If your passion is physical fitness, consider becoming a personal trainer. New gyms and workout centers are always opening as people are becoming more and more health conscious. Many baby boomers in particular are starting to take an interest in improving their health and general physical condition.
If you are in good shape yourself and want to help others attain better health, working as a personal trainer may be exactly what you’re looking for.
What kind of education does it take to become a personal trainer?
You will need to become certified. Call fitness centers in your area and ask them what certification they require. There are a lot of options for training, including home study. However, a course with a lot of hands on training will definitely allow you to be better prepared than studying at home.
Typically, a personal trainer is required to be CPR certified. Some other things that you will need to learn are nutrition, fitness assessment, and designing exercise programs that include strength and flexibility training. You need to learn how to take a clients health history so that you can assess their current level of physical conditioning.
What other qualities are needed?
Here are some of the other qualities you will need if you want to become a personal trainer:
- Be in good health. You don’t need to be a body builder, but you need to set an example of good health.
- Motivational. You need to be able to motivate yourself and others.
- Patience. You need plenty of patience. You will need to deal with a lot of different personality types.
Getting started as a personal trainer
Although your goal may be to start your own business, when you first get started, plan to spend some time working in a club. This will help you gain valuable experience working with clients as well as observing other personal trainers interacting with clients.
If you want a different setting than a health club, you may be able to get started at a university, spa, cruise or resort.
Starting your own business
When you are ready to start your own business, there will be additional things to think about, such as:
- Licenses and permits. If you are opening a business in your own home, you may be required to obtain a permit.
- Liability insurance. If you train people in your own home, it is important to acquire liability insurance.
- Obtaining equipment. You may need a business loan to obtain equipment. Be sure to visit http://www.sba.gov/ for helpful information on setting up your business.
- Marketing. When you first get started, a big chunk of your time will have to be spent marketing. Pass out brochures and flyers everywhere you can think of. See if a local sporting goods store will let you leave some brochures or business cards. Advertise in newspapers. You may want to consider starting a website. When you’re just getting started, you may want to offer free sessions to try to obtain at least a few steady clients.
Working as a personal trainer is a career path that has a lot of possibilities. Everywhere you look, people want to lose weight and get in shape, and many of them are looking for guidance on how to get healthy. Personal training is one of the fastest growing career choices there is.
