Becoming a personal trainer - where to begin?

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Replies

  • Leadfoot_Lewis
    Leadfoot_Lewis Posts: 1,623 Member
    My post was completely aimed at the qualification, don't think I'm having a go at you.

    That's cool - I didn't think you were.
  • origwvgirl
    origwvgirl Posts: 90 Member
    bump
  • iplayoutside19
    iplayoutside19 Posts: 2,304 Member
    Ideally, one should at a minimum have an undergraduate degree in exercise science, plus a couple of hundred hours of practical experience. And then achieve a nationally-based certification. At our facility, a degree + experience is a minimum requirement + a certification from ACE, ACSM, or NSCA. Anything less and you don't even get your resume read.

    From a practical standpoint, and given the state of affairs in a lot of commercial gyms (low pay, bad management), it's hard in good conscience for me to tell everyone to invest in college degree, esp someone who is involved in a career change.

    If you are a self-learner, you can get copies of reference materials from ACSM and NSCA--the ACSM Exercise Testing and Prescription Guidelines and the big book that goes with it with the supporting documentation provide an excellent overview. The guidelines and study materials from National Strength and Conditioning Association are also excellent for resistance training. In all, between materials and certification tests, you can expect to invest $500-$700. Compared to a degree, that's pretty reasonable IMO.

    Then you need practical experience. Not sure how to do that outside of a college internship. You can try working with some friends and family or maybe an independent local fitness center might be willing to trade some mentorship for some free desk time.

    Bottom line, I would say--make a commitment to become a real professional. There are plenty of half-assed trainers out there now--we don't really need any more. Good luck.

    That's pretty much what I thought when I looked into what it would take to become a PT. If I do do it, it would be more of a passion-part-time-second job type deal. Not only that, and it may depend on which gym you work with....it sounds like one of those jobs where spend 80% your time looking for clients instead of actually traning them.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,894 Member
    I've been a certified trainer since 1999 and it's more than just about the certification. A lot of "new" PT's have a tendency to design programs for clients that are actually workouts they've personally done and that may not be what the client needs. Your workout isn't their workout.
    And you have to be good at sales too. Let's face it, without clients a PT will fail because you can't instruct when you have no one to instruct. A good PT will get results with their clients and will have a waiting list of people who want to train with them because of it. Also the focus shouldn't be about the money. If you're concerned enough about people reaching goals, the money will take care of itself.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
    Forgot to say, back on to the subject of helping the OP, one of the biggest helps I found was that there are site/forums in the UK that are for PTs to collect, share ideas and help each other and I'm sure you'll have some too.

    A great help for anyone that is considering/changing careers is to find someone with the kind of job you want, and ask them lots of questions and see if they will consider mentoring you.
  • baxgilter
    baxgilter Posts: 246 Member
    Bump To Follow
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    Ideally, one should at a minimum have an undergraduate degree in exercise science, plus a couple of hundred hours of practical experience. And then achieve a nationally-based certification. At our facility, a degree + experience is a minimum requirement + a certification from ACE, ACSM, or NSCA. Anything less and you don't even get your resume read.

    From a practical standpoint, and given the state of affairs in a lot of commercial gyms (low pay, bad management), it's hard in good conscience for me to tell everyone to invest in college degree, esp someone who is involved in a career change.

    If you are a self-learner, you can get copies of reference materials from ACSM and NSCA--the ACSM Exercise Testing and Prescription Guidelines and the big book that goes with it with the supporting documentation provide an excellent overview. The guidelines and study materials from National Strength and Conditioning Association are also excellent for resistance training. In all, between materials and certification tests, you can expect to invest $500-$700. Compared to a degree, that's pretty reasonable IMO.

    Then you need practical experience. Not sure how to do that outside of a college internship. You can try working with some friends and family or maybe an independent local fitness center might be willing to trade some mentorship for some free desk time.

    Bottom line, I would say--make a commitment to become a real professional. There are plenty of half-assed trainers out there now--we don't really need any more. Good luck.

    That's pretty much what I thought when I looked into what it would take to become a PT. If I do do it, it would be more of a passion-part-time-second job type deal. Not only that, and it may depend on which gym you work with....it sounds like one of those jobs where spend 80% your time looking for clients instead of actually traning them.

    Part of that depends on the facility. Again, the chain places I think tend to use their trainers like cannon fodder or insurance salesmen--you are seen primarily as a marketing resource to drive revenue to the bottom line.

    Being a trainer does involve self-marketing, no question. A lot of new trainers are surprised at how much time they have to spend doing it at first. At our facility, we are interested in the long term, so we invest in our trainers--they get paid a few hours at first to walk the floor, we do some promo contests and let them give away 10-15 individual free sessions to gain some visibility. We also have some feeder programs (like our weight loss program) that contain a lot of personal training visits, so that's a good way to feed new trainers some clients.

    If you are good, then you have to market less and less--you get referrals from current clients and you retain your clients.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    Also the focus shouldn't be about the money. If you're concerned enough about people reaching goals, the money will take care of itself.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    All true--unfortunately that's not something the club managers always want to hear. They want all the focus to be on the cash.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    What are some realistic ballpark income estimates for trainers? Maybe in a few different categorizes

    - trainer at a chain McGym
    - trainer at a small no-nonsense facility
    - owner of small facility

    Or anything in between?
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    What are some realistic ballpark income estimates for trainers? Maybe in a few different categorizes

    - trainer at a chain McGym
    - trainer at a small no-nonsense facility
    - owner of small facility

    Or anything in between?

