Can a personal trainer show a client's results in a testimonial?

The words are the client's own, so it comes down to what they choose to say. Ask them about what they can do now rather than what changed in their body. Ask what they can do now. Promising a result is how you end up in trouble.

When is the best moment to ask a client?

The session where something clicks, like the first unassisted pull-up or the day the warm-up stopped feeling hard. They are pleased and you are standing next to them. A message that evening beats a request at the end of a quarterly review.

What if my clients train with me online?

It works the same way, because the request is a link they open on their phone. Send it after a check-in call and they can answer in the parking lot. An online client often has more to say about how the coaching felt, since they had nobody else in the room.

Do I have to ask every client?

No. Pick the ones with a clear before and after in how they move or how they feel, and ask them one at a time. Four good stories from different sorts of people, say an older beginner next to someone who hates gyms, cover most of the people who will find your page.

personal trainers

Testimonials for personal trainers

Show them someone who started where they are.

The result is something the buyer cannot yet picture. Hearing it from somebody who started where they are is the sale.

Right below is the text I would send a client, ready to copy.

Start freeNo card needed. Cancel whenever.

A text you can send

The text I would send after a good job

After a session where they hit something they could not do the month before.

Hey Marcus, Devon here from Northside Strength. That was the first time you got the bar to your chest without the shake. Would you be up for typing a few lines about where you were when we started? I'd put it on my site. It's one link, no account: [your link]

Swap in your own names. The link comes from your dashboard.

Personal trainer testimonial examples

The kind of thing personal trainers collect with Exalted. Each one is invented and labelled as an example.

Example

I could not walk upstairs without stopping. Last month I carried my daughter up two flights without noticing. The weight is a footnote next to that.

Priscilla A. · Client, 14 months

Example

I was sure I was too old to start lifting. Devon put a broomstick in my hands in the first session and I could tell he had done this with sixty-year-olds before. I deadlifted my own bodyweight in October and my back stopped hurting on long drives.

Marguerite H. · Client, 8 months

Example

Booked him because a coworker had run a half marathon on his plan. He changed my sessions the week my knee flared up and wrote the new plan on the back of my card without making a thing of it.

Andre K. · Client, training for a race

Example

I hate gyms and said so on the phone. He suggested we meet at the park by my house on Tuesdays. Eleven weeks in, I have signed up for the gym membership on my own, and he is teaching me where everything is.

Sunita R. · Client, outdoor sessions

None of these promises a number on a scale. Each describes something the client can do now or a fear that went away, in a sentence a prospective client can picture themselves saying. A stranger who is nervous about walking into a gym recognizes Sunita straight away.

How it works

1
Share one link
You get a single link. Send it by text or email to a client whose work went well.
2
They write it, in a minute
No account and no app to download. They rate you and write a couple of lines.
3
You approve what appears
Nothing is public until you say so. Approve the good ones and they appear on your website automatically.

When to ask

At a milestone: the first unassisted pull-up, or the race they swore they would never run.

The single biggest reason personal trainers have no testimonials is that nobody asks while the work is still fresh, not that clients are unwilling.

Questions that get a real answer

“Please leave a review” produces “great service”, which persuades nobody. Ask something specific instead:

Where were you when we started?
What changed that you did not expect?
What can you do now that you could not before?

Or an email

For clients who trained through an injury or a long break and have stayed with you.

Subject: Six months of Thursdays

Hi Andre,

Six months ago you told me your knee would never take a squat again, and last week you did a set of eight with a light bar without looking at it.

I'm collecting client stories for my website, and people with a sore joint of their own read those closely. Would you write a short piece about what you thought you could not do and what you do now?

Skip any numbers you would rather keep private. Only your name, as you want it shown, is needed: [your link]

Devon

Swap in your own names and the details of the job. The link comes from your dashboard.

Where people check a personal trainer first

Google Business Profile
What comes up for "personal trainer near me": the map with your gym on it, and a star rating people read before a word of your site.
Instagram and TikTok
They look at whether your posted clients look like them, and at whether you talk to people in the comments or only post workouts.
The gym's own trainer page
If you rent floor space, the gym lists you with a blurb, and members compare trainers there before ever searching for a name.
Local running and lifting groups
Strava clubs and Facebook groups where somebody asks who to train with for a first 10k. An answer from a member is worth more than any ad.
Your own website
The one place a client's story sits beside your prices and your schedule, so a hesitant reader finds both in one visit.

Questions personal trainers ask

Can a personal trainer show a client's results in a testimonial?: The words are the client's own, so it comes down to what they choose to say. Ask them about what they can do now rather than what changed in their body. Ask what they can do now. Promising a result is how you end up in trouble.
When is the best moment to ask a client?: The session where something clicks, like the first unassisted pull-up or the day the warm-up stopped feeling hard. They are pleased and you are standing next to them. A message that evening beats a request at the end of a quarterly review.
What if my clients train with me online?: It works the same way, because the request is a link they open on their phone. Send it after a check-in call and they can answer in the parking lot. An online client often has more to say about how the coaching felt, since they had nobody else in the room.
Do I have to ask every client?: No. Pick the ones with a clear before and after in how they move or how they feel, and ask them one at a time. Four good stories from different sorts of people, say an older beginner next to someone who hates gyms, cover most of the people who will find your page.

Every testimonial Exalted publishes is written by a real person and approved by the business owner.

Your reputation, as a ladder

Each approved testimonial moves you up a tier, so you have a reason to keep asking. Visitors see the tier and know how established you are.

Friendly1+ approved

Honored5+ approved

Revered15+ approved

Exalted30+ approved

Pricing

Starter is $9 a month or $85 a year. Pro is $19 a month or $180 a year. Both are free until your fifth testimonial, and neither asks for a card to begin.

See what is in each plan

Worth reading before you ask

More on the blog. If you ask for Google reviews too, the free Google review link generator and the review request templates need no account. If you want a client quote as a picture to post, I made a free testimonial image maker.

Start collecting this week

Set up a link in about five minutes and send it to the last client who thanked you.

Start free