Becoming a personal trainer is an opportunity to work in an industry that has seen substantial growth in recent years and with the ease of obtaining an online personal trainer certificate, the reality of embarking upon this career is truly at your fingertips.
With the increased demands of our always-connected digital world, people are looking for ways to improve their health and fitness without spending hours at the gym or breaking the bank with expensive personal training sessions.
If you’re considering this new career path, here are four things you should know before you get started.
1. Getting Certified
Personal training is a low barrier of entry, meaning that you can become certified even if you don’t have a college degree. In some states, all you need to do is complete an accredited certification program and pass a background check. This makes it easier for people to explore different career routes without spending years in school or accumulating massive amounts of student debt.
With proper PT certification, you can start working with clients within weeks of graduation. To even consider getting certified, you need to have a basic understanding of health and fitness. If weight loss, toning, or building muscle is something you’re passionate about, now’s the time to pursue a certification program.
The Pros and Cons
Personal training has its pros and cons just like any career path. On one hand, you spend your days talking with people who want to get in shape, help them improve their health and well-being, and have a flexible schedule that allows you to work from home.
On the other hand, personal training doesn’t come with anything close to a regular paycheck. Most people don’t even see a profit until their third or fourth month of operation. As with any career path, there are upsides and downsides to consider.
2. You Can Work with Professional Athletes
Not everybody wants to work with newbies who are just looking to get started on their fitness journey. Luckily there’s plenty of opportunity for personal trainers who want to broaden their horizons and work with more advanced clients such as professional athletes! Just because your client list includes the top names in the business doesn’t mean you’ll be getting the star treatment. You still have to do the legwork and put in the effort, but it does help that your clientele may already have a name for themselves.
Working with Clients Can Be Intense and Stressful
Personal training isn’t always sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows. Training clients means working with people who are under stress from their demanding jobs, juggling family life on top of trying to improve their health and well-being, etc.
It doesn’t matter how much experience you have under your belt, sometimes training people is just plain stressful and can lead to disagreements and misunderstandings. Sometimes training clients means giving them bad news such as when they need to stop eating certain types of foods or cut down on their drinking.
3. The Income Potential Can Be Huge
If you’re good at what you do (and let’s face it, who isn’t?) there’s the potential to make six figures within just a few years of starting. That doesn’t even take into account bonuses or incentives that some companies offer to their top trainers.
As long as you continue putting in the hard work and helping clients meet their personal fitness goals, there’s no reason why this career path can’t lead to an extremely lucrative future!
Opening Your Own Fitness Center
It’s also possible to open your fitness center. This can require a significantly larger investment than just getting started working as a personal trainer, but it does allow you to keep 100% of the money generated by memberships and training sessions.
Whether you’re looking to make an investment in your future or finance your child’s college education, very few career paths offer this kind of potential for financial stability and growth.
4. It Doesn’t Have to Be a Full-time Career
Last but not least, you don’t necessarily need to make personal training a full-time career. Plenty of people work as PTs on the side while they focus their energy on another type of work during their 9-5.
If you’re interested in earning some extra cash and helping people along the way, this is an opportunity worth considering. All it takes is a certification program and some basic knowledge about health and fitness before you can start making a difference in people’s lives.
There are many things you should know about personal training before getting started in the industry. While it can be rewarding and lucrative, there are also downsides to consider. To get started, all it takes is a certification program from a reputable company. If you’re looking for a fulfilling career that offers plenty of opportunities, then personal training is the way to go.