Do You Need a Niche as a Strength and Performance Coach?

When I started my career as a personal trainer, I worked at a gym with about 70 other full-time trainers. They were well-educated and experienced—and they were all ripped. As the skinny endurance guy who was new to the industry, I knew I needed to set myself apart in order to attract clients.

I decided to focus my niche on endurance sports: running, triathlon and cycling. That was a niche that none of the other trainers had, and I knew I could develop strong strength and performance programming for endurance athletes. 

As I developed my niche, other trainers began referring people to me who were training for endurance races. Soon enough, I had a full roster of athletes. 

Based on my own experience, and what I’ve observed throughout my career, I strongly believe it’s always better to specialize as a trainer than to be a generalist. 

When you call yourself a generalist as a strength and performance coach—which we also refer to as a fitness coach or personal trainer—you are in the same bucket with millions of other trainers. It’s difficult to stand out, both in the gym setting among fellow trainers and as a virtual coach in your online marketing. It also becomes apparent that when you say you specialize in everything, you actually specialize in nothing. 

So, let’s walk through how to develop a niche, or specialization, as a trainer and a few tips to position yourself for success.  

The Prerequisites to Establish a Specialization  

Before you declare a niche, you have to know what you’re talking about in that specific area. This requires gaining specialized knowledge, potentially through a certification, degree or specialization course. It also requires some level of personal experience. 

You don’t necessarily have to have done whatever it is yourself. For example, it’s not necessary to have been pregnant to be a trainer who specializes in working with pregnant and postpartum athletes. You also don’t have to be a professional triathlete to work with triathletes. 

That said, there has to be something more than just education to market yourself, whether it’s your own personal story or the results and testimonials of clients who you’ve coached within that specialization. 

There’s not a defined level of experience and education a trainer must achieve to call themself an expert. It’s often more about self-reflection: 

• Do I know a lot about this subject matter, both in education and experience?
• Would my coaching peers look to me for guidance in this area? 
• Would people hire me or refer clients to me because of my specialization?

Read More: The top two skills you need to succeed as a personal trainer. 

Tips to Position Yourself for Success

Once you’ve established your specialization as a trainer—whether it’s post-rehab, injury prevention, range of motion, posture, endurance sports, HYROX, pregnancy and postpartum or otherwise—there are a few steps you can take to set yourself up for success. 

1. Start networking. Talk to other trainers to let them know you just got certified in a specialization. Let them know that if they speak with anyone who fits into that area, you’d be more than happy to work with them. Speak with your fitness manager, too. Share what specializations you’ve acquired so they can refer clients to you. 

If you own your own business, network with health professionals who have exposure to the athletes you want to work with. That may include physical therapists, nutritionists or massage therapists. Let them know what you do and your specialization. If you’re a virtual fitness coach, network in online groups, such as prenatal and postnatal forums. 

2. Get in the reps. Training athletes in your new niche will likely be a little rocky at first. Find ways to lead more specialized training sessions so that you can get better faster and market yourself more effectively. It’s often difficult to get started. But if you’re really good at what you do, after a while, most referrals tend to be word of mouth. 

3. Advocate for yourself. Whether you’re independent or work in a club, you really have to advocate for yourself. I think a lot of fitness professionals believe that if they start coaching and declare a specialization, athletes will show up. But that’s not the case.

You have to advocate for yourself—to your peers, your fitness directors, online communities and through networking opportunities. For most of us, that means getting outside of our comfort zones, but it’s one of the most important steps we can take to build a career in the fitness industry. 

Final Thoughts 

Ultimately, establishing a niche as a strength and performance coach is much more beneficial than taking the generalist approach. But it’s up to you to position yourself for success in that niche by taking the steps to develop your network, advocate for yourself, and get in the reps to gain experience and build your reputation as the go-to coach in your specialization. 

Read why the role of a coach is about more than just workouts.

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