Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below airsmith2k
New member
i was maybe considering about becoming a personal trainer. i know you need to get certified........i was wondering on how u do that....also i was wondering if its a good profession and if theres any money in it thanks
becoming a personal trainer
- Thread starter airsmith2k
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www.nasm.org..there can be good money to be made in it if your business savy enough to make sue your gym isn't take to much of your cutof the money. And it's a young guys game, and very competitive, and last but not least you'll get so much ass it should be illegal. go for it dude. either NASM or MCSE are the best as far as getting top notch qualification.
schneiderc2004
New member
The ISSA is supposed to be good also. Personal training can be good if you like dealing with clients and get them to workout. I personally would not like to be one since you have deal with clients and work with them according to their schedule. But you've got to do what you like and what's best for you. 
BigCracker
New member
I did it for about 8 yrs. For most people it's a great thing to do while you're prepping yourself for another career. You don't "need" certification to be successful either-but some gyms may require it to train there. If I was to start from scratch and make it a lifelong career, this is what I'd do. 1st off I'd make sure I was better built and better educated than 90% of the people in the gym-a killer bod is a great marketing tool that's w/ you 24/7. If you can answer people's fitness related questions in a way that they can understand on top of looking good you're off to a great start. 2nd I'd get a job at one of those big chains where they supply you with clients take 1/2 of your hourly wage. This will suck, but it will give you a lot of connections that will lead to being able to acquire clients on your own in the future-which is probably the toughest part of being a trainer. 4th step would be to find a gym close to the one you're already at that doesn't take 1/2 of the trainers pay, but instead charges you a monthly flat fee to train your clients. Then convince your clients at the gym that you've been training at to switch their memberships to the new place. This way you'll instantly be making 100% more than you were already have a decent client base to cover gym rent. Have business cards made and start handing them out. Offer free consultations to new clients-which is your chance to convince them(aka sell your service) you can help them achieve their fitness goals. Once you're schedule is full of clients, raise your rates per session for all new clients. All of this is pretty easy. The difficult part is motivating people that are impossible to motivate. You'll end up being your client's psychiatrist moreso than their trainer 75% of the time. Ya know how people confide in the person that cuts their hair about their personal life? Imagine seeing that person 2-4x a week as their trainer-they will tell you everything about themselves. Listening to this crap gets really monotonous, so it's easy to get burnt out. It also makes the biz portion of personal training more difficult because clients will use your relationship as a tool to not pay you on time and/or cancel appointments last minute in hopes of not being charged. Situations like this require some social finesse, so it might take you awhile to figure out the best way to keep clients without letting them walk all over you. After a couple years you can hire trainers to train your clients for you-and take 50% of their hourly rate like the gym you started at did. This way you'll be making money even when you're not training clients yourself. Once you have some experience and some cash saved, you can either buy your own small gym to train people in a more personal setting. You can also offer in home training where you train people at their residences. All you need is a core ball, some dumbells, and a vehicle. You can also charge them more $$$ per session to cover drive time, etc. Hopefully you'll get referrals to their neighbors and you can schedule everyone back to back according to geography. Anyway, good luck. I hope this helps. Being your own boss is awesome. Not only do you make the rules, but you never have to worry about getting fired either.
used2juice
New member
ViperHMS said:
I agree, that's the same info I would have given if I cared enough to post that much.
onerippedmofo
New member
Are NASM and MCSE as good as getting certified at an 'actual' college?BuildUp said:
shortspanishguy
New member
I am graduating with my BS in Ex. Phys next week from Towson University in Maryland.
Every Dr. in my building feels that ACSM and the NSCA are the only 2 certs that matter.
Also, some of the higher end clubs around my way prefer ACSM and NSCA over any other orgs.
edit.... even in the world of academia, ACSM is highly regarded..... NASM is not.
Every Dr. in my building feels that ACSM and the NSCA are the only 2 certs that matter.
