If you love working out and helping people reach their potential, a personal trainer could be the job for you! Personal trainers don’t just educate and motivate their clients, they change lives with personalized programs that let clients see new worlds of possibility.
While a passion for the job is a great reason to go into the field, there are many benefits to working in fitness education. You can make good money and set your own schedule. You can work for an established company, freelance, or build your own business.
Another advantage of choosing a career in fitness education is that you don’t need to spend years and thousands of dollars on a degree. Personal Trainer Certification is inexpensive and efficient. Learn more about how you can get started in this exciting career!
Personal trainer certification courses will cover the following topics:
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Anatomy, Physiology, and Exercise Science
A good personal trainer certification course will give you a foundational understanding of the applicable sciences of anatomy and physiology, before moving on to exercise science. Learning how the human body works in general will prepare you to learn how the body responds to exercise.
Exercise science includes two elements: the acute response of the body to a particular type of physical activity, and the long-term adaptations the body makes in response to the repeated activities of physical training. Knowing what your clients’ bodies will do and feel during and after training sessions will allow you to plan appropriate workouts and reassure your clients that they are safe and making progress.
Psychology and Motivation
“Soft skills,” like motivation and effective communication, are essential to success as a personal trainer. When you’re in a session with a client, you aren’t just there to give them facts and instructions. Whether you’re working with a young, ambitious bodybuilder or a senior citizen just trying to keep fit enough to play with their grandkids, there will be days when they need your help to sustain their motivation and confidence.
Successful personal trainers begin with a generally positive attitude about people, but a course in fitness education can help you hone those people skills. Learn how to support your clients through the mental and emotional challenges they will face on their fitness journey. Compassion for where your client is coming from is the best foundation for inspiring them to reach for high goals and motivating them to stay the course.
Assessing Clients and Keeping Them Safe
Personal trainer certification will teach you how to assess your clients’ abilities and needs from day one, so you can help them set appropriate goals. You will learn how to assess their progress and make appropriate adjustments along the way.
It’s important to know what questions to ask and tests to administer before beginning a training program. Clients trust you to teach them how to exercise safely, and that will mean different things for different people.
You will also want to get CPR and first aid certified, just in case. If you’re working for someone else, this may be required, but it’s a good idea even if you’re working for yourself. In fact, it’s an especially good idea if you’re working outside of a gym, because you won’t have that institutional back-up.
Designing Fitness Programs
Part of the fun of being a personal trainer is the opportunity to develop unique programs to meet the goals and needs of your clients. Designing the right program is also key to keeping clients coming back week after week. A client can start off with all the motivation in the world, but if they don’t see week to week how the work they’re putting in is getting them closer to their goals, their motivation will dry up. On the other hand, if they can’t walk the next day, they might decide they’re better off with a different trainer, or even none at all.
Personal trainer certification will help you find that happy medium for every client. You’ll learn how to tailor standard workout plans to different kinds of clients, and how to use frameworks to creatively design totally unique plans your clients will get and stay excited about.
Building a Business
Personal trainers often work as contractors or freelancers. If you’re particularly ambitious and inclined toward entrepreneurship, you can also become a business owner. Even if you work for a company, part of your job will be selling potential clients on your services. So whichever path you choose, business skills will be vital to your professional success.
Special Topics and Populations
In addition to basic and advanced certificates in personal training, many professionals will want to expand their fitness portfolio by getting additional training in various fitness niches. Special populations you might want to work with include youth, seniors, people with certain medical conditions like asthma or heart disease, and people with special needs and disabilities.
Continuing professional development for personal trainers can also include certificate programs in particular types of fitness education, such as dance or aqua aerobics, functional or tactical fitness, coaching for specific sports, and many others.
With endless opportunities for professional development, you’ll never be bored.
Start Your Personal Trainer Certification Today!
You don’t have to be a drill sergeant to be a great personal trainer. Personal training is an excellent career choice for anyone who enjoys helping people achieve their goals. Like any coach or teacher, the value of your role goes far beyond the specific arena of fitness.
Exercise is so important for physical and mental health, but the benefits of working with a personal trainer and establishing a fitness routine are more than just these. By teaching your clients to imagine their best physical selves and work toward those dreams, you are teaching a broader skill set of personal growth that they can apply to anything.
Fitness is an ever-growing industry, not just getting bigger in terms of the number of people looking for instruction and motivation, but also broadening with more and more specializations. With so much variety, you’re sure to find your niche.