How to Sell Fitness Programs Online [2026]

More and more people are turning to online platforms to buy products and services. The fitness industry is no exception, and selling fitness programs online has become an increasingly popular way for fitness professionals to reach a larger audience and grow their businesses. In fact, revenue from digital fitness and well-being in the United States alone is expected to show continuous growth with a projected market volume of US$24.79bn by 2027

In this blog post, we will discuss tips for selling fitness programs, as well as for creating online fitness programs that sell.

Here’s a quick list of things we’ll cover:

• Why you should sell fitness plans online
• 7 Tips to create a fitness program that sells
• How to sell fitness programs online
• How much should I sell my fitness programs for

Why Sell Fitness Plans Online

There are several reasons why selling fitness programs online can be a smart decision for your business:

• Wider Reach: By selling fitness programs online, you can reach a larger audience than you could with a physical location. Your potential customers are not limited to those in your immediate geographic area, so you can sell to people all over the world.
• Lower Overhead Costs: Running an online business typically has lower overhead than running a gym or a brick-and-mortar business. You don’t need to rent a physical space or hire as many staff members, which means you can save on expenses.
• Convenience: Offering fitness programs online is convenient for both you and your customers. Your customers can access your programs anytime, anywhere, and you can run your business from anywhere with an internet connection. According to 72% of consumers, they prefer online fitness because it is more flexible: they can join a class whenever they want, rather than working around a gym’s hours and busiest times.
• Scalability: Selling fitness programs online makes it easier to scale your business. You can create digital products, such as e-books or videos, and sell them to a large audience without physically producing additional inventory.
• Personalization: With online tools, you can tailor your workout programs to better meet your customers’ needs. You can collect data on their preferences and behaviors, and use that information to tailor your programs to their specific needs.

7 Tips to Create a Fitness Program That Sells

1. Focus on a specific niche.

Understand your target audience’s goals, fitness level, and preferences. Conduct market research to determine what your audience is looking for in a fitness program. This can help you stand out from the competition and attract customers who are specifically interested in your area of expertise.

2. Provide value.

It’s easy to be swayed by the get-rich-quick scheme of deceptive fitness programs that promise “unhealthy” or even borderline unattainable goals (think “lose 10 pounds in 7 days” type of marketing). But be an empowering voice in the fitness industry. Use evidence-based practices and techniques to create a fitness program that’s effective and safe. This can help you build trust with your customers and ensure that your program provides real value.

3. Set clear goals.

Set clear goals for your fitness program and communicate them to your customers. This helps your customers understand what they can expect from the program and how it can help them achieve their fitness goals.

4. Set clear expectations.

You should also be extra clear about whether your workout programs are intended for beginners or advanced fitness enthusiasts. You’d also want to specify the equipment they need, e.g., 5-pound weights, before they purchase your workout programs, so they know exactly what to expect.

5. Choose the right format.

Decide on what format works best for your fitness programs. This can range from PDF sheets to videos, online courses, bundles, live classes, one-on-one training, and more. At this point, you should also think about how often you’d be able to produce new workout programs on a regular basis to ensure that you keep your content fresh and relevant, as well as to keep your customers coming back for more.

6. Invest in high-quality equipment and production quality.

The right equipment, such as a high-quality camera, good lighting, and your expertise in video editing software, might be crucial to producing workout programs that will sell well. If you’re selling fitness program PDFs or eBooks, you might want to consider using Adobe InDesign or Canva to make your final product look more professional.

7.  Boost your customers’ motivation.

Motivation is essential for your clients to break their inactivity patterns, change their habits, and continue training with you. A few tips to boost their workout motivation include creating fitness challenges on social media and offering fitness rewards (e.g., free resources or a printable workout calendar after they complete my 7-day fitness program).

How to Sell Fitness Programs Online

1. Determine your revenue model/monetization strategy

At this point, you should already have a better idea of what formats of fitness programs you’ll be selling (e.g. PDFs, eBooks, online courses, etc).

