Written by Menswear Style in Health & Fitness on the 24th September 2020

If you’re a people person, love health and fitness, and want a rewarding career where you can be hugely instrumental in helping others to achieve their goals and live a better life, becoming a personal trainer can be an excellent career choice. If you are a fitness enthusiast, you’ve probably helped your friends and family out for a while with their own fitness habits and done some unofficial personal training, but there are more steps involved in becoming certified as a personal trainer, whether you want to find employment at a gym or fitness centre, or hope to start your own business and become your own boss.

Why Become a Personal Trainer? 

Personal training can be a very satisfying career for anybody who enjoys helping others and wants to work in an exciting, flexible environment. Once you have completed a personal trainer course, there are plenty of options on offer when it comes to choosing where you want to work. There are also many advantages, including flexible work options, the opportunity to start your own business, and of course, the reward of being able to work closely with your clients to put together a plan that works well for them and see them reap the rewards as they achieve their ultimate health goals with your support.

What Are the Qualities of a Good Personal Trainer? 

Personal trainers need to have a range of skills and qualities in order to be successful. Some of the main characteristics that successful personal trainers have include good organisational and analytical skills, the ability to motivate, inspire and lead others, patience and nurturing skills, good communication skills, and the ability to motivate themselves too. While you don’t have to look like a top athlete to be a good personal trainer, you should at the very least practice what you preach and live a healthy lifestyle, so that you can set a good example to your clients.  

Getting Certified as a Personal Trainer

If a career as a personal trainer is something that you would like to do with your life, the first step is to take a course and earn a qualification from an accredited training organisation. There is a range of personal training courses options on offer, so it’s important to spend some time doing your research to ensure that you are opting for the right personal trainer course for you. Consider whether you have the time to study for a personal training course full-time, whether you will need to fit studying around working full-time or other commitment with part-time classes, or whether distance-learning or online personal trainer courses will be a better fit for you. You can learn how to become a personal trainer here at TRAINFITNESS, with a range of different course options available with something to suit everybody’s lifestyle and needs. There are also plenty of resources, such as e-books and training programs on this website.

Finding a Job as a Personal Trainer

One of the best things about qualifying as a personal trainer is that there are so many different environments in which you can work. Gyms and health clubs are certainly some of the biggest employers of personal trainers, but they are certainly not the only options. You could work directly as an employee of a business or work as a freelance or self-employed contractor for them. Most personal trainers will choose to work as an employee when they are first starting out in order to gain experience and get a better understanding of the industry before moving on to starting their own business. Working at a gym can be an excellent way to get experience. However, you may be able to find employment in corporate environments, such as for a company that offers wellness packages for their employees. If you’d like to have the chance to travel and see more of the world while you work, personal training on a cruise ship can be an ideal choice, with many cruises offering gyms and personal training options for their guests. You can also find work in hospitals, clinics and wellness centres, personal training studios, local community centres, spas and even holiday resorts. The opportunities are certainly endless. 

Starting Your Own Business as a Personal Trainer

Some newly qualified personal trainers decide to become their own boss straight away while others will wait until they have gained some further experience in the industry before setting up their own company. Whatever option is right for you, starting your own business as a personal trainer means that you’re going to be up against some competition - not only from other self-employed personal trainers in your area but also against gyms and fitness centres that offer a personal training service too. To succeed, it’s important to invest in good marketing strategies that focus on helping you improve your visibility, particularly online with most people turning to the internet in the first instance if they want to get help with their fitness goals. Social media is an excellent way to do this since it is one of the best tools for encouraging engagement with your followers and building strong relationships with both existing and potential clients.

Consider Specialising

Once qualified as a personal trainer, you will gain experience that helps you to develop an idea for the type of clients that you tend to enjoy training with the most. Once you are able to determine which clients you prefer working with, you might want to consider investing in further education to specialise in a certain area. When you have a certain niche area or speciality that you are focused on, you will attract more clients who can relate, as they may be more inclined to choose you over a personal trainer offering a more generalised service. In addition, having a speciality often means that you can charge a little more for your services. There are several options to consider including medical exercise, weight management, athletics and sports, orthopaedics, nutrition and more.  

How to Become a Personal Trainer That Stands Out

Being successful as a personal trainer not only takes natural talent but also a lot of skill, experience, and hard work. And simply getting qualified isn’t a guarantee that you’ll be able to either get or keep clients. In order to become a personal trainer that stands out and enjoys a good reputation, it’s important to invest your time and energy into becoming the best. Spend your time attending industry conferences and workshops where you can network with inspiring people in your field and discover new techniques and equipment that you can introduce your clients to. Provide your clients with regular assessments so that they can see how they are progressing over time and make a point of keeping in touch with them by checking in outside of sessions. The best personal trainers tend to be the ones who know just how important it is to listen to their clients, have empathy for them and how they are feeling, and come up with plans that work for each individual client and their needs. Personal training is a career that’s really taking off at the moment with an increasing number of people looking for help living a healthier lifestyle. If you enjoy helping others meet their fitness goals, it could be an ideal choice for you.

We discuss why you should become a personal trainer, what the qualities of a good personal trainer are, and getting certified as a personal trainer.