    Earning statistics of trainers:

    http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos296.htm#outlook
    http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos296.htm#projections_data
    http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes399031.htm
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Having looked into this myself this conversation interests me quite a bit. I have no intent of switching professions (I'm an entertainer and my own boss and I would never give that up) -- but doing training work independently and on a part time basis really fits my lifestyle and my passion (the consulting more than the hands on training), so I've been kicking the idea around. I'm looking at the different organizations for certification before making any moves.

    I found Alan Aragon's articles on this to be quite interesting, and for those who are interested, I'd start here and read the entire series:

    http://www.alanaragonblog.com/2009/11/12/directions-toward-a-career-in-fitness-part-1/
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    What are some realistic ballpark income estimates for trainers? Maybe in a few different categorizes

    - trainer at a chain McGym
    - trainer at a small no-nonsense facility
    - owner of small facility

    Or anything in between?

    Earning statistics of trainers:

    http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos296.htm#outlook
    http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos296.htm#projections_data
    http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes399031.htm

    Thanks SideSteel. I did see some figures like this. I'll admit what I'm looking for is anecdotal evidence that one can earn far, far more than the median.

    I have this pipe dream to be a "trainer" in some capacity, but the salary estimates make me want to just continue suffering my corporate gig.
  • mmickeep
    mmickeep Posts: 22 Member
    Interesting!
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,894 Member
    What are some realistic ballpark income estimates for trainers? Maybe in a few different categorizes

    - trainer at a chain McGym
    When I worked at 24hr Fitness, my income per client was about $17, per group class $20
    - trainer at a small no-nonsense facility
    Where I work now, my income per client is $35 avg, per group class $45
    [/quote]I currently have 10 clients that I meet with at least once a week and daily group fitness classes 7 days a week.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,894 Member
    One of my peers works full time and makes over $60,000 a year. He only works mornings from 5am to 12pm M-F and weekends off.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • NikoM5
    NikoM5 Posts: 488 Member
    I love personal training so much I basically do it on the side, for free! If there was better money in it I'd make a career out of it tomorrow.
  • iplayoutside19
    iplayoutside19 Posts: 2,304 Member
    Just some more thoughts on all this. I would also want to be formally trained on the nutrition side too, because lets face it....that drives most of the results we're looking for in ourselves and in any potential clients. Getting that done, at least in Kansas looks like it would take the work of a four year degree. Right now in my current life and family situation that's more than I want to commit to a passion or hobby.

    Anyone thought about the nutrition side to this?
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    Just some more thoughts on all this. I would also want to be formally trained on the nutrition side too, because lets face it....that drives most of the results we're looking for in ourselves and in any potential clients. Getting that done, at least in Kansas looks like it would take the work of a four year degree. Right now in my current life and family situation that's more than I want to commit to a passion or hobby.

    Anyone thought about the nutrition side to this?

    Nutrition is tricky business. While there is little enforcement as far as I can tell, in many (most?) states there are licensing laws that describe who can legally provide dietary advice and what kind. Then there is the matter of personal and professional ethics. It's a bit of a conundrum in that clients look to trainers for dietary advice, yet most trainers are less qualified to give nutritional advice than they are exercise advice -- and since many of them aren't all the qualified to give exercise advice---well, you get the picture.

    It's OK to give general macro advice about nutrient ratios, portion control, general calories in/calories out type of stuff but that's about it. Many trainers are out there giving out advice that they are not qualified to give. Like I said, I don't think there is much in the way of legal enforcement, so it becomes a character and ethics issue. (Although if something ever went bad, it could easily become a legal issue as well).
  • NewFitKeri
    NewFitKeri Posts: 190 Member
    bump
  • Siege_Tank
    Siege_Tank Posts: 781 Member
    I HAVE to throw in my two cents, seeing as how I just fired my personal trainer. I was paying her $360 a month, 3 sessions a week - because I wanted to see results, and thought that that would be the best way.

    When I first went in to see her, we measured, and got a "before" photo. I asked her what calorie levels I should eat at, and she told me that calories weren't important, that I should focus on eating clean - eating high volume, low calorie stuff. I didn't hardly drop a pound until I joined MFP 3 weeks later and started to log EVERY last bit of food that went into my mouth.

    I stayed at the same weight, because, as most of us know, you can't outrun a *kitten* diet. You HAVE to eat less to lose weight. After I lost 30 pounds and let her see my food journal she started yelling at me that I needed to eat breakfast, that I wasn't eating often enough, and that I needed to eat every few hours to keep my metabolism up.

    When I showed her a couple of studies published by the NIH, all I got was an earful about how she went to college for 4 years for sports medicine and fitness, and that she actually had a bachelor's degree in what she was talking about. All I wanted to do was skip breakfast..

    I'm starting to think that all you need to be a personal trainer is common sense, an ability to listen to other people, and an ability to objectively look at (and comprehend) new studies, since they get published all the time, and constantly challenge your own assumptions, constantly check that they are correct and proper.

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