12 May

How to Make a Career as a Professional Personal Trainer

Image of a personal trainer working with a client on the National Personal Training Institute website

What, according to you, is the ‘It factor’ to be a personal trainer? To be honest, there is no one right answer. Every client who hires a personal trainer has a different expectation from his or her personal trainer. Some look for experience, while others might look for the cheapest. But the one thing that stands out the most is what kind of certification the personal trainer has received.

It’s important to learn what it takes to be a personal trainer – what are the physical, emotional, and psychological demands of working with an extensive client base. But before you embark on a journey to becoming a fitness trainer, let’s weigh on some of the pros and cons so that you can decide if it’s the right fit for you.

The Pros and Cons of Becoming A Personal Trainer

Here are our top pros of becoming a personal trainer:

  • Rewarding work – A key responsibility of a personal trainer to help his or her clients improve their health and fitness. You see your clients transforming and be amazed at what they have achieved.
  • Flexibility – Once you have developed a client base, you can more or less choose when you want to work and take holidays at your own convenience. Some trainers prefer to work from early mornings to early afternoons while others decide to work late evenings. All in all, you get to be your own boss.
  • High Earning Potential – In the personal training industry, your earning potential is literally limitless. It is very common for personal trainers to charge $65-$100 for an hour of training. These numbers can go even higher if you choose to provide Specialization Training to your clients.

3 Cons of Becoming a personal trainer

  • Hands on experience – Personal training is more than just nutrition and exercise, it is about being able to handle exceptions as well, which requires the proper training and hands on experience. Getting a personal training certificate/Diploma from an ACCSC accredited institution like NPTI Florida (Orlando/Tampa) www.nptiflorida.edu will guarantee you a long successful fitness career.
  • Uncertain Income – If you try to take the personal trainer option as a freelance, there is no guarantee of how much money you can make. But this goes either way, i.e., it can go as high as it can go low. It all comes down to what services you offer to your clients and how much they are willing to invest.
  • Discipline and Hustle – As a personal trainer, Fitness professional you must maintain daily health and Nutrition as well. No question, the job is exhausting, both mentally and physically yet extremely rewarding.

Reasons Why you should Pursue A Career in Personal Training

Simon Sinek, author of “Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action,” says that focusing on why is more important than emphasizing the what. Every business should learn to sell dreams and expectations.

Studies show that every company in the world knows what they can do, some of them know how they do what they do, but only a few can articulate why they do what they do. As a beginner personal trainer, you’ll be putting in some long hours into your work, so having a “why” will help you stay motivated.

Is fitness training your passion? Do you cherish guiding and helping out your friends and others to improve their health and fitness? If you nod “yes” to this, then these qualities can lead you to qualify to become a certified/educated personal trainer. Your passion for helping others will keep you motivated and make it easier for you to sell your services to potential clients.

What It Takes to Be A Personal Trainer?

On the surface, becoming a personal trainer looks like the best job in the world – all you’ve got to do is be in the gym and work with your clients and peers. But there are a lot more facets to this profession that people just starting out in the industry overlook.

Like any other business or profession, there are certain demands that you need to keep in mind before making personal training your career.

The Physical Demands

If you are already in good shape, that does not guarantee you can be a good personal trainer. Some people don’t have the patience and persistence to visit the gym multiple times a day for someone else, even if the money is good. There is a strong possibility that you might get exhausted and grow tired of this constant effort to be in shape. Attending a personal training institute like NPTI Florida can help you manage your time and health and wellness needs.

The Psychological Demands

The psychological demands to be a personal trainer are high, especially starting out. In fact, a recent survey showed that most personal trainers change their professions within the first six months, given the level of commitment required.

One of the biggest challenges to overcome as a personal trainer is the limited and sporadic client base. It can take some time to develop a strong client base in the industry, and not being prepared for the uncertainties can limit their success as a personal trainer. If you are a great personal trainer with a defined specialty, your clients will grow over time – remember, patience is the key here.

Getting Qualified/Education as A Personal Trainer

Before you become a personal trainer, changing lives and influencing people to live a better life – you need to get Educated/certified. Attending NPOTI Florida to become a personal trainer makes your brand and training services more credible. The personal training industry is unregulated so, having a Diploma will only make you stand out in the industry.

A Diploma is less expensive than getting a two-year associate degree or a four-year degree. It depends on how much time you want to spend in school and how much you are willing to spend on getting educated. A Diploma takes 18 weeks and can have you training clients at graduation.

We recommend getting a Diploma from a personal training institute like NPTI Florida (Orlando/Tampa) www.nptiflorida.edu Getting fitness education from a Licensed and Accredited personal training school will guarantee you a long successful fitness career:

  • College Diploma in Personal Training
  • Nutrition Consultation Certification
  • CPR/First Aid Certified
  • 218 hours of practical experience
  • Professional Liability insurance
  • Program design
  • Verbal and Physical Communicating skills

If you are a beginner finding your way into the personal training world, you might want to start by working for a fitness club to get experience before heading out in the industry with your own brand. Here are some of the employment opportunities for you to work:

Commercial Gyms: You will get plenty of experience working for a local gym as these gyms constantly hire personal trainers for their facility. NPTI works with 24-hour fitness, Crunch fitness, to name a few. It does not matter where you would love to work. NPTI will assist you with job placement.

Hospitals or Wellness Centers: Many hospitals employ personal trainers to help their patients recover from a condition or illness. Graduating from NPTI Florida (Orlando/Tampa) can help you secure a fitness position at one of our local hospitals.

Self-Employed: Once you have completed our 600-hour personal training program. You may have the fiscal resources to open your own small private training facility. NPTI Florida can help you with the site selection and local license process as well as accounting procedures.

All in All

Personal training can be an extremely rewarding career, but you should take your time before purchasing an online certification. It is a big commitment and a path you should take seriously. To succeed as a personal trainer, you need to learn where to begin and how to develop yourself both mentally and physically to meet the physical and psychological demands. Remember, only you can decide if you are fit to be a personal trainer, and if you think you have all these qualities, you will make an excellent one.

Visit our website nptiflorida.edu to learn more about us.

Call or text 407-772-0057 to schedule a FREE class. You can also work out for FREE!