Certified personal training
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jamie31
Posts: 568 Member
Ok, for a year I've been looking into becoming a cpt, I think I have a company picked out but would like some feedback from others who are certified personal trainers. Where did you get your certification? What are you doing with it ( gym training, at home etc) ? And what kind of income does it give you?
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Replies
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How much do you really know about physiology, kinesiology and anatomy? As a CPT the EASIEST part is instruction. But there's a lot more involved. You'd need to know about people's health issues, how to deal with injury's and rehab, what are your actual limitations (like telling someone to do burpees when you can't demonstrate it yourself), and SELLING contracts. Without being able to actually sell contracts, you have no income. And for many having to learn how to overcome "Well let me think about it" isn't in their cards because they may not have the personality to do it. I've seen it lots of times. They have all the credentials for training, but are unable to get clients.
I've done it as a CPT for almost 20 years now and average $2000 a month part time. I can make more, but I choose not to be full time.
I instruct at a gym (and have for most of my career). Realize if you train on your own, you'll need to have insurance and make sure it's enough to cover not just one person.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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I've been a college athlete and have lost over 130lbs myself. While I don't have any degrees in fitness education I have self taught myself enough to lose weight myself, ideally I would like to target obese women or new moms as I have been both. For me it's the whole been there done that.
So it sounds like getting into a gym is the best way to make a decent living, this would just be part time for me so I'm not looking for a high income.
I love to workout, almost obsessively and am current on all the new nutrition trends0 -
Just realize that especially in the OBESE population, commitment from many isn't that high. They don't work the same way you or I would do, so of course the results will be much different. Especially since you can't really help them with eating 24-7 and that's where most of the issue lies. And when results come really slow, they tend to bail out well before they even hit goal half way.I've been a college athlete and have lost over 130lbs myself. While I don't have any degrees in fitness education I have self taught myself enough to lose weight myself, ideally I would like to target obese women or new moms as I have been both. For me it's the whole been there done that.
So it sounds like getting into a gym is the best way to make a decent living, this would just be part time for me so I'm not looking for a high income.
I love to workout, almost obsessively and am current on all the new nutrition trends
Learn to train EVERYONE. That way your clientele increases.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition 3 -
Being up on all the "new nutrition trends" is a worrying statement and not a benefit IMO. Luckily one should employ a PT for their ability to help you achieve fitness goals not for their nutritional advice. The world doesn't need another PT giving faddish nutritional guidance TBH.9
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I wasn't really asking to be criticized for my interest. Being up on new trends I think is important as I feel you need to know them to answer any question your client may have on them. If i have a client ask me if eating for their body type or eating only in certain hours of the day would work I would want to be familiar with the trends to answer1
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Being up on all the "new nutrition trends" is a worrying statement and not a benefit IMO. Luckily one should employ a PT for their ability to help you achieve fitness goals not for their nutritional advice. The world doesn't need another PT giving faddish nutritional guidance TBH.
QFT! Please don't be one of those PTs giving out bad nutritional advice.2 -
I was a teacher and have several teacher friends that have become group instructors at my gym. They are all in a similar boat as you (losing weight and woking out after having children). They enjoy the instruction portion obviously, b/c they are teachers.
If you don't have an academic background in exercise science or a related field, this might be a better route. It would also relieve the responsibilty for obtaining your own clients and insurance.0 -
I wasn't really asking to be criticized for my interest. Being up on new trends I think is important as I feel you need to know them to answer any question your client may have on them. If i have a client ask me if eating for their body type or eating only in certain hours of the day would work I would want to be familiar with the trends to answer
You don't need to be familiar with trends to know solid scientifically backed nutritional advice.2 -
ACE is a great program, NASM is great too, both are widely accepted by most gyms. NASM and AFAA have recently partnered so if you're interested in doing some group exercise instruction as well there's a lot of good discounts for NASM/AFAA crossover programs now. Most gyms will train you on the sales aspect of things, they want you to make sales so they make more money too. A place like the YMCA (if you're not in it for the money) can be great with kids. There's often free child care for instructors and good mentoring for new instructors/trainers.
I've been in the fitness industry for 9 years. Everywhere from high end NYC health clubs to the Y in rural NH (post family life, lol). If you have any other questions you don't get answers to here feel free to message me.0 -
Chef_Barbell wrote: »I wasn't really asking to be criticized for my interest. Being up on new trends I think is important as I feel you need to know them to answer any question your client may have on them. If i have a client ask me if eating for their body type or eating only in certain hours of the day would work I would want to be familiar with the trends to answer
You don't need to be familiar with trends to know solid scientifically backed nutritional advice.