You can sell your online fitness programs on a per-purchase basis or as a subscription service. Here are some pros and cons for you to consider.

Selling Fitness Programs as a One-time Purchase

Selling fitness programs as a one-time purchase offers many advantages, such as simplicity, flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and ease of marketing. The downside to this method is a limited revenue stream, limited customer engagement, a lack of commitment, limited upselling opportunities, and reduced motivation.

Selling Fitness Programs as a Membership or Subscription

Selling fitness programs as a membership or subscription offers many advantages, such as ongoing revenue and more stable income, increased customer engagement, greater commitment, and many upselling opportunities. The disadvantages include a barrier to purchase, issues with refunds and cancellations, challenges with retention, and pressure to keep creating for your customers.

TLDR: Which revenue model should you choose to sell fitness programs?

Well, thankfully, you don’t have to choose! You can sell both one-time purchases and paid memberships or subscriptions.  Both of those options can be chosen on Payhip (more on that below).

2. Create an online fitness store or website

If you’re planning to sell your fitness programs as digital products (e.g., eBooks, PDFs, online courses) or start a membership site to monetize your fitness programs, Payhip is the best and most affordable platform to do so.

Amongst other benefits, Payhip comes with tons of notable features for fitness experts, including:

• Generous free plan: You’ll get unlimited access to the entire platform’s features for free! There’s a 5% fee for every order
• Simple drag and drop website builder and free website themes
• Free hosting and free domain (you can also connect a custom domain)
• Ability to sell various product types such as digital downloads (e.g., PDFs, ebooks, videos, etc), online courses, coaching services, memberships, and physical products
• Instant and secure payout via PayPal and Stripe
• Optimized checkout process for maximum purchase conversion
• Marketing tools such as discount codes, affiliate marketing, referral systems, cross-sell, upsell, and more

Sign up on Payhip.com to create your own website or online shop for free. Once you’ve created an account, remember to set up your payout information so you can get paid once orders start rolling in!

3. Upload your fitness classes or programs

Start uploading your fitness programs as digital products. If you want to publish a membership, Payhip provides a comprehensive guide to help you with the entire process.

Include a short product description, a price, and your product photos. Once you’ve published your products, they are ready to be purchased through your Payhip store!

Here are some additional tips to make your product listing more converting:

• Include customer reviews as social proof
• Add a detailed description of what your clients will get
• List all the required equipment and fitness expertise levels, etc
• Write a call-to-action to entice people to buy now

4. Promote your online fitness programs

Unfortunately, fitness programs do not just sell themselves (we wish!). You’ll need to do some marketing efforts to promote your fitness programs. Thankfully, there are tons of marketing strategies that you can execute with little to no budget:

• Social media: Use platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Twitter to promote your fitness programs. Post engaging content, including photos and videos, to showcase your fitness expertise and encourage potential customers to follow along with your fitness programs. Read our guide on How to Grow a Fitness Instagram to learn more about how to successfully increase your social media presence.
• Content marketing: Create and share high-quality content such as blog posts, videos, and podcasts related to fitness and health to build your brand and attract potential customers. A blog can help you establish yourself as an expert in the fitness industry and attract more visitors to your website.  Using tools such as Google Trends and Google Keyword Planner will help you discover not just the keywords people use, but also when those keywords are most popular. If you’re a little savvier on SEO, you can also use tools such as Ahrefs for keyword research.
• Influencer partnerships: Partner with fitness influencers who have a decent-sized following and cross-promote your fitness programs. Alternatively, you can also reward the influencer or partner with an affiliate commission. You can establish your own affiliate program for free using Payhip’s free affiliate marketing tool.
• Email marketing: Build an email list of interested customers and send regular newsletters highlighting your programs and any promotions or discounts. You may also want to offer free workout programs on your website to entice website visitors to sign up for your email list.
• Use video marketing: It’s a great way to showcase your fitness programs and services. Create short videos to highlight your workouts, share client success stories, and provide helpful tips. You can display the videos on your website and social media.
• Host live classes or webinars: Host live fitness classes where you can work out with other people online (ideally by following your own fitness programs), or you can also host webinars to educate potential clients on the benefits of your fitness programs and services. This can help you build trust and credibility with your audience.
• Free trials: Offer free trials of your fitness programs to encourage potential customers to sign up and try your programs before committing to a purchase. Free trials are great to entice your customers to subscribe to your fitness memberships.
• Referral programs: Implement a program that lets customers earn discounts or other rewards for referring friends and family to your fitness programs. This can help you grow your client base and increase your revenue, as customers who come from referrals have a 30% higher purchase conversion rate than other marketing channels.

