If you love being a personal trainer, it’s crucial to protect your business going forward. As an NPTI Florida (Orlando/Tampa) personal trainer, you get to meet exciting people and train in different fitness centers, transforming the lives of your clients while making a great living. The best part is that it keeps you living a healthy lifestyle, both physically and in terms of career options. You can work in big box facilities or small private fitness studios. When branching out to start your own brand/business, don’t forget the legal aspect. Just like any other business, you need to learn how to manage clients, handle legal matters, and schedule appointments. NPTI Florida can help simplify this for you by providing a list of basic legal agreements that are crucial for understanding the legal side of your business and its significance.
Legal Forms For Personal Trainers
Legal agreements can protect you and your personal training business from undertaking any potential liability. Agreements like waivers and releases are contracts containing provisions and exculpatory clauses that dictate that one part is free from all sorts of liabilities during a contract.
Let us get the obvious out of the way first – no two personal trainers offer the same exact services. As a result, their requirement for paperwork will also vary. However, there are some essentials that we believe every personal trainer should have. Fortunately, you can find templates online for your legal forms in most cases and not create them from scratch. Your ultimate purpose is that you have every document to secure your business and protect your interests.
Liability Waiver
NPTI Florida graduates are familiar with waivers, as you will learn a liability waiver is one of the most important pieces of document for your personal training business states NPTI Florida owner Patrick Sherman. Whenever someone becomes your client, you need to ask them to sign this form. Imagine a scenario where your client is training and following your program design. Suddenly, the client gets injured and starts blaming you, threatening to sue you, what happens then? To avoid falling under such liabilities, you need to have a liability waiver signed by your client so that you can keep challenging them physically to help them achieve their fitness goals without having to worry about the legal penalties.
Insurance Policy
As a personal trainer, you must have an insurance policy. This policy is proof of insurance that enables you to show your employers and clients that you are a serious professional leaving no stone unturned. Many gyms require liability policies before they allow independent trainers to start working on their premises. Having an insurance policy is a must! If you are unsure where to purchase your insurance policy or some of the pre-requisites for getting one, talk to one of our advisors at NPTI Florida. We have guaranteed annual policy rates for all our graduate trainers Worldwide.
Personal Training Contract
We highly recommend for you have a personal training contract for your clients to execute. This is also called a personal training client agreement form, and it dictates policies related to session cancellations or rescheduled sessions, no-shows, late arrivals, refunds, and more so there are no awkward moments or misunderstandings between you and your client in the foreseeable future.
Goal Setting Forms
Clients who usually contract personal trainers have certain expectations and goals in mind they want to achieve. In order for you to guide your clients properly, it is important for you to know what these goals are and develop a fitness program that will help them achieve results. A goal-setting form will allow your client to see what is in front of them, keeping them motivated. Keeping this document, lets you revisit the program and make certain diet or fitness plan changes as needed.
PAR-Q Form
As a personal trainer, you need to make sure your client is physically capable of participating in your fitness program, and for that, you need a PAR-Q Form. It stands for “Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire,” and it is a very standard form that every personal trainer has or should have. The form uses a simple checklist to help you determine if you can design a fitness program for your client or if your client has the physical endurance to participate. It also checks if your client needs to get a medical clearance before you start the program. The PAR-Q form is a must-have document for you as a personal trainer.
Consent and Disclaimer
As a personal trainer, you received proper education at NPTI Florida on how to design the perfect training program for your clients. You need to make sure the plan not only helps them achieve their fitness goals but also keeps them motivated and confident. An important thing here is to understand that your success does not depend on how much you have achieved for yourself but how much you can help others succeed. Demonstration of care and commitment towards your client re-affirms their faith towards their goals.
When working with a client, you need to be sure to have your client’s consent for this program. Fitness programs are physically intense. Make sure you have their consent for all the assessments, exercises, and tests you do with them.
Fitness Assessment Form
Now, this is also a very important form for personal trainers to have on file. As you may already know, there is more than one way to assess your clients, and it is your job to find the method that works best for them. You can find pre-designed fitness assessment forms on the internet or create your own branded form. It is always useful to add objective measures that can be rechecked to assess the progress. Ideally, a fitness assessment form checks for the stress test, strength, flexibility, weight, and walking tests. A fitness assessment form will also help your client measure their progress during the program.
Do These Forms Hold Up in a Court of Law?
We know what you are thinking, whether getting these documents to help your business and will they hold up in a court of law? The answer is a resounding YES! Let us look at a recent incident – a case in Pennsylvania where the liability waiver document made all the difference. The case was “Evans et al v. Fitness & Sports Clubs LLC,” and in it, the client broke her wrists during a suicide run. She filed a case against LA Fitness, but as she signed the waiver before getting into the program, LA Fitness was no longer liable.
This clearly shows that getting these documents signed and, in your possession, can help you face any legal charges and protect your assets. Think of these documents as insurance policies for your career.
All in All
Personal training is a rewarding career choice. It is not the easiest profession to be in, but it can definitely be a hugely exciting and a rewarding job. What can be more rewarding than working directly with people helping them attain a healthier lifestyle and better physique overall? But that does not mean it is right for everyone.
Do you have a passion for helping other people live a healthier lifestyle? Would you like to be a professional personal trainer and make a great living? If the answer is yes, you need to contact NPTI Florida and request a program overview and facility tour. To have a successful personal training career, accredited education from a licensed personal training school is critical. Remember, education is the foundation of all your skills and success. It also proves to your clients that you are a professional and that they are in safe hands.
Call or text 407-772-0057 to schedule a FREE class. You can also Call or Text to work out with a current class in session.
Tags: Personal Trainer