I disagree with this. I think one of the first things a PT should ask about is what type of eating plan someone is on. All of these current trends (IMO) can affect training. I wouldn't want a PT that just says "NO"...do this. I would want one that can also explain why and how it might affect my training.
This past year I had a doctor that just said "NO" to some things without explaining the "WHY". This coming year I will have a new doctor. "NO" just wasn't good enough when it comes to my health. I would feel the same way about a PT if I had one...training is after all about health and fitness.3 -
Chef_Barbell wrote: »I wasn't really asking to be criticized for my interest. Being up on new trends I think is important as I feel you need to know them to answer any question your client may have on them. If i have a client ask me if eating for their body type or eating only in certain hours of the day would work I would want to be familiar with the trends to answer
You don't need to be familiar with trends to know solid scientifically backed nutritional advice.
I disagree with this. I think one of the first things a PT should ask about is what type of eating plan someone is on. All of these current trends (IMO) can affect training. I wouldn't want a PT that just says "NO"...do this. I would want one that can also explain why and how it might affect my training.
This past year I had a doctor that just said "NO" to some things without explaining the "WHY". This coming year I will have a new doctor. "NO" just wasn't good enough when it comes to my health. I would feel the same way about a PT if I had one...training is after all about health and fitness.
PTs are for exercise, they are not nutritionists or dieticians. They should not be giving out that type of advice.3 -
Chef_Barbell wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »I wasn't really asking to be criticized for my interest. Being up on new trends I think is important as I feel you need to know them to answer any question your client may have on them. If i have a client ask me if eating for their body type or eating only in certain hours of the day would work I would want to be familiar with the trends to answer
You don't need to be familiar with trends to know solid scientifically backed nutritional advice.
I disagree with this. I think one of the first things a PT should ask about is what type of eating plan someone is on. All of these current trends (IMO) can affect training. I wouldn't want a PT that just says "NO"...do this. I would want one that can also explain why and how it might affect my training.
This past year I had a doctor that just said "NO" to some things without explaining the "WHY". This coming year I will have a new doctor. "NO" just wasn't good enough when it comes to my health. I would feel the same way about a PT if I had one...training is after all about health and fitness.
PTs are for exercise, they are not nutritionists or dieticians. They should not be giving out that type of advice.
I am not saying that they should be experts nor lay out diet plans for their clients. I do think however that they need to be aware how all of the diets plans can affect their exercise ability.
I have arthritis, HBP and abdominal hernias. I don't expect a PT to treat those issues. I do however want a PT that has enough knowledge on those issues to be able to advise me on the acceptable forms of exercise for someone that has these issues.
As much as I would like to have a PT I don't know how to find one that has enough knowledge that I feel as if I can trust them enough to make the best decisions for me when it comes to acceptable exercise.
Again...I never said that they had to be experts...1 -
You really didn't answer any of the information regarding physiology, kinesiology, or anatomy. Being able to lose weight on your own via a calorie deficit is not a qualification.
I think it's awesome that you want to be a personal trainer, but as niner said, it's much more involved than simply knowing to eat less and move more. There's the knowledge of creating periodized training protocols that are actually realistic and attainable for your clientele. There's the social aspect of being able to motivate driven individuals and when to tell a client is/isn't ready to commit. There's the personal aspect of being able to connect with your clients in a meaningful way. There's the sales/social media/hustling aspect. There's so much more to personal training than telling someone to lift some weights and eat less calories. Don't even get me started on muscular imbalances/posture/injuries/pre-existing conditions.
In any case, here's the deal... you need to be certain this is something you want to do before you invest the time and money into getting your certification. If you don't have any kind of background with this (ESPECIALLY anatomy/biology), know that the learning curve may be more steep than you're thinking. These certs also aren't cheap and cost quite a bit if you fail them and need to retake them.
I considered myself pretty knowledgeable about exercise (having been a competitive gymnast for over 8 year, lifting for over 4 years, etc.), having been on the MFP boards for 3-4 years and aware of all the concepts of macros/calories/etc. and it was far more information than even I imagined when i started studying for my certs.
I am a certified personal trainer with NASM, I'm a Level 4 member of the European Registry of Exercise Professionals, and i'm also a Jump Fitness group instructor. I own my own fitness business and work as an independent contractor with certain gym locations as well as offer online training/coaching, have an e-book workout plan, etc. As far as income, this is something i'd rather not share but I imagine this will vary wildly depending on the location you live in. I happen to live in one of the most expensive cities in the world.
