For those with a passion for health and fitness, who find enjoyment in interacting with other people, personal training offers a highly rewarding career. But where do you start?
To prescribe exercise programmes for individuals and clients, you’ll need to be Level 3 qualified. As a general rule, you’ll be fit and healthy and be ready to inspire people to be their best. A day in the life of a Personal Trainer (PT) is varied – you’ll be around people with different needs, fitness goals and personalities, so “soft skills” (communication and emotional intelligence) are a must to help attract, retain and build a strong client base.
Nowadays, there are many different training options available, with providers looking to offer courses that work around people’s lifestyles. The Training Room (TTR), the UK’s leading provider of personal training qualifications, prides itself on the range and flexibility of its courses. Impressively, prospective personal trainers (PTs) can become fully qualified in as little as five weeks, with a choice of study options such as part-time, full-time or e-learning courses.
With a nationwide team of expert tutors, TTR delivers courses across the United Kingdom, and has trained thousands of successful personal trainers since the company was founded in 2006. Starting every two weeks (with weekday, weekend or online learning options), each of TTR’s courses provides a Level 2 and Level 3 Active IQ Diploma in Fitness Instructing and Personal Training. As an added bonus, they all include Continued Professional Development (CPD) modules in Metabolic Circuit Training, Studio Cycling and Gym-based Boxing – equipping newly qualified personal trainers with extra teaching skills which they can offer to their clients and use to stand out in the market.
After graduating from the course, personal trainers are able to sign up with the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA) as a Level 3 personal trainer, the highest entry-level in the industry. It’s a good idea to join CIMSPA as employers are moving away from other registers and choosing CIMSPA membership instead, with many making it clear that they will look for personal trainers with CIMSPA membership when employing newly qualified professionals.
Whilst many people think you need to be a certain type of person, or come from a particular background, to become a personal trainer, The Training Room is a firm believer in transferrable skills, suggesting that most people with a desire to enter this career path will probably be exhibiting some of the key skills required in this role; even if they’re yet to identify them.
Darren Doak, National Field Manager for TTR, said: “If you look at the job you’re in now, there will be a number of transferrable skills that you can use to become a personal trainer. If you’ve got a job where you interact with people on a regular basis, you’ll already be demonstrating the communication skills that with allow you thrive in coaching situations. If you come from a self-employed background, you’ll have a wealth of business experience, including doing own bookkeeping, marketing yourself and networking. If you work in admin, you’ll be highly organised with good time management, which means you’ll be on the ball when it comes to creating schedules for your clients. Whatever you do, there will be relatable skills which enable you to convert to a career in personal training.”
“The one piece of advice I would offer, that I wish I knew when I first started out, is that the soft skills are as just important as the training you deliver. When we think about communication, we often think about giving verbal instruction and encouragement to our clients, but listening carefully to their wants and needs to understand their true motivations and goals, is equally, if not more, important – and the sure-fire way to developing a successful career in the fitness industry.”
The Training Room’s courses, with an all-encompassing syllabus, ensure that all students acquire the full range of skills they need; meaning that they’re not only able to deliver outstanding personal training sessions inside or outside the gym, but also have the emotional intelligence and marketing know-how to achieve the best possible outcomes for themselves and their clients.
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