A Career In The Fitness Industry As Personal Fitness Trainer?

If you are passionate about nutrition and fitness and thinking of changing career to join the fitness industry, here’s 2 options on how to get started:

• Go back to school. Earn a degree and study all about anatomy, biochemistry and exercise physiology.

• Get certified as a personal trainer. Be a certified fitness instructor and earn credibility. Personal training Institute like Florida personal training certification offers program that is built on a proven science-based training. Students will be able to design and implement a safe and effective Personal Fitness Training program specific to each client. With this, nutritional consultation service can be offered.

The second option was obviously the practical one to take. It costs way less money and faster to complete. A certification can be completed with 3-6 months while an associate degree will take 2 years, and 4 years for a bachelor’s degree.

On the other hand, advantages of getting a degree includes:

• Opportunity at hospitals’ medical facilities.
• A chance to coach high-profile athletes or sports teams.
• If it turns out personal training is not your permanent career path, a degree may open doors to other related careers.
• A degree program offers a greater depth and scope of study.
• A degree is more recognized and accepted than a certification.

As for independent personal trainers, getting certification can sufficed. Clients usually don’t look at degree rather reasonably impressed with certification, testimonials and word of mouth of good reputation and personality.

The love for exercising, eating healthy, and the ability to inspire others to get in shape is what it takes to be an effective trainer. The personal traits and skills of a good trainer includes being analytical, motivational, nurturing, organized, patient and persistent.

Entering the fitness industry with the skills, knowledge and hands-on training is a good start next to leading a healthy lifestyle.

Truly, there isn’t one “right path” in becoming a fitness trainer, but there are six things you can do to stand out and set yourself apart from other trainers out there.

What to do

1. Start coaching now—even if it’s just family or friends.
2. Get certified—even if it’s a basic entry-level certification.
3. Become a “complete” fitness professional—someone who understands exercise, but also nutrition and quality movement.
4. Learn how to coach real people—by focusing on change psychology and connections.
5. Get business training—so you can take your fitness “pipe dream” and turn it into something meaningful and profitable.
6. Commit to a career of learning and development—geek out on advanced programs and build your skills and specialties.

Consider A Specialty

Consider which types of clients you mostly enjoy training with. From there, invest in advance and focused education by getting a specialty certification. With this, you will have more to offer and can charge additional fee to clients.

Options include:

• Athletics and sports: You can help athletes improve their balance, speed, agility, and performance.
• Lifestyle and weight management: You can work with clients on behavior change to turn around bad habits and develop healthier ones.
• Medical: With a Medical Exercise Specialist certification, such as offered through ACE, you can work with post-rehabilitation clients who are recovering from conditions such as heart problems, muscle sprains, or orthopedic surgery.
• Nutrition: With this add-on certification, you can help clients with the diet portion of their fitness goals, giving them specific advice on how they can eat healthily and lose weight.⁴
• Orthopedics: You can work with clients who have knee pain, arthritis, or other conditions.
• Special populations: With this kind of certification, you can work with older adults to help them improve quality of life and maintain muscle mass, or you can work with younger kids to build fitness programs that fit their age and goals.

Most certifying organizations offer several specialty certifications, and you may get a discount if you already have a basic certification.

Overall, whichever path you decided to take, keep in mind to focus on continuity on building and improving your skills to be able to offer the best service to your clients.