P.S. As far as i know there are not any certifying entities that will allow you to treat, prescribe, or suggest a specific diet to your clients without an additional certification or training.
We can educate them on the basics of calories/macros/micros, we can debunk myths (like in your example, meal timing), we can provide them resources like the USDA Healthy Eating Guidelines, we can even tell someone how many calories a day to eat or how to determine their own calories (BMR/TDEE/ETC.), but we can't tell them WHAT to eat.
I.E. we can't make meal plans, tell someone to eat chicken breast and broccoli for every meal, tell them to go on a specific diet, etc.3 -
Maybe try a group fitness certificate first. See if you like it and the cost is lots less. I personally do not have any interest in CPT I teach Group X and like it a lot.0
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Where did you get your certification? What are you doing with it ( gym training, at home etc) ? And what kind of income does it give you?
I'm a certified Personal Trainer & Corrective Exercise Specialist through the NASM. I've mentioned here before there's a lot of crap that NASM teaches that I don't agree with, but overall it's a good certification that's well recognized in the industry.
Personal Training is a part time job for me (in addition to my full time job). It's never been about the $, I do it because I love it.1 -
Chef_Barbell wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »I wasn't really asking to be criticized for my interest. Being up on new trends I think is important as I feel you need to know them to answer any question your client may have on them. If i have a client ask me if eating for their body type or eating only in certain hours of the day would work I would want to be familiar with the trends to answer
You don't need to be familiar with trends to know solid scientifically backed nutritional advice.
I disagree with this. I think one of the first things a PT should ask about is what type of eating plan someone is on. All of these current trends (IMO) can affect training. I wouldn't want a PT that just says "NO"...do this. I would want one that can also explain why and how it might affect my training.
This past year I had a doctor that just said "NO" to some things without explaining the "WHY". This coming year I will have a new doctor. "NO" just wasn't good enough when it comes to my health. I would feel the same way about a PT if I had one...training is after all about health and fitness.
PTs are for exercise, they are not nutritionists or dieticians. They should not be giving out that type of advice.
Agree. There are some liability issues if a PT gives other than very general nutrition advice. Good discussion on the topic http://www.precisionnutrition.com/can-personal-trainers-give-nutrition-advice1 -
Maybe I should state that I am certified in nutrition. While I don't have degrees in anatomy I know many personal trainers that do not. Isn't that what my education while getting my personal training would provide me with.
I have to say that I'm very disappointed in the negativity of some of you. Just because you are currently a personal trainer does not mean you are better than me. I asked for help and honestly got more criticism than actual help. But some of you have been really nice and have reached out to actually help me. So please if you actually want to help someone who had interest in your profession please message me. I really want opinions on the course I should take and not criticism0 -
I don't think they are being negative to be negative. They are just being realistic and giving you more to think about.
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Maybe I should state that I am certified in nutrition. While I don't have degrees in anatomy I know many personal trainers that do not. Isn't that what my education while getting my personal training would provide me with.
I have to say that I'm very disappointed in the negativity of some of you. Just because you are currently a personal trainer does not mean you are better than me. I asked for help and honestly got more criticism than actual help. But some of you have been really nice and have reached out to actually help me. So please if you actually want to help someone who had interest in your profession please message me. I really want opinions on the course I should take and not criticism
The PTs who responded weren't being negative...they're being real and giving you more to think about.
I had much the same thoughts a few years ago...I think a lot of people who help themselves end up having a desire to help others and I was totally ready to give up my well paying job to "make a difference". I sat down with my trainer and good friend and started discussing everything with him...I certainly came away realizing that there was a lot more to it than I was really thinking about...pretty much everything that was mentioned above, he told me.
Additionally, he made me think about the hours...particularly if I was going to be full time. Basically, he told me I would be working during the times that most people spend time with their families...early mornings, nights, and weekends because that's when my clients would have time.
My trainer owns his own gym and has his own clientele which adds a whole other element...he's basically there Monday - Thur from 5AM - 10PM...takes off Friday and Saturday evenings after 6PM or 7PM and takes Sundays off. It's also hard for him to take meaningful vacations and the like because he's not being employed...if he's gone, he's losing money. These things were all big eye openers for me and ultimately decided to stay in my well paying 8-5 job...though I have considered becoming a spin instructor part time which I think would be fun and I wouldn't be worried about making a career out of it.
I think it's great that you are thinking about this, and it's an awesome profession...but there is a lot to think about and certain realities to be aware of that naturally come with the job.3 -
... who was being negative?
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