What a Personal Training Agreement Should Include

A good personal training agreement names who is providing what and for how much, sets out how sessions are booked and cancelled, says when the package expires, explains what happens if your trainer changes, and spells out how either side can end it. If a term matters to you and it is only in someone’s memory, it is not part of the deal. Use this list at a free consultation or before you pay anyone, and tick off each item.

The mirror image of this page is the list of things to avoid, covered in personal training contract red flags. Here we build the agreement you actually want, term by term.

Start with who and what

The first block is basic and still gets skipped.

• The parties. Your full name, the coach’s name and the business that will be paid, with a contact for each.
• The service. Session length, number of sessions, location, in person or virtual, one on one or shared. If a coach runs sessions in a rented private suite, the location should say so.
• The goal and start date. One sentence on the purpose, such as strength, a return after time off or general fitness. It sets expectations without promising a result.
• Assessment. Whether an intake, health questionnaire or body composition check is included and whether it costs anything.

Money terms that leave no gaps

A price on its own is not enough. Ask that the agreement shows:

1. The total price and the per session figure.
2. Every fee, with its name, even if it is zero.
3. The payment schedule, with dates and amounts.
4. The payment method and who can charge it.
5. Taxes, if any, and whether a receipt is issued.

Check whether the agreement ties price to a number of sessions or to a time period. A price for “a month of training” and a price for “eight sessions” behave differently when you miss a week. For a plain-English comparison, how training packages are priced maps the common structures.

Cancellation, rescheduling and no shows

This is the clause that most often fails buyers, so write it out:

• How much notice you need to move a session without losing it.
• What a late cancellation costs, in sessions or in money.
• How many reschedules you get.
• What happens if the coach cancels, and whether the session is made up.
• Whether a missed session extends the expiry.

The wider rules of thumb are in the answer on session cancellation policies. Put the notice period in hours, not “reasonable time”.

Expiry, pauses and unused sessions

State the date, the way it is counted, the conditions for a pause and what happens to the balance at the end. Then add the three situations people forget: injury or illness, travel, and the coach or business closing. A good agreement answers each in a sentence. If the agreement is silent, ask for an addendum that covers them. The practical side of this is in whether sessions expire.

Changing the trainer

Coaches move on, and sometimes you do. Ask for these terms:

• Whether you can switch trainers within the business, and at what cost.
• What happens to your remaining sessions if your coach leaves.
• Whether the new coach has to use your existing program and records.
• Whether you can end the agreement if you do not accept the replacement.

This is also where you learn whether the agreement belongs to you and the business, or to you and one individual.

Health disclosures, waivers and records

A responsible coach asks about your health history and keeps it private. The agreement should say what you are disclosing, who sees it and how long it is kept. A liability waiver is common, but it is not a substitute for the money terms above. If you have a medical condition, a doctor’s clearance can be noted as a condition of starting.

Ending the agreement

The final section should tell you how to end it, to whom notice goes, by what date a refund is due and what the business keeps. For a plain sample of the notice itself, see what a cancellation letter should contain. Include the automatic renewal rules here if there are any, with the notice date and the method.

Terms that are easy to forget until you need them

A few small additions can save a large argument later:

• Make up policy. If the coach cancels or is ill, the session is rescheduled within a set number of days, not left in limbo.
• Dispute contact. A named person or email for billing questions, so a problem does not travel through the front desk.
• Privacy. Who can see your health forms, photos or body composition numbers, and whether they can be used in marketing.
• Photo and video consent. Many private spaces are filming friendly, so decide in advance whether your sessions may be recorded or shared.
• Language you can read. Terms in plain English, with defined words, and a copy you can keep.

Print the agreement or save the PDF on the day you sign, and keep it in the same folder as your receipts. If the business later updates its form, your signed copy is still the one that counts for this purchase.

What the rule says

Indiana’s Health Spa Services chapter, IC 24-5-7, sets rules for covered contracts, including a three business day written cancellation right, a refund within 30 days of valid cancellation, a three year maximum term and limits on lifetime contracts, according to the Indiana Attorney General’s consumer fact sheet on health and fitness clubs, checked October 2026. Whether the chapter covers a given agreement depends on its terms. This is general information, not legal or tax advice, and rules change.

A one page checklist to carry in

Term	Written in the agreement?
Parties and contacts
Sessions, length, place
Total price and every fee
Payment dates and method
Cancellation and no show rule
Expiry, pause and extension
Trainer change and closure
How to end it and refund timing

Anything left blank is a question for the coach, and the answer goes into the document. At FlexWerk, suites rent by the hour with no membership, so coaches work from their own agreements, which makes the checklist useful there too. A coach confident in their terms will be glad you asked, and the questions to ask before hiring a trainer are a good companion for the conversation. Sign when the paper matches the promise.