Should Personal Trainers Wear Uniforms?
Believe it or not, but what you wear can have an impact on your business as a fitness professional.
So, should you be in uniform as a personal trainer?
YES!
I didn’t want to bury the lead. Regardless of the working environment, it’s important to make sure you are represented as a fitness PROFESSIONAL and not a person who teaches fitness. No, you don’t have to be in a suit and tie but there should be some level of professional intent when you choose what clothes to wear or how to present yourself to the world of people who can potentially be your clients. Now that you know you should have a uniform, let me explain why.
Your Uniform will change depending on your niche audience and client avatar.
One of the most common counter-arguments I hear always involves some point saying, “My clients never cared about my uniform before”. I believe this to be true as well, but you have to first be aware what your niche audience expects and who your client avatar is. If you know those things and frame your work uniform around it then you are good to go. However, if you are unaware of your audience and avatar, or are so new to the industry that anyone who is willing to pay you is your target client then you need to present yourself with such genera
lities in mind.
Need an Example?
I still consider Mark Fisher Fitness the prime example of the perfect blend of this concept. They know their local community, their member community, and how to best engage without losing the credibility of being highly professional. Their staff is highly credentialed, they have branded apparel, and wear costumes from time to time while conducting sessions in the facility. Most importantly they know to who they are selling their services.
What If My Gym Provides My Uniform Apparel?
Most Larger facilities will require their trainers to wear a uniform that is the same across the board for all of the training staff. They do this to make it easy for the members to who is on staff working with clients vs who is just an “in-shape member” wearing fancy bright clothes and working out with a friend.
Now let’s talk about on-shift vs off-shift.
On-shift/training: On-shift apparel is already taken care of for you so if you can’t get this right I really can’t help you.
Since the facility takes care of your uniform, the main thing you need to do is make sure that it is clean and ready to work in. I’m not saying you have to be fresh as a flower every moment because I know we are trainers who sometimes sweat while training clients. However, you might be able to get away with skipping a wash on a slow day, but are you really willing to risk being known as the smelly trainer in the gym?
So you have a clean provided uniform, now you need to make sure everything under the uniform is on point. Guess what’s under the uniform…you! I am not here to tell you how you should express yourself and your personality but if your uniform is provided the least you could do is make sure your personal hygiene and appearance are all put together. If you’re sporting the “I just rolled out of bed and I’m hungover” look, then it doesn’t matter what you are wearing because you look bad.
Remember, when you are on shift at the gym you are not only representing the facility that employs you, but also yourself as a professional. You don’t want to narrow down your audience simply because you chose not to run a comb through your hair or wash your shirt from yesterday’s training.
Off Shift: There is no “off shift” if you are in the facility. If you are not monitoring the floor of the gym or training clients, but are still hanging around the facility to get your own workout in; you are still considered on shift. You may not be required to wear your uniform but, that doesn’t mean you are free to act like an asshole. You are still representing the facility and most importantly yourself as a professional and that means staying in “work mode” while not actually working.
BONUS: If you are getting in a workout at the facility where you work, it would be best if you had some decent workout apparel also. That might mean leaving a few of your favorite articles at home.
Here are some examples of “favorites” to leave home:
The offensive but “funny between your group of friends” t-shirt
Homemade “this used to be a t-shirt but is now a huge armhole Bro Tank top” gym shirt
The “I painted an entire house in these shorts covered in paint” shorts
The “I mow my lawn in these 6-year-old smelly sneakers” gym shoes
The “I’m not sure, I think my fun colored leggings are see-through but I love them” gym pants
“I know it’s tight, too small, and might rip right off but it’s my favorite” anything gym clothes.
The “ I only wash my gym clothes once a week and leave them in my gym bag” outfit.
What Kind of Uniform is good for an Independent Trainer?
You might not always work in a company that has trainers on staff. Facilities that allow trainers to contract their services independently can not mandate a uniform, and if you are training clients in places like their condominiums, community centers, recreation parks, and public areas where you can be seen doing business as a fitness professional you will need to have some type of uniform for yourself.
With or Without a home facility you need to develop your own uniform because you are essentially never off shift and a walking billboard for your business. Outside of training clients, you need to be a good advertisement for your business at all times. This way when you run an errand you’re advertising your business. Grab a quick lunch at your favorite cafe you’re advertising your business.
You do not need to be extremely formal or even mirror the uniform of your local commercial gym trainer but, you should have some sort of professional look to you.
Regardless of the specific articles of clothing, you choose to train clients in, you should make sure each piece is at least:free of rips, no holes, are clean, don’t smell, and doesn’t fit into any of those “favorites” from above.
Those are the bs of developing your own uniform. It takes minimal effort and should be simple to follow on a daily basis.
Going beyond the basics is something you should do if you have your a brand in place or want to be more professional.
Your brand is as simple as just your name and then personal training or fitness coaching at any place on the apparel.
Showing your brand identity is an easy way to display your personality with a professional twist. While the clothes you wear don’t have anything to do with your quality of training, it can show a potential client that you are serious about your job as a profession, and coaching isn’t just a side gig you don’t take that seriously.
Appearances matter, whether you like it or not your appearance says something about you before you have the chance to verbally introduce yourself. If you look in the mirror and have a hard time noticing you are someone who is in the business of selling personal training services, it’s just as hard for a stranger to see that also.
