Advice from Personal Trainers Sought!
- 06-01-2008, 05:01 PM
Advice from Personal Trainers Sought!
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! - 06-03-2008, 08:43 PM
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.Freedom means nothing here. -
- 06-06-2008, 02:59 PM
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. - 06-06-2008, 03:32 PM
- 06-06-2008, 08:53 PM
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.
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- 06-12-2008, 02:00 AM
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.
- 06-12-2008, 01:21 PM
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