A growth trend to become a qualified personal trainer has increased greatly over the last five years, and still today, men and women are leaving their jobs or finishing school to become personal trainers.
Advertising paints a glamorous picture of flexible hours, unlimited clients, and opportunity for big dollars to be generated however, setting yourself up as a personal trainer may be more difficult, and may require much much thought than you ever imagined.
What is Personal Training?
The term Personal Training should outline what one should expect to receive – training that is personal.
No matter what profession the term is used in however, it’s the fitness industry that seems to have adopted the term to sell specific fitness training to the public
Today, personal training more often than not, is group training and not just one qualified trainer working for a period of time with just one client – known as “One-on-One Training”.
Trainers within gymnasiums or studio’s and individual trainers that offer fitness training outdoors, market themselves as personal trainers no matter whether within a designated timeframe, they work inside or outside with one client, thirty clients, or One-on-one.
So, the expectation of personal training being personal, is no longer valid.
What certification is required to become a Personal Trainer?
Obtaining certification as a Personal Trainer is much easier than it used to be. Most courses and examinations are now delivered online.
However, a few providers actually require that all training to be done face to face, or with some online and some of the time with a qualified educator.
I highly recommend most training be done face to face if the option is available to you.
Online courses offer convenience, with no specific start date and they usually offer a longer timeframe to complete the education with only the resources they can offer.
Each country or state/region will have a governing fitness body offering its own accreditation system, so it is best to search online to obtain qualification outlines.
In Australia there are a number of levels of qualification ranging from Certificate III offering the basics in fitness, nutrition, strength and movement, Certificate IV which offers greater education in fitness fundamentals, nutrition, anatomy and physiology, through to a Diploma in Fitness aimed to improve a trainers’ knowledge and skills even further.
You won’t be able to undertake a high-level certification, without completing a basic course first.
Age and Experience of Personal Trainers
Again, check with your state as to laws around age to work within the fitness industry but in Australia, you must be at least 18 years of age.
People go into personal training for a number of reasons being:
- A high school graduate seeking a career
- In a job they don’t like and they are seeking a career change
- Wanting to upskill on a current health/fitness/sport industry qualification
- Wanting to get back into the workforce after an extended break
Whatever your reason, you will find a qualification to suit you, however be practical about your age and experience once you obtain that piece of paper stating you are a personal trainer.
Reverse your position and ask yourself who would you consider the right person and at what level of qualification should that person have to personal train you?
Questions a client may ask before securing a trainer may be:
- What age trainer am I looking for?
- How much experience do I expect them to have?
- What would I be prepared to pay for an hour or training with a qualified PT?
- Where do I want my training to be conducted – indoors or outdoors?
- How much personal attention do I expect my trainer to give me?
- Will me trainer be able to watch me enough to correct my technique so injury is prevented?
Whether new to personal training or an established trainer looking for additional clients, these are all valid questions that you should be able to answer.
Target Market for Personal Trainers
When you receive your Personal Trainer qualification, the market that is assumed you will target is the general public.
Just bear in mind however, that most people focus on this market making targeting this segment more saturated.
One thing I learned early in my career is that I needed to target a different market.
I needed to do what most people were not doing but I still needed to stay true to myself and work in an area that would ignite the fire in my belly and keep me motivated every day. I recommend the same for you.
There are many markets today that could be targeted, that don’t hold the saturation of mainstream personal training.
That is: all women and all men no matter what age, experience or health status.
It’s finding that one market. Be seen as the expert.
For example:
- Children after school programs
- Primary aged boys after school and school holiday boot camp (like girls focus on dance or similar)
- High School Boys Boxing Programs
- High School Girls Strong Body Programs
- Sports specific market – Eg: Soccer, Swimming, athletics
- Men over 40 (who are noticing their strength and fitness deteriorating)
- Seniors with bad backs or mobility issues
Think outside of mainstream. Become the expert in that one market, and you and your business will soar.
You Are the Business
When you operate your own business, it all comes back to you. Every little detail.
You become the salesperson from the moment your feet hit the ground of a morning.
You need to sell:
- your appearance
- your beliefs and habits
- your personality
- your communication skills
- your morals and ethics
- your passion and motivation
- your goals for each individual client
Further, you need to know your numbers and either have business skills to keep a very close eye on your PT business viability, or hire someone part-time to look after this area for you.
Business is not easy.
In fact, if you’re doing it correctly, it’s down right difficult and requires planning, monitoring, balance and total commitment.
Contracts Within Fitness Clubs
For many, the freedom of having a certification as a Personal Trainer, is so they can work on their own and be answerable to no-one.
That is understandable however, I have seen too many personal trainers struggle to secure enough clientele to make a living, so when a health club offers a contract allowing trainers to prospect their large and secure clientele, the individual trainer see’s an opportunity to tap into hundreds if not thousands of people.
At this point I recommend trainers read my Age and Experience outline here. When the contract is signed, they are rock solid and even-though a monetary grace period is usually offered for the first month or two, that usually is not sufficient time to secure enough people to make a living.
Ask yourself:
- How many other personal trainers are working within the same club?
- How many of those trainers are also on contract?
- How long have all those other personal trainers been working within the club and had access to clientele?
- How experienced are those others trainers and how many clients do they each have?
- How do you approach people?
- Why will people say yes to your training over someone else?
I don’t raise these questions to deter you, but to offer you a realistic birds-eye view as to what you may come across as a Personal Trainer.
I have seen too many people lose thousands of dollars and give up as a Personal Trainer and it’s such a shame because with planning and being true to yourself, you could step into a career path that offers the opportunity to greatly improve people’s lives, while offering you time flexibility and a successful business as your reward.
About the Author
Louise Skeen owns and operates Personal Fitness for Women, a boutique personal training studio located in her home town of Lake Macquarie in New South Wales, Australia.
Twitter •
