How She Used Her FSA to Pay for Personal Training

A client joined the gym recently and said, "Hey, I'm using my FSA for this." I said, "Using your what for what now?" I've been doing this a long time, and I genuinely did not know this was a thing.

I started doing some research, and it turns out it is, and it's a lot more accessible than most people realize, and can save you some serious cheddar. Let's just say the list of qualifying reasons is longer than you'd think, and you might already have one without even trying.

Wait, this is actually real?

Yes. An FSA (Flexible Spending Account) lets you set aside pre-tax money from your paycheck for medical expenses. Most people use it for copays, prescriptions, or that one pair of glasses they keep forgetting to order. What a lot of people don't know is that personal training can qualify too.

The catch: the IRS doesn't consider general fitness a "medical expense." Working out to look better or feel better, on its own, doesn't qualify, no matter how good your reasons are. What changes things is a Letter of Medical Necessity (LMN) from your physician, which basically states that personal training isn't optional for you, it's part of treating an actual diagnosed condition. Once that letter exists, the training stops being a personal expense in the eyes of the IRS and becomes a medical one.

Who is this actually for?

Here's the part that surprises people: the list of qualifying conditions is a lot broader than "some sports injury." Some of the more common reasons clients get approved for an LMN include:

• Obesity, or just carrying more weight than your doctor's comfortable with
• Type 2 diabetes or prediabetes
• High blood pressure, or heart disease your doctor's already been keeping an eye on
• Chronic joint pain... you know, like that back pain that's been quietly bothering you for the last couple years
• Recovering from an injury or a surgery
• Balance issues or fall risk, especially if you've started gripping the railing a little tighter on stairs

If any of that sounds a little too familiar, and your doctor agrees that structured, supervised exercise belongs in your treatment plan, you may already qualify without realizing it. This isn't some rare loophole for a handful of people. It's genuinely more common than most of our clients assume, and there's a decent chance at least one of these already applies to you.

How the process actually works

Here's what it looked like for the client who tipped me off to this:

1. She talked to her primary care doctor about her condition and asked for a Letter of Medical Necessity. The IRS requires the letter to include specific things: her diagnosis, why the training is necessary to treat it, and details like frequency and duration.
2. She submitted that letter to her FSA plan.
3. She paid for her sessions with us using her personal card like normal, then submitted the receipts to her FSA for reimbursement.

That's it. No complicated paperwork on our end, no special billing codes. Just a conversation with her doctor and a little admin work on the back end.

So, how much can this actually save you?

For 2026, the IRS allows up to $3,400 in pre-tax FSA contributions. Because that money comes out before taxes, you're effectively saving whatever your combined tax rate would've been on it, which commonly lands somewhere in the 20-30% range depending on your income and tax situation.

Practically, that means if you're spending a meaningful amount per year on training that qualifies, you could be saving several hundred dollars simply by running it through your FSA instead of paying out of pocket with regular income. It's not free training, but it's a real discount for something you were already planning to invest in.

A couple of honest caveats: every FSA plan has its own rules, and I'm not a doctor or a tax professional, so this isn't a guarantee that your specific situation qualifies. Talk to your physician about whether your condition applies, and check with your FSA administrator on your plan's specific requirements before you commit to anything.

If you think this might apply to you, and let's be honest, it might, come talk to us. We've been through this with a client already, and we're happy to help you figure out if it's worth pursuing.

About the author

Connor Blackmon is the owner of Heroes Fitness, a private personal training gym in Valrico, FL. He built it for the people who feel weird about gyms — the ones who've thought about canceling their membership before they even used it once. No mirrors full of strangers, no guessing what machine does what, just a private space and a coach who actually explains things instead of just barking reps. His goal is simple: help men and women get stronger without the anxiety that usually comes with it.