Personal Trainers - How did you start?

alpine1994

Hey guys,
I'm studying for the ACSM CPT Exam now and it's scheduled for March 16th. I'm getting my CPR/AED this weekend.

Right now I work a full time desk job that couldn't be more opposite from a career in fitness. I'm going to start taking classes part time in the summer for a degree in dietetics and eventually be a registered dietitian.

My question is, do gyms hire PTs with zero experience, either part time or full time? I want to quit my job to become a PT but I'm not sure if that's realistic (i.e. be able to pay the bills). I have lots of restaurant experience so I wouldn't be opposed to waiting tables part time if I can only get a part time PT position. What do you think? Any advice for a newbie?

farsteve

Just from personal observation, ALL of the trainers at my gym have no experience. I believe their job is to simply sell PT sessions and the more they sell the more they make. The workouts they run are pretty generic and do not look 'customized" to the clients actual needs.

Doing PT as a full time profession is going to be hard since (and no offense to you) it is relatively easy for anyone to get a certification on line somewhere and hang out a shingle so there is a lot of competition. And even if you have the passion AND the knowledge AND the experience to be the best PT in the world, you still have to market and sell yourself. The gym is only going to market and sell more PT sessions so your interests may not match your employers interest.


jpfitness has a section devoted to the fitness business and you can get some very good information there and they are very friendly.

http://www.jpfitness.com/forumdisplay.php?f=72

alpine1994

Thanks so much for your insight!

I've been looking at job postings online for PTs and a lot of them will say stuff like "sales are handled by a separate dept so there is no pressure to sell" but it's hard to tell if it's BS or not. I know most (if not all) PT positions are paid based on commission so how would there be no pressure to sell more sessions? I've never really seen myself as a cut-throat sales person, especially at the beginning when I won't have the experience and confidence of someone who has been training for 20 years and can sell sessions like crazy.

I love the jpfitness forum, thanks again!

alpine1994

bump - anyone else?