A personal trainer sells a relationship. The workouts matter, but a client who only wanted workouts could find them free on a video site. What they pay for is being expected: someone who set the plan, noticed that they skipped Thursday, and is on the call at six on Saturday morning.
A membership site for a trainer therefore has four jobs. It takes recurring payment, delivers a programme in the right order, gives the trainer a private line to each client between sessions, and puts live classes on a schedule. This guide builds those with Learnomy for programmes and payment, Eventonomy for live classes, and BuddyNext for the client area. Reign is built to work with BuddyNext and every Wbcom plugin, so the whole site shares one design. Each plugin has a free version from the Wbcom store, and anything that needs Pro is labelled.
A note on scope. This guide covers how to run the site. It gives no training, nutrition or injury advice, and your site should not either. Anything about a client’s health or fitness for exercise is a matter for a qualified professional, and the site’s terms and sign-up page should say that clearly.
Decide what each price buys
Start with the offer, because it decides everything you configure after. Most trainers end up with some version of three levels.
| Level | The client gets | What you build | Plan needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Programme only | A structured block of workouts to follow alone | A Learnomy course and a membership plan | Free |
| Supported | The programme plus weekly check-ins with you | Course, plan, a private check-in route | Free, Pro for structured forms |
| Live | Everything above plus scheduled classes | Eventonomy events behind the same plan | Free, Pro for paid drop-ins |
Take payment in one place
Free Learnomy includes Stripe and PayPal checkout, membership plans and coupons, with no WooCommerce needed. A plan can bill monthly or yearly, offer a free trial, or be a one-time purchase for permanent access. You choose which courses a plan includes, or leave the list empty to include the whole catalogue. Coupons give you a launch offer or a referral code. The Membership module ships switched off, so enable it under LMS Settings, then Modules, before the menu appears.
If the community is the main product and the courses are a side benefit, BuddyNext Pro offers its own membership plans, gated spaces and Stripe checkout, and a BuddyNext plan can grant access to chosen Learnomy courses. Pick one system as the place where money changes hands and let the other follow it. Two billing systems means two places for a client to be out of date.
Build the programme as a course
A programme maps neatly onto a Learnomy course. Treat each week as a section and each session as a lesson.
Each lesson can be a different type. Use an embedded video for demonstrations, pasted from YouTube or Vimeo and shown in a responsive frame. Use a text lesson for the session notes, a PDF or download for a printable plan, and an audio lesson for a guided cool-down. Files you upload to your own site are served only to clients entitled to the lesson, so a cancelled client cannot keep opening them from an old link.
Pace it so week one starts when the client does
Free Learnomy releases a lesson on a fixed date you choose, which suits a programme that starts for everyone on the same Monday. Pro adds a countdown that starts at each client’s own enrolment, so an eight-week programme begins on day one for every new member whenever they join. A fixed date can also be used for a group starting together. Pro modules ship switched off, so enable Content Drip under LMS Settings first.
Choose a completion rule per course. “Percentage of content” lets a client finish at, say, 80 percent of lessons, which is realistic for people who miss a session. “Manual completion” leaves it to you to mark a client done.
Keep progress visible
Learnomy tracks each client’s progress through a course. With BuddyNext Pro, a completed course appears as a milestone in the community feed and as a certification on the member’s profile, so finishing a block is seen by the group, not only by you.
If you want daily streaks and weekly challenges to keep people turning up, the fitness challenge guide covers WB Gamification, which is free and has no paid plan.
Client check-ins that stay private
A check-in is a short, regular report: what the client did, how it went, what they want to change. It only works if clients are comfortable writing honestly, so privacy comes first.
You have four routes, and they differ in effort and in who can see what.
| Route | Who can read it | Effort | Plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jetonomy private topic | The client and the space’s moderators | Low | Free |
| Learnomy assignment | The client and instructors who manage the course | Medium, includes due dates and feedback | Learnomy Pro |
| One-to-one message | The two people involved | Low | Direct messages need WPMediaVerse; Jetonomy messaging is Pro |
| A secret BuddyNext space per client | Members invited by the owner | High | Free |
The simplest private route
Jetonomy has private topics in every space with no setting to switch on. A client ticks a checkbox when they post, and only they and the space’s moderators can read it. Create a space called Check-ins, make yourself the moderator, and ask clients to post there weekly with the Private box ticked. Replies from you reach the client as ordinary notifications.
Two cautions. If you employ several trainers, give each their own check-in space, because a space moderator can read every private topic in it. And private topics are not message threads: the client can edit or remove their own topic, and you cannot assume the history stays.
The structured route
For a weekly form with a deadline, use a Learnomy Pro assignment attached to the last lesson of each week. The client submits text, a file or a link by the due date, read in your site’s time zone. You reply with feedback and a score, which for a check-in can be a plain done or not done. A resubmission request reopens the form if you need more.
A word on photos
Progress photos are personal. If you offer them, make them optional. MediaVerse sets a privacy level on each upload, from Public down to Only me, and the media owner plus anyone with media moderation rights can always see a private item. Give those rights only to staff you trust, and ask clients to choose the audience themselves.
Keep health details out of the site entirely. Do not build forms that ask for medical history, and do not invite clients to post symptoms. If a client raises a health concern, reply that they should speak to a qualified professional, and leave it there.
