The traditional personal training model doesn’t work for self-employed trainers. If you started your career in a commercial gym, you were probably taught that clients pay for a block of sessions upfront. On the surface, it seems great, but in reality, it’s full of pitfalls.

Here’s why charging by the session isn’t the best move—and what to do instead.

The Problems with Charging Per Session

1. Sessions Need an Expiry Date When clients buy a pack of sessions (whether it’s 10 or 30), you must clearly define how long they have to use them. This should be laid out in a legally binding agreement that both you and the client sign at purchase. If you don’t, clients can drag it out over months, and you’ll end up working for free long after that initial payment has been spent. For example, if they buy 10 sessions in January and only use 8, then want to use the last two in April, you’re essentially working for free.

2. Define How Sessions Are Used If someone buys 40 sessions and you don’t set limits, they might try to cram them all in at once, leaving you with no time for other clients. To avoid this, establish a clear schedule upfront—like 2 sessions per week or 8 per month. Without this, you risk burning yourself out and blocking out time you could use for new clients.

3. Packs Are Better than Pay-As-You-Go, But Not Great Selling blocks of sessions is better than charging by the hour, but it’s still not ideal. Let’s talk about why.

Why You Shouldn’t Charge Per Session or Per Hour

1. Payments Get Pushed Back Even with a solid cancellation policy, you’re vulnerable when clients reschedule within the allowed timeframe. For example, if they give you 72 hours’ notice, you might have to push their sessions back, delaying their next payment. This leads to inconsistent cash flow, forcing you to scramble to fill those slots or wait longer for income.

2. You’ll Feel Like You’re Working for Free While it might feel like a windfall when a client pays upfront, as time goes on without receiving more payments, you’ll start to feel like you’re working for nothing. Your schedule might be packed, but your bank account won’t reflect that—leaving no room for new clients. Not ideal.

What to Do Instead: Implement a Membership Model

How to Set It Up:

Rather than charging for 10-40 sessions upfront, switch to consecutive monthly payments. Here’s an example:

• Tier 1: 3 sessions per month, $300/month, 3-month minimum commitment
• Tier 2: 6 sessions per month, $550/month, 3-month minimum commitment
• Tier 3: 9 sessions per month, $850/month, 3-month minimum commitment

You can decide if you want to offer discounts for higher-tier packages, but you don’t have to. The key is ensuring there’s a minimum commitment period and setting clients up on autopay—no exceptions. Payment dates and amounts should be laid out in a contract that both you and the client sign before starting.

No Rollover Sessions Sessions should not roll over from month to month. If clients don’t use them, they lose them. Rollover sessions recreate the same issues with inconsistent cash flow we’re trying to avoid. By setting realistic session amounts (like 3, 6, or 9), you allow flexibility for life’s interruptions—whether it’s illness or travel—while still maintaining consistency.

Handling Missed Sessions: Offer Self-Paced Support

To keep things fair, offer access to non-customized, self-paced content as interim support. Whether it’s a course or a general training program, this adds value outside of their in-person sessions. When clients can’t make a session, you can point them to this resource.

During onboarding, explain that their membership includes not just the sessions but access to this additional support. Emphasize that sessions don’t roll over because the membership covers the entire experience, not just the training time.

If a client asks to exclude the interim support, simply let them know it’s part of the package and non-negotiable. Whether they use it or not is up to them, but it’s baked into the pricing.

Boundaries = Business Stability

Setting these boundaries will help secure your revenue and paycheck, while giving clients the consistency they need to get results. Plus, you’ll avoid the chaos of last-minute scheduling changes, inconsistent payments, and burnout.

Run your business with clear policies, and everyone wins!