Advice from Personal Trainers Sought!

[pride515]

Hey everybody. I am about to graduate college and have decided that I want to be a personal trainer (great time to finally decide what you want to do with your life, right?). I am most likely going to join the Air Force for a few years in order to pay for some of my student loans and hopefully a masters in exercise science or nutrition.

For all the personal trainers out there, I was just wondering if you had any advice for how I should go about beginning my career, what certifications are necessary and what certifications can produce a relatively lucrative career. In short, what path should I consider taking to get where I want to be? Is a masters something that could really enhance my value as a personal trainer or should I focus on other types of certifications?

Any and all advice is welcome (even if you are not a personal trainer yourself but are knowledgable in the field).

Thanks!

PS- I posted this in the Exercise Science forum as well, but I figured this would also be a good place to make my inquiry. Sorry if that is seen as clogging up the boards!

[Force of Green]

Hey everybody. I am about to graduate college and have decided that I want to be a personal trainer (great time to finally decide what you want to do with your life, right?). I am most likely going to join the Air Force for a few years in order to pay for some of my student loans and hopefully a masters in exercise science or nutrition.

For all the personal trainers out there, I was just wondering if you had any advice for how I should go about beginning my career, what certifications are necessary and what certifications can produce a relatively lucrative career. In short, what path should I consider taking to get where I want to be? Is a masters something that could really enhance my value as a personal trainer or should I focus on other types of certifications?

Any and all advice is welcome (even if you are not a personal trainer yourself but are knowledgable in the field).

Thanks!

PS- I posted this in the Exercise Science forum as well, but I figured this would also be a good place to make my inquiry. Sorry if that is seen as clogging up the boards!

To be absolutely DEAD HONEST about it, the personal training profession from the angles I've been seeing it from has to do with your communication & social skills and how sexy you are, first and foremost. I'm a NESTA and IFFA certified PFT and I've trained on the West Coast and on the East Coast and that's the way it's been with me.

I have an open-mind about training. I have a good knowledge on muscles and the mathematics involved with the necessary volume, intensity, and time to render my client worthwhile results. I know what good form is and I am smart enough to know what exercises to avoid depending on injuries and conditions.

If someone isn't appointed a predetermined trainer at a corporate gym, the person is likely to pick the trainer based on how good he/she looks. I hate to stress how superficial this business can be, but it is what it is. Anyhow, enough about that.

There are many good national certifications and there are a lot of great courses and workshops. NASM and NAFS are great certs and the course that I went through with an NAFS instructor was VERY thorough!

Every certification and higher education degree helps out, but there are more important things that a trainer must have and develope.

[pride515]

Thanks so much for the information, Force. That is actually very encouraging news, because (at the risk of sounding like a complete *******) I am very well built, attractive, and communicate very well socially and professionally. I have been receiving letters from a place calling the National Personal Training Institute (NPTI), which offers a 300 hour classroom/200 hour field experience. Have you heard of this institution? Is it worth further exploration?

Also, what kind of money can you expect to make doing this? I know it all depends on client base, etc., but what does, say, an average personal trainer make on a yearly basis (approximately)?

Any more information would be greatly appreciated, but what you have given is already very helpful.

Thanks again.

[Force of Green]

Thanks so much for the information, Force. That is actually very encouraging news, because (at the risk of sounding like a complete *******) I am very well built, attractive, and communicate very well socially and professionally. I have been receiving letters from a place calling the National Personal Training Institute (NPTI), which offers a 300 hour classroom/200 hour field experience. Have you heard of this institution? Is it worth further exploration?

Also, what kind of money can you expect to make doing this? I know it all depends on client base, etc., but what does, say, an average personal trainer make on a yearly basis (approximately)?

Any more information would be greatly appreciated, but what you have given is already very helpful.

Thanks again.

Damn this sucks, I wrote a long ass message that never made it thru, and it got deleted. I'll write it again soon

[BodyWizard]

As you're finishing up your batchelor's work, I'd definitely suggest NSCA certification. For one thing, it'll open the door to working w/ pro & college teams.

[faetfiada]

all depends on how far you want to take it. i do it for a living and i'll tell you it's all about how well you can sell yourself. it didn't take me long to see that. i have a AAAI/ISMA cert atm and have just a few classes till my exercise science degree. honestly though, unless you're going to try to get into either a school system or working with a sports team, your going to have to work pretty hard to build up a client base. mine's coming along, but it's slow. not trying to deter you from it. training is a fun and easy job, and it's satisfying to see your clients succeed! i wouldn't recommend getting into it for the money, especially if you already have a college degree in something else.

[pride515]

Thanks for your input, guys...if anything else comes to mind, please let me know!

Thanks again.