How to help others...

delpha2
delpha2 Posts: 42
edited September 19 in Health and Weight Loss
and make a little money too?

I am a teacher and I love my job. I was thinking about becoming a personal trainer because I am good at motivating my students. I think that by becoming a personal trainer I would be able to transfer my teaching / motivating skills to help other people get fit and stay in shape. I have always found that teaching makes you better at everything (i.e. you don't know anything until you've tried to teach it). My aim is really a selfish one. I want to keep myself fit for life and thought that if I got into that industry I could REALLY do it (also being a bit of a workaholic helps too!)

Any personal trainers here?? Whadda'ya say...what are the ups and downs of the job. Any ideas on how to get started?

Replies

  • delpha2
    delpha2 Posts: 42
    and make a little money too?

    I am a teacher and I love my job. I was thinking about becoming a personal trainer because I am good at motivating my students. I think that by becoming a personal trainer I would be able to transfer my teaching / motivating skills to help other people get fit and stay in shape. I have always found that teaching makes you better at everything (i.e. you don't know anything until you've tried to teach it). My aim is really a selfish one. I want to keep myself fit for life and thought that if I got into that industry I could REALLY do it (also being a bit of a workaholic helps too!)

    Any personal trainers here?? Whadda'ya say...what are the ups and downs of the job. Any ideas on how to get started?
  • kimber607
    kimber607 Posts: 7,128 Member
    Hi

    I'n in Northern NJ and my friend's hubby just had to quit his personal training job and go back to his office job (writer)
    He had a VERY tough time getting into a good gym
    Overall he worked long cruddy hours and the pay wasn't very good

    Sorry I don't have any additional/helpful info..
    Hopefully someone else can chime in

    Good luck, Kim
  • shkaki
    shkaki Posts: 234 Member
    i am a trainer, and most of the time it can be rewarding, especially when clients are doing really well and meeting thier goals. you get to build great interpersonal relationships with many different types of people and teach them something that they can use for life to stay healthy and happy. You also give them the power to be strong and fit and start loving themselves. That is the great part of the job.

    the not so great: having clients who expect to lose fat/inches only working on themselves for tht 2 hours a week they work with you and then blaming you for thier lack of progress. Also, training can be very inconsistant and fickle, and never has a steady pay check. If you work at a gym, you work very very hard at selling training to get clients and then the gym takes about 65% of that money. If you work on your own and get your own clients its very hard to get people to trust you, pay you, and stay consistant.

    To be come a trainer: most places now will only hire someone who has a bachelors degree in a health related field i.e. physical therapy, exercise science, health promotion..etc. once the bach. degree is complete you then get certified. This is an extra "class" or series of classes you must take through specific associations. The ones that are most accepted would be ACSM, NASM, there are many many other certifications, but if you want to know you can get hired somewhere, those are the most accredited, and most highly accepted.

    I got into training because i wanted to help people become fit and healthy and happy. I have loved doing it, but it truely is a business. If you have never run your own business before or done any sales training, I def. would recommend doing that as well. Being able to sell yourself as a trainer is a huge thing that makes or breaks most trainers. Its a tough bizz, but it can be very rewarding!!

    good luck with your decision!!
  • shkaki
    shkaki Posts: 234 Member
    yep and i forgot that part...for the most part you work when no body else does. most days my hours are from 5am-10am and then 4pm-9pm, when the "rest of the world" is working you are at home, and when most people are sleeping or at home, youre working. Hard to get used to, but its not so bad once you do!!!
  • delpha2
    delpha2 Posts: 42
    I've looked into the certs a bit. But the certs aren't enough ???? :noway:

    Geez, it just seems that the education bit just never ends. I will have been in school most of my life if I choose this job. I am starting my masters in education and I just can't imagine another 4 years in school to become a personal trainer, not to mention the additional 30,000 debt I would rack up going back to school for a 3rd time!

    I just want to do it part time...I could work a shift before/after school and do a few hours at the weekend and then work all summer. That's what I was thinking anyway...
  • shkaki
    shkaki Posts: 234 Member
    i would then suggest getting your cert, and then trying to do it on your own...

    i do in home personal training. most of my clients have home-gyms or exercise equp. at home. you just have to be resourcefull when putting together their exercise programs with what they have around the house. I prefer that way. they write their checks directly to me, nobody but the gov. takes a cut. Its tough getting started, but you just have to put a little time into marketing yourself and then build your business off of referrals..etc. that way you can set your own sched. you never have to work at one place for more than an hour, people feel really comfortable because they're at their own home, and personally i have more fun that way. Charge more for people who live furthur away because of drive time and gas prices. Keep track of all reciepts for gas or equip. you purchase!!

    also:if you're not working at a gym, you need to carry an insurance policy to cover your butt if anything would happen and someone would by chance get injured. I carry a 1,000,000$$ policy and it runs about 130.00$/year. Not too bad!
  • delpha2
    delpha2 Posts: 42
    Thanks for your tips shkaki!

    I've been thinking about it for a long time actually...its been years now. I have had a variety of my own businesses in the past and I know how to work off of contacts. I once moved myself out of one kind of work into another line of work by collecting resources and contacts. The transition was so smooth I didn't even notice the change. Anyway, is that what you did shkaki? Do you have a 4 year degree or just certs? Which certs do you think are the best? I heard that it helps to specialize...so I kinda know what interests me the most, should I spend the money to specialize?

    Thanks a million for your encouraging advice!

    -Delpha
  • shkaki
    shkaki Posts: 234 Member
    sorry i didnt get back to you til now....

    I have a bachelors degree in health promotion. I am certified through the IFPA, its a lesser known cert, that i got through where i did my internship in florida. I also am certified in CPR/AED (which is required). I honeslty believe when getting a job in the health field its really about your knowledge on the subject and your background. I started training at gyms and hated it. I went out on my own with an in-home training company, and got some of my leads through there, and then built off referrals from happy clients. I now have gotten out of full time training and only do it for fun and extra money since it can be quite fickle. I now work as a health coach for a large company and LOVE it. Its a very rewarding field to work in, and its only growing!!

    The best certifications to get are NASM and ACSM, they are the toughest, but if you have those no place will turn you down for lack of certification!!

    ACE cert. is the most widely known, but not always accepted as a qualifying cert. I have IFPA, and have never had a problem getting hired since I also have a BA.

    Hope some of that helped! good luck in whatever you decide!!
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