employed and taking a holiday is pretty tough !
What ’ s the biggest misconception about working in fitness ?
That it ’ s easy and you get paid loads ! It ’ s running your own business so you can ’ t treat it like a job and just come in to do sessions and go home . It takes continual work and investment .
Where would you like your career to take you ?
I ’ d love to see the TFP tribe grow and our events get traction so we can raise money and awareness for our greater community . To impact as many people positively would be huge for me .
What is your fitness philosophy ?
Move , breath , eat , sleep and meditate like you are a diabetic cancer sufferer with a heart problem so you never have to deal with these horrible afflictions .
What key piece of advice would you give to someone starting out as a PT ?
Follow your passions and grow your mind , body and soul and watch your client base follow your journey . Follow Duncan on Facebook @ thefunctionalproj , and Instagram the _ functional _ project and Duncan _ pt
Want to be a future featured Real World PT ? For details email editor @ fitnessnetwork . com . au
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