For personal trainers....

jennylynn84

Anyone here who is a personal trainer - how did you get into it? Did you have the degree in kinesiology or something like that or did you just take the leap and get certified? I'm wondering how I could go about doing it. I know I'm not ripped and perfectly built, but I'd love to be able to help people get fit and have the same success and results I've been able to find. Plus, it would give me ample opportunity to continue to get in shape. I'd love any and all advice on this matter.

For some background info - I'm 26, I'm not in any way in the fitness or nutrition industry as of right now. I'm actually a journalist, but stuck in a "fluff writer" career and I haven't been passionate about anything like I am about health in a long while. I would love to use my success as someone who was never really in shape and is also suffering from a chronic pain disease to inspire others.

Thanks for any info anyone can provide!

aippolito1

I know you have to go through a ton of training and get certified by a fitness institute. I'm not sure exactly what kind of training or how long it takes or whether you could just get a degree in nutrition or physical fitness or whatever and then get certified.

nickicaylor

Hi !
This is the program I went through. It is a bit more expensive than others that are out there, however they are one of the highest regarded. I feel like I learned a lot from their program and they touched on nutrition quite a bit as well.
Best of Luck !

http://www.nasm.org/

Jennplus2

bump

jennylynn84

Hi !
This is the program I went through. It is a bit more expensive than others that are out there, however they are one of the highest regarded. I feel like I learned a lot from their program and they touched on nutrition quite a bit as well.
Best of Luck !

http://www.nasm.org/

Looks like this is offered online or did you go to something in person? I should mention I have to maintain my full time job to meet the bills and such while doing any training. Do you work for a gym now or just private? And I'm sorry to have to ask, but is the money okay? I wish it didn't matter, but c'est la vie.


Thank you!

boardedney

I am a personal trainer and massage therapist. I switched careers about 5 years ago from the Insurance industry. I can relate to your urge to do something you are more passionate about and that can truly help people.
You CAN get a gerneral certification on line. Just Google Personal Trainer Certification....But, you'd need to be properly trained by someone with more knowledge than that....i.e. and apprenticeship with someone who has their own personal training studio. That is just as simple into walking into one and asking if you drum up your own business and can you work there and offer them a fair split....maybe jsut start helping them with their marketing or sales...something along that line. If you want to go the extra mile and get your Kinesiology degree or some other degree in the field, you can and that's great. Here's the deal though...Unless you live in a well populated area full of rich and busy people and you are a REAL go-getter, you will not earn enough money to substantiate racking up student loans and taking off work to go back to school. If you live in a rather middle class area with a few big box gym and some smaller studios, go with the former and hang on to your current job. Try personal training on the side for a while and see what kind of book of business you build up. Side note: You will not make much in a big gym and it's mostly sales. I jsut finished trying that out and I was not a fan when I have a kid to raise and mortgage to pay. Also, another option is to get a group fitness certification or several of them and audition to classes at a big gym. This keeps you out of sales, pays about $20/hr, nice extra income and allows you to help people in the same way...just reaching out to more people at one time...you can always throw in tid bits of experience and knowledge during group classes as ways to fill "dead air" time. but I can't stress to yo enough about hanging on to your day job until you see how it goes...then you can consider going for a degree and going all the way with it. Now, if you have a husband who pays most of the bills and have kids and stuff like that, then feel free to jump in with bother feet! Best of luck!
Erin

nickicaylor

I work a full-time job during the day for State Farm then train in the evenings and weekends around my schedule. I charge $35 per 45 min training session and have a pretty solid base of clients for just getting started. I also teach group fitness classes 4 nights a week and starting Jan 18 I will be teaching Zumba 2 nights a week as well. The group classes have helped me pick-up quite a few personal training clients so that may be something to look into. My personal training I do on my own privately so I do not have to split my pay with a gym. If you do get certified, make sure you set up an LLC to protect yourself.

as for the certification, basically you order the book , read it, do the online tutorials, and then register to take the exam. You do not need a college degree or to take them through a university. the costt after tax was $622.00

boardedney

Oh, yes...now I see that you are asking the question I mention in my original reply...hope my info helps!

jennylynn84

Oh, yes...now I see that you are asking the question I mention in my original reply...hope my info helps!

Yes, it definitely does. I don't really want to get involved in too much sales, because, honestly I work with a lot of salespeople right now and UGH. I'm not good at the hard sell either.

The apprenticeship sounds like what I was thinking - working part time while getting some classes and cert under my belt. See how it goes.

jennylynn84

bump

boardedney

Yeah, I was in ales before and hated it. Anyway, best of luck and congratulations on losing 83 pounds! That's amazing. We need more people like you in the industry who truly know what it's like to struggle with weight and know what it takes to get the job done.

lculian

Good luck, I'm sure you'll do really well!