Everyone has a reason for wanting to exercise. It could be to lose body fat, build muscle, reduce blood pressure or live longer for their children. Whatever a person’s reason is, they’ve made an emotional decision to make a positive change. And by hiring a personal trainer, they’ve put their trust in somebody else to help them achieve their goals.
The wonderful thing about becoming a personal trainer (PT) is that it offers you the chance to make a real difference to people’s lives. And if you add this to your own passion for keeping fit and healthy, this makes for a truly fulfilling career.
What is a Personal Trainer?
A personal trainer creates bespoke fitness programmes for their clients, providing them with the motivation, expertise and guidance they need to achieve their fitness aims.
Every client’s unique – with a different background, set of goals and story to tell – so life as a personal trainer is never dull! Whether it’s to shed those post-Christmas pounds ready for the summer, or to knock minutes off a PB for an upcoming marathon, you'll teach your clients how to exercise using the most effective methods, through tailored workouts and specific plans. You'll instruct and advise each one, using a range of fitness equipment, classes and often help with nutrition too.
Similar roles include gym instructors and fitness instructors, but, as a PT, you’ll hold more qualifications – meaning you’re able to provide your clients with a greater level of tailored health and exercise advice. It’s common in the industry to train as a gym or fitness instructor before qualifying as a personal trainer.
One of the great advantages of being a personal trainer is that you can take your skills wherever you go, be it outdoors, within the gym environment, to other venues such as hotels and cruise ships through to workplaces and even celebrity and private client PTs.
Sound good? Let’s look at some more benefits of being a personal trainer…
Earn as much as you’re willing to work
If you choose to work as a freelance personal trainer, you control what you earn; you set rates that you’re happy to charge, and if they’re fair and you have the right personality - you’ll attract clients. If you take on more clients, then your earning potential will rise. Just look at
Frabrice Le Physique, the Cameroon-born, London-based personal trainer who earns a whopping £1,000 per hour! So, when it comes to money in the bank, the amount you make is a direct reflection of the hours you’re willing to put in and the reputation you’re able to build. Within reason, the sky’s the limit! Do keep in mind though, it’s about quality not quantity. If your service dips because you’re trying to juggle too many clients, you’ll soon see your numbers drop, hitting your business where it hurts.
Flexible Working Hours
One of the main luxuries of being a personal trainer is that it offers you flexible working hours, whether freelance or an employed member of staff.
As an employed PT, subject to your contract and whether you’re part or full time, you’ll have the option to work different days and shifts, meaning you can fit you’re work around your life, not the other way around.
Because freelance personal trainers can choose when, where and how much they work, as well as how much they earn, if you pick this route, you’ll be able to achieve a work-life balance perfect for you and an income you’re happy with.
What’s more, as a freelance, you decide your schedule. So, whether you’re an early bird who delivers the most awesome morning workouts, a weekend warrior who smashes the Saturday spin class, or workaholic that keeps going every day of the week, it’s up to you!
Be Your Own Boss and Show Your Creativity
If you offered someone the opportunity to be their own boss, the chances are they’d snap your arm off! As a self-employed personal trainer, you’ll be just that, taking control of your earnings and your hours. The benefits are huge. Your business can become your baby – something you can mould over time, taking it in your own direction, without having to wade through endless amounts of red tape (which so many other jobs are completely bogged down by!)
Whether you want to offer something more adventurous by trying new techniques, or stick to a more traditional training method, nobody is making that call but you! And as the one in charge, you’ll also be able to take holiday… whenever you want to! Just make sure you keep your clients updated on your plans, so they know your availability in advance, and everything will remain tickety-boo!
Although, as an employed personal trainer, you’ll have to negotiate your holiday with your boss, you’ll still have the chance to manage your own time and clients, and inject your personality and unique skillset into each class and training session you deliver. Not only will your customers leave feeling great, but you’ll experience a buzz too! At the end of the day, it’s every gym’s aim to be successful and to keep customers coming back for more, so the more you shine, the more everyone benefits.
Make a Difference to People’s Lives
Even though they’re your customers, being a personal trainer allows you to really connect with your clients by understanding what matters to them and what they’re aiming for, so you can produce exhilarating, results-driven programmes that make working out worth their time, energy and money.
Be it muscle gain or cardiovascular endurance, if you can deliver the service that your clients require, it can go a long way to changing someone’s life for the better. The sense of satisfaction you’ll receive after guiding a client to another few inches off their waist, or a serious improvement on their dead-lifts, is second to none.
And because personal training can improve people’s health both mentally and physically, the reverberations of your hard work will not only be felt by your clients, but by their friends and family too. Powerful stuff! Over time, you’ll have spun a web so wide that it will be difficult to tell just how many people’s lives you have influenced in a positive way.
True Job Satisfaction
If you’re looking for job satisfaction, there are few jobs that match personal training. When you add up all the benefits, from improving someone else’s self-esteem to choosing your own hours, a career as a personal trainer offers you a challenging, exciting and rewarding career – perfect for the fitness fanatic wanting to do some good in the world.
If you’d like to learn how to begin a career as a personal trainer, or are looking to develop your career further, check out The Training Room’s website to discover courses available to you:
[Find out more here]