Being a Personal Trainer - advice?

[Hoofy]

Thankyou4calling said:

You don't require any qualifications whatsoever to be a Personal Trainer. There are associations and recommendations but it's an unregulated industry that anyone can work in. Many PTs have no qualifications, or insurance. As long as they aren't claiming to have they're not breaking any laws.

Yes, you're right, there's certainly no legislation but without insurance (which isn't possible unless you have the right qualifications), you're opening yourself to a real bumming should the worst happen. I guess if you're young, you can run when the lawyers come a-knocking.

[Thankyou4calling]

Hoofy said:

Yes, you're right, there's certainly no legislation but without insurance (which isn't possible unless you have the right qualifications), you're opening yourself to a real bumming should the worst happen. I guess if you're young, you can run when the lawyers come a-knocking.

It's interesting that a lot of people will assume a PT has qualifications and insurance but never actually ask, and less still ask to see any documents, hence, you get all sorts practising both in gyms, people's houses and public parks. Some of the worst are the so called celebrity trainers who often have zero qualifications other than they helped a Hollyoaks actress lose their baby bump. Not illegal but it doesn't help the integrity of the business.

[Hoofy]

Yep. As I say, it's fine until someone gets injured and sues.

[Frimley111R]

The ones I know tend to do a mixture of running (managing) classes and PT work. I'd agree with other posters that they seem to be people who love excise/fitness and aren't bothered about the money to any great extent.

[uber]

The problem with most PTs are they have no real idea about exercise or fitness and have simply signed up to one of the many "PT Training Courses" that are popping up all over the place. I have a lot of experience in the industry and trust me 98% of the people I see in the industry would be better going back to the old day job.

The top 2% get paid well because they DO get results but its normally after their own experience in fitness training , having a brain (not many PTS have them) and charging top rate (finding clients to pay it is not easy)

[technodup]

I've spoken to a load of PTs through work and the common theme is none of them have any money. There's a top rate people will pay per hour, there's a limit on hours in a day. And seemingly most can't square the circle.

The better ones I've come across who claim to be busy are either seen as experts e.g. compete at a high level in a related sport or who get hold of a premises and run it more as a gym, in that people will sign up to a monthly payment rather than one-off arrangements.

[gaz1234]

dont be arrogant.

[GG89]

My advice would be don't bother. Moneys crap, even more so if you're just starting out, I have a few friends that do it.

[addey]

I've been a Personal Trainer for over 13 years now, although I've never done it as my sole job / income earner. First 11 years I worked in gyms as bog-standard instructor then gym manager and the PT was done in/around my shifts to earn extra money. Since leaving the gym I do my PT freelance at people's homes and out and about in parks etc. and work around my main job which is compressed into a couple of hours in the afternoons. As already mentioned I would say that its pretty difficult to make a decent living from just PTing this days. In a gym/club environment it tends to be pretty competitive between trainers with very high targets set by the clubs, hence the high-turnover in staff. Outside of gyms as well as the difficulty in actually marketing yourself and finding clients, it also leads to pretty unsociable hours - early mornings, evenings and weekends are all prime time leaving you with dead hours during the day. So I would go with some of the recommendations already mentioned

- get qualified to teach something extra like zumba, yoga, pilates or something for kids (or whatever the current fad is). Easy to book church/school/community halls and run your sessions
- run 'bootcamp' style outdoor circuit classes rather than trying to get 1-2-1 clients. Very popular at the moment and 10 people paying £10 is better than 1 paying £40
- I'd avoid going into a gym unless you can find a good independent club that isn't sales orientated for its PT!

Finally, in my experience PTing is more like doing glorified counselling! I can honestly say that I've only ever trained a handful of people who really want to get specific results and are prepared to work hard to achieve them. Most people do PT because if they didn't, they wouldn't do any exercise at all. And they want a nice chat and to unload their problems. So your partner needs to be a good listener, very tolerant and understanding, and good at telling the client what they need to hear. The fitness knowledge is almost secondary.....

[captain jack]

Thanks for all the comments, they are all very useful. She's very determined and practical about this and has already previously considered many of the points raised.

She participates in several sports so will certainly be using this as an 'in' and a marketing tool.

I've been quite surprised at how in depth the anatomy aspect of the Level 3 course is - like a medical journal! Hopefully it will stand her in good stead and in time she'll become one of those that makes a sufficient living at it and is happy in her work.

Thanks again!