Being a personal trainer is a rewarding job, primarily if it was borne out of passion. You want to tutor people and inspire them in their fitness journey, but there is much more to becoming a professional personal trainer than most people know.
Suppose you have a long-time dream of becoming a personal trainer. In that case, there are essential steps to take and things you need to consider to get certified as a personal trainer, create a niche for yourself, build your customer base, and make it a worthwhile career path.
Those are things that we will discuss in this short piece. Therefore, below is a highlight of the important things to consider on your journey to becoming a personal trainer.
Get Your Prerequisite Ready
One of the first and significant steps to take before becoming a personal trainer is knowing that there is a PT accredited program among various courses you need to take to qualify you as a professional personal trainer. Before you begin your private trainer course, you need to be an 18 years old adult with a high school diploma CPR/AED certification.
Most personal training certification bodies demand that you get these ticked off your list before sitting for the final exam. Not to forget to mention, most companies now require that you have your Automated External Defibrillator (AED) certification along with the Emergency Cardiac Care (CPR). Luckily, these certifications can be obtained while you’re training to be a certified trainer.
Specialising Also Helps
It is excellent if you are an expert in different types of training, but you will draw more clients because while you are on the job, you discover the exact kind of clients you feel more fulfilled training with. You can then further your education and take on more courses and obtain specialty certification. With you being qualified in a particular specialty, you can get more clients, and your price will improve simultaneously.
You have the option of athletics and sports, lifestyle and weight management, nutrition, medical, orthopedics, and so on.
Be Open To Learning More
Don’t just assume that you got it all figured out because you qualified as a professional personal trainer. You know it all, fitness cannot be compared with some regular desk jobs that once you get some orientation, you are most likely to repeat the same duties day in, day out. Fitness is constantly changing and evolving.
It is essential to understand that if you want your students to receive the best and safe training, you should be open to learning by taking classes, online courses, workshops, etc. This implies that if you want to continue staying in business and at the top of your game, you should keep improving your skills, and if you are passionate about fitness, taking up more classes and training would be fun for you.
You Must Be Willing To Motivate Your Students Always
You are not just a teacher to your students; it is essential to know that you must also be a master motivator. You may enjoy training and sweating it out for long hours, but as a personal trainer, you will come across people who don’t want it, and this is where your ability to motivate comes in.
They are getting that your student who is not consistently coming to the gym regularly or that your client round-up with the last few challenging exercises is not like a walk in the park. So, great motivational skill is required to keep your students interested for long and enjoy their training.
Attract Clients
As much as you may have taken fitness as a profession out of passion, it is essential to know that it is also a business that you make money from, and it is only when clients keep coming that will help you stay in business for long. A recommendation is a powerful advertising tool, so be devoted and intentional with your clients.
Additionally, as a fitness expert, you can write articles for local magazines or fitness magazines. Contributing scholarly articles to these platforms can help sell you well and help you attract more clients. You can also offer a free one-week trial and give your best to those who signed up. This way, some people may eventually sign up officially for your training if the experience is convincing enough.
Being a personal trainer can be quite a rewarding career if you can follow through with taking the required courses, building a job, and attracting clients to continue staying in business.