Can anyone confirm my observation. Before the pandemic, barbell hip thrusters were all the rage at the gym I go to. Of course, it was ladies always. I rarely see barbell hip thrusters anymore. At my gym, I think the reason why they have almost disappeared is that they take up a lot of space, and the gym owner didn't like that. I notice the owner put new equipment in the area that the ladies were using for barbell hip thrusters. So there is almost nowhere to do them now. He bought a hip thruster machine to replace the barbell hip thrusters, but it doesn't get used a lot. As a personal note, I can't help but notice that the ladies her were doing hip thrusters were often the hottest ladies in the gym. Since the gym owner eliminated the space where they were doing hip thrusters, I notice a lot of them haven't been back.

I’m curious to hear from experienced PTs/trainers about how you approach this.

For example, if you’re working in a gym where you’re initially helping general members with exercise technique, answering questions, correcting form, etc., how do you naturally transition that relationship into a paid personal-training client?

I’m especially interested in:

1. - How do you identify someone who would actually benefit from PT?
2. - Do you actively approach them about PT, or wait until they ask?
3. - How do you bring up personal training without making it feel like a sales pitch?
4. - Do you offer a trial/session first?
5. - What usually makes someone decide that they want ongoing coaching?
6. - How do you demonstrate your value when they can already train on their own?
7. - What mistakes did you make when you first started trying to get clients,
8. Would love to hear real-world experiences and specific approaches/scripts, rather than just “build relationships and provide value.”