FAQ

How Much Should I Sell Workout Programs for?

You should sell workout programs for between $40-$50 for a 12-week PDF program and $100-$300 monthly for coaching. Note that a pre-made workout plan that is not personalized to an individual’s specific needs may cost less than a personalized program created by a certified personal trainer. Additionally, a workout program offered by a well-known, reputable fitness brand or trainer may cost more than one offered by a lesser-known brand or trainer.

That said, here are a few tips on how you can figure out how much to charge for your workout programs:

• Naturally, you will need to start by calculating your production and distribution costs. Gather all your expenses, including the time spent creating your workout programs, the cost of distributing them, and more.
• Research competitors within your niche. You can then determine whether your workout programs have unique value propositions, as well as other price-determining factors such as program length, compliance with recent fitness trends, and more. You’ll also be able to determine approximate target sales and purchase conversion rates.
• Use data analytics to make an educated decision based on your target audience’s price sensitivity. Here are some data analytics to consider when pricing your workout programs:
  • One-off online workout programs typically range from 15$ to $60 per month
  • Out of the surveyed customers that consume pre-recorded workout services, 36% pay a monthly membership and 5% pay per video
  • Consumers typically pay somewhere between $70 to $100 per hour for a personal training session, with more specialized training sessions costing more than $100 per hour
  • According to FinancesOnline, the average cost of gym membership in the US is $58

Where to sell workout plans?

You can create a website for free using Payhip and sell workout programs directly to your audience. Once you’ve created an account, all you have to do is upload your workout plans as product listings, set the prices, and start promoting your online store through social media and various other channels. You can also sell workout plans on Payhip Marketplace, a marketplace where you can sell digital products after you’ve made $10 in sales and been approved by a staff member.

Can you sell workout plans without being certified?

Technically, it is possible to sell workout programs online without being certified. However, it is important to note that certification and credentials can help establish credibility and expertise in the field of online fitness, especially if you want to eventually venture into how to sell personal training online.

Without certification or credentials, it may be difficult to establish trust and attract clients when selling workout programs online, particularly those seeking expert guidance and personalized programming. Furthermore, it is important to ensure that any workout plans being offered are safe and effective, and a lack of knowledge or expertise in exercise science and physiology could potentially lead to injury or harm to online fitness clients.

What are the most popular online training or fitness classes?

An online fitness study by RunRepeat analyzes virtual bookings from MindBody users and found that these are the most popular classes:

• Yoga – 32%
• HIIT – 15.6%
• Pilates – 8.3%
• Barre – 7.9%

Final Thoughts

Selling fitness programs online is a dynamic and exciting opportunity to help people achieve their health and wellness goals while building a profitable business that allows you to work on your own terms.

With so many platforms available to host and sell fitness programs online, the possibilities are endless. Whether you choose to focus on a specific niche, create personalized programs online, or use innovative marketing strategies, the key to success is delivering value and building relationships with your clients. So take the leap and turn your passion for fitness into a fulfilling career that has the potential to change lives and make a real impact in the world.

When you’re ready to start selling your fitness programs, sign up for a free account on Payhip to start your dream online fitness business within less than 5 minutes.

Related Articles:

• How to Become an Online Fitness Coach
• How to Make Money as a Fitness Influencer
• How to Grow a Fitness Instagram