Are you passionate about health and fitness? Would you love the idea of helping people to pursue and achieve their fitness goals? If you’ve answered yes to these two questions, then you should consider becoming a professional personal trainer or fitness coach.
Working as a personal trainer gives you the opportunity to train as much as you want. Also, you will be making a positive and real difference in people’s lives, as you help them to reach their own fitness goals. Furthermore, working as a personal trainer gives you the freedom to choose your own working hours, among other benefits.
The question is, where do you start or how do you become a personal trainer? Well, this guide has all the information that you need.
In this article, we will discuss in detail the benefits of becoming a personal trainer, the challenges you may face working as a personal trainer, the steps to becoming a personal trainer as well as tips for landing personal trainer jobs.
1. Benefits of Becoming a Personal Trainer
Personal training can be a satisfying career for fitness lovers. As mentioned above, you get an opportunity to help people achieve their goals, doing something that you love.
Also, personal training is a flexible career. Let’s take a closer look at the benefits of becoming a professional personal trainer.
1.1 Do Something You Love
When you become a personal trainer, you will be waking up every day to do something that you love. And as you may have heard somewhere; if you do what you love, then you may never work a day in your life.
As a personal trainer, you will be guiding your fitness clients through training sessions, develop workouts for them, lead group fitness classes and demonstrate form.
So, if you love working out or spending time in the gym, then becoming a personal trainer will be the perfect career choice for you.
1.2 Stay Fit
Most people lead sedentary lives. They spend most of their days sitting behind at desks, in cars and in offices.
And without exercise, such a lifestyle may lead to a wide range of health complications like obesity, cardiovascular diseases, anxiety, depression, and lipid disorders, to name just a few.
But when you work as a personal trainer, you will be active the better part of your day. So, even if you may not find enough time to exercise yourself, you will still lead a healthier life, compared to someone who doesn’t work out.
1.3 Enjoy a Flexible Career
If holding a 9-5 job doesn’t appeal to you, then becoming a fitness coach can be a great alternative for you.
As a personal trainer, you will have the opportunity to choose your working hours. So, whether you prefer working in the morning or you are an evening person, you have the chance to determine your working hours.
Furthermore, you are not limited to working in a certain city or town. Personal trainers are needed everywhere. From large cities to big towns, you can work almost anywhere as a personal trainer.
1.4 Make a Real Difference
One of the most satisfying aspects of becoming a fitness trainer is that you will be making a real and positive difference in people’s lives.
You will be working with clients with varying levels of fitness, helping them to improve their lives.
And helping others achieve their fitness goals comes with plenty of satisfaction and fulfillment.
2. Potential Challenges of Becoming a Personal Trainer
While working as a personal trainer is a highly satisfying career, it also comes with challenges.
2.1 Difficult Clients
One of the biggest challenges that you will face as a personal trainer is working with difficult clients.
For instance, you may come across clients who blame you, if they fail to achieve their weight loss goals. Also, you may encounter clients who don’t follow the workout instructions you give to them.
So, don’t expect everything to be smooth sailing. Occasionally, you will encounter such clients. Hence, you need to be flexible and accommodative.
2.2 Unstable Income
Cancellations are a normal occurrence for personal trainers. And clients can cancel for different reasons.
One week you may find yourself with a full schedule while another week you will have no clients to work with – meaning you won’t be paid. So, make sure you manage your finances well.
3. Steps to Becoming a Personal Trainer
Once you’ve decided that you would like to become a personal trainer, you need to start working towards getting your personal trainer certification.
While you can still work as a personal trainer without a certificate, most gyms and fitness centers will not hire you. And if you do get hired, your employer will limit your responsibilities, which means lower earnings.
So, getting a personal your personal trainer certification should be a priority, if you would like to have a successful career in this field. And here are the steps to becoming a certified personal trainer:
3.1 Check Your Eligibility
Before you commence your personal training course, you first need to ensure you are eligible. The eligibility requirements of getting certified as a personal trainer include:
- 18 years or older
- High school diploma
- AED/CPR certification
Almost all personal trainer certification bodies will require you to have automated external defibrillator (AED) and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) certifications.
The American Red Cross and the American Heart Association are among the most reputable certifying bodies for CPR/AED certifications.
Also, most personal trainer certification providers offer them as part of their study packages.
3.2 Choose a Personal Training Niche
There are hundreds of fitness specialties out there. So, before you choose a study program, it will be advisable to settle on a personal training niche first.
Preferably, you should choose a personal training niche that aligns best with your interests, skills, and professional goals.
Some of the available niches include weight management, behavior change, fitness nutrition and sports performance, just to name a few.
3.3 Choose a Certifying Agency
You have numerous certifying agencies to choose from for getting certified as a personal trainer.
However, you should only choose a study program that’s accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA). Some of the accredited personal trainer certifying agencies include:
- American Council on Exercise (ACE)
- National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM)
- American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)
- National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA)
3.4 Register for the Exam
After choosing your preferred certifying body, you then need to register for the exam. Different certifying bodies charge different fees.
For instance, some will charge you a single cost, which will cover both the study materials and the exams. Others will charge you separately for the study materials and the exam.
So, ensure you check and confirm the payment structure your selected certifying agency is using.
3.5 Sit and Pass the Examination
On average, the exam will comprise 120 to 150, computer-based questions, covering different aspects of personal training.
Once you pass the test, you will officially become a certified personal trainer. And you can begin looking for personal training jobs.
4. Tips for Getting a Personal Trainer Job
While experience is vital in the personal training industry, it doesn’t mean you can’t land a job when you are a new trainer. After all, we all have to start somewhere, right?
You may be turned down several times, but that doesn’t mean you should give up. Here are some tips that may help you to get a personal trainer job without experience.
4.1 Write a Powerful Resume
A powerful resume is vital for any job. And personal training is no exception. So, ensure you take your time to craft a great resume.
Ensure you highlight your certification, your personal training skills, area of specialization, volunteer jobs or past work. Focus on showing the value that you can bring to a potential employer.
4.2 Start Networking Early
Personal training opportunities will not come looking for you. Instead, you have to put yourself out there and look for them.
And networking can help to increase your chances of getting personal trainer jobs. So, ensure you reach out to as many people in the industry as possible in your area.
Also, ensure you attend as many fitness-related activities as possible. Whether they are gym open houses or fitness workshops, or these fitness events will provide great opportunities for networking.
4.3 Consider Entry-Level Opportunities
While an entry-level job may not be the most exciting one for you, it will help you to get your feet wet.
For instance, you can apply to work as an assistant to a more experienced personal trainer or even work at the gym’s front desk.
These entry-level positions will help to boost your visibility in the local fitness industry while giving you a chance to build your resume.
Also, these entry-level opportunities will help you to learn more about the inner workings of the fitness industry.
4.4 Apply to Big Gyms
Big box gyms tend to have a high turnover rate. Therefore, they are always looking for group instructors and new trainers.
So, it’s highly likely you will get a job as a group fitness coach or part-time instructor. Again, such opportunities will help to boost your personal training experience and grow your resume.
5. Wrapping It Up
Breaking into the fitness industry as a personal trainer is not as hard as some people may think. While you will need a business plan, some personal experience and the right knowledge, professional experience is not always a requirement. So, once you’ve decided that becoming a personal trainer is the right career choice for you, you should then proceed to get certified as a personal trainer. And from there, it shouldn’t be hard to land jobs.