Live classes people can book
A live class has a time, a capacity and a way in. Eventonomy handles all three, and Learnomy has a simpler alternative for sessions inside a programme.
| Need | Learnomy live lesson | Eventonomy event |
|---|---|---|
| Part of one programme only | Best fit | Works, with extra setup |
| Open to non-members or sold separately | Not designed for it | Best fit |
| Capacity limit and waitlist | No | Yes |
| Reminders and calendar entry | Lesson countdown | 1 day and 1 hour reminders, add to Google, Outlook or Apple calendar |
| Repeats weekly | Add each lesson | Built in |
Setting up a weekly class
Create the event with the first session’s date and time, then open the Recurrence panel and pick Weekly. The free plugin repeats every N days, weeks or months. Specific weekdays such as “Monday and Wednesday”, the “last Friday of the month” and skip dates are Pro. For a single weekly class, the free rule is enough. Mark the event Virtual and add your meeting address. Each registrant then gets a personal join link on the event page and in their reminder, and the link stops working if they cancel.
Set a capacity and switch on the waitlist. When a Going RSVP is cancelled, the oldest waitlisted person is promoted automatically on a free event. You can add custom registration questions, and guests can register without an account through a link in their email.
One behaviour to plan around: an RSVP is to the event, not to a single date, so one RSVP covers the series and the capacity applies across it. This suits a standing weekly class where clients commit. If you run drop-in sessions with a hard cap on each one, create each as its own event.
Dates get cancelled. Each date in a series has a Cancel this date action, so a bank holiday does not require rebuilding the series. You can also email everyone who is Going from the attendee screen, which is free, and Eventonomy limits it to five blasts an hour per event.
Charging for classes
Paid tickets, early-bird pricing and door check-in are Eventonomy Pro features. If classes are included in the membership, you do not need them: keep the events free to RSVP and switch on the Must log in option so that only signed-in clients can register. The meeting address itself never appears on the event page, because each registrant gets a personal join link. If you sell single-class drop-ins to the public, you need Pro.
Replays
Upload a replay as a new lesson using the Embed content type or an audio-only lesson. Tell clients before you record, and keep recordings behind the plan. If other people appear on camera, check what permission you need where you operate. That is a question for a qualified adviser, not for this guide.
The client area
BuddyNext gives each client a profile and gives you a place to speak to everyone at once. Create a space for each programme intake or for each tier. Open spaces suit a free taster community. Private spaces, where you approve members, suit paying clients. With BuddyNext Pro, Learnomy can build a private space for a course and keep its members in step with enrolment, so a client who joins gets the group and a client who cancels loses it.
Use an admin announcement for news that every member must see. It pins to the top of the feed until each person dismisses it. Use a poll to choose next month’s class time. Hashtags give a challenge week its own feed. To surface your Eventonomy classes in the BuddyNext feed, search and profile, you need BuddyNext Pro.
Reign also has a page for fitness coaches that sums up the theme side. BuddyNext is the recommended engine for a new community.
Free plugins, Pro plugins and what each unlocks
| Task | Free | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Sell memberships, take payment, issue coupons | Learnomy | |
| Run a programme with videos, notes and PDFs | Learnomy | |
| Release lessons by countdown from enrolment | Learnomy Pro | |
| Weekly check-in forms with due dates | Learnomy Pro | |
| Private topics and a check-in space | Jetonomy | |
| Weekly live class with RSVPs and waitlist | Eventonomy | |
| Specific weekdays, paid tickets, door check-in | Eventonomy Pro | |
| Spaces, profiles, polls, announcements | BuddyNext | |
| Events and courses showing inside BuddyNext | BuddyNext Pro |
The free versus Pro page shows the same split for every product, and the Eventonomy ticketing guide explains selling tickets without per-ticket fees.
Setting up in order
- Write your terms and health disclaimer, then have a qualified adviser check them.
- Turn on the Membership module and create a plan.
- Build the first programme as a course, with one week fully filled in.
- Create a Check-ins space and test a private topic from a client account.
- Create the weekly class as a virtual event with a capacity.
- Make a test client, buy the plan with a coupon, and walk the whole journey.
- Invite a few existing clients before opening the doors.
Frequently asked questions
Can I charge a monthly fee?
Yes. A Learnomy membership plan can bill monthly or yearly, with an optional free trial. Enable the Membership module first.
Can clients book a place in a class?
Yes. Eventonomy RSVPs have a capacity and a waitlist, and registrants to a virtual event get a personal join link. Note that one RSVP covers a recurring series.
Can I see which clients are falling behind?
Learnomy tracks lesson completion. In Learnomy Pro, a cohort view flags members who have been inactive for more than ten days or who are behind the cohort’s schedule.
Does the site give training or health advice?
No, and it should not. Programmes are your own professional work. Tell clients to consult a qualified professional before starting an exercise programme.
Do I need BuddyNext?
Not to run a programme and classes. BuddyNext adds profiles, spaces and a feed, which is what turns a library into a community. Surfacing courses and events in BuddyNext needs BuddyNext Pro.
Can clients message me privately?
Yes. BuddyNext direct messages run through WPMediaVerse, with a site setting for who can message whom. Jetonomy Pro also has private messaging.