Personal Trainers & Clients: How Close is Too Close?

An IHRSA Best Practice - Updated November 14, 2006

The personal trainer/client relationship is unique. It involves close physical contact and the sharing of private information, and the potential exists for intimate relationships to develop.

Personal trainers who are friendly, who can be confided in, and who are trusted by their clients arguably have much higher client retention. However, trainers (and the club operators who employ them) should strive to maintain a professional image at all times.

Personal trainers aren't licensed, so they’re not legally obliged to observe professional ethical standards that prohibit social or sexual contact with clients. However, as a club operator, there are things you can do to help ensure a professional environment:

1. Hire trainers who are certified by recognized, national organizations that have policies addressing professionalism. For example, the American Council on Exercise (ACE), in its code of ethics, requires its certified professionals to "establish and maintain clear professional boundaries".

2. Ask trainers during pre-employment interviews how they would handle the situation if they were asked out on a date by a client to whom they were attracted. There may be no right answer, but there are many wrong ones! Also, call an applicant's previous employers and ask why the employment relationship ended. You may learn that the trainer makes a habit of getting romantically involved with clients.

3. Implement and enforce a solid sexual harassment policy. Unless the breakup of a romantic relationship between a trainer and a client is amicable and mutually agreed upon, it could result in charges of sexual harassment and litigation, and, whether the trainer or the client is the alleged "harasser," the club could be found liable for allowing harassment to occur.

4. Before you establish a blanket policy prohibiting trainers from dating clients, find out whether that’s legal in your state. Some states have laws prohibiting businesses from discriminating against employees for engaging in lawful, off-duty conduct—e.g., dating whomever they wish. However, if a business can demonstrate that such conduct negatively affects an individual's job performance, it may constitute grounds for dismissal.

5. Let your trainers know when they are hired that should they become romantically involved with a client, you prefer (or require) that the client switches to another trainer. This is more likely to happen if your trainers feel like part of a team rather than in competition with each other to bring in the most revenue.

6. Establish and enforce a strict policy regarding the confidentiality of personal information, which would apply to information shared with a trainer by a client.

7. Treat your trainers like professionals and most will act that way. In most other professional relationships (such as those between lawyer and client, or doctor and patient), the professionals are expected not to date their clients because a power relationship exists. If trainers want to be respected as professionals, they need to personally adopt guidelines, regardless of whether their club has a policy prohibiting social or romantic contact with clients.

8. Absolute clarity is essential. Even one unscrupulous trainer can harm your club's reputation. Leave no doubt in the minds of your staff as to your club's policy on client/trainer relationships and on the importance of professionalism at all times.


This paper is intended to provide general information, and is not a substitute for legal advice.