Also, some of the higher end clubs around my way prefer ACSM and NSCA over any other orgs.
edit.... even in the world of academia, ACSM is highly regarded..... NASM is not.
Personal training as a career is going to be what you make of it. Depending on where you're going to be training, clients can be easy to find, or it can be a pain in the ass. I'm the director of training at a local club, and I can tell you what I look for when hiring new trainers. ACSM or NSCA are definitely top notch. I have found NASM to be very good also. But more than who you are certified through is what you bring to the floor. Someone with all the information in the world still won't be shit for a trainer if they can't convey that info to their clients. You also need to be able to motivate your clients. A whole hell of a lot of people work with trainers because they are unmotivated by themselves, and you have to provide that motivation. So, have the knowledge, but more importantly, be able to apply it. I recently fired a guy who had a BS in Exercise Physiology. Super great and smart with the info, but expected me to do the work for him, and he just couldn't relate to people efficiently/effectively.
My advice is the same as bigcracker gave you. Be your own boss. I'm in a fortunate situation to work at a club where we have an actual training program instead of a bunch of rogue trainers stabbing each other in the back like happens in a lot of gyms. I'm lucky enough to have been hired into a gym that came looking for me to direct their program, so I got my say in how I got paid. BUT, if that wasn't the case, I would be opening my own studio/small gym. If you want all the benefits training can bring, this is the way to go. You call the shots, make your own schedule, etc., etc. Just realize that you will be training when most people are not working, i.e., mornings, evenings, and such. But it's worth it if you love what you're doing. You might consider gaining experience by working for a club, learning the ropes a while, and then heading out on you own.
Another bit of advice... specialize. Find your niche. If you have a specialty to offer that others don't, you'll have an upper hand on everyone else. Yes, general knowledge is good, and most of your clients will be your traditional weight loss crowd, especially in the beginning. But if you can make your name as THE man to go to for information on XXXXX, then you can really target that bunch. Word of mouth works great for gaining clients, but it works best in a tight bunch. In my area, I work with a guy who specializes in training golfers. Boring to me, but it works for him. He gets word of mouth referrals at a rate of about two per week. Personally, I'm a little different than most people on this board. I'm a multisport athlete (triathlons, duathlons) and I've made my specialty working with endurance athletes. Not everybody's cup of tea, but cyclists, runners, triathletes, are a tight bunch and a get several people per month just calling me out of the blue looking for help. So, specialization works.
If I can help you in any way, just PM me. I'll be glad to help any way I can. Good luck to you.
My advice is the same as bigcracker gave you. Be your own boss. I'm in a fortunate situation to work at a club where we have an actual training program instead of a bunch of rogue trainers stabbing each other in the back like happens in a lot of gyms. I'm lucky enough to have been hired into a gym that came looking for me to direct their program, so I got my say in how I got paid. BUT, if that wasn't the case, I would be opening my own studio/small gym. If you want all the benefits training can bring, this is the way to go. You call the shots, make your own schedule, etc., etc. Just realize that you will be training when most people are not working, i.e., mornings, evenings, and such. But it's worth it if you love what you're doing. You might consider gaining experience by working for a club, learning the ropes a while, and then heading out on you own.
Another bit of advice... specialize. Find your niche. If you have a specialty to offer that others don't, you'll have an upper hand on everyone else. Yes, general knowledge is good, and most of your clients will be your traditional weight loss crowd, especially in the beginning. But if you can make your name as THE man to go to for information on XXXXX, then you can really target that bunch. Word of mouth works great for gaining clients, but it works best in a tight bunch. In my area, I work with a guy who specializes in training golfers. Boring to me, but it works for him. He gets word of mouth referrals at a rate of about two per week. Personally, I'm a little different than most people on this board. I'm a multisport athlete (triathlons, duathlons) and I've made my specialty working with endurance athletes. Not everybody's cup of tea, but cyclists, runners, triathletes, are a tight bunch and a get several people per month just calling me out of the blue looking for help. So, specialization works.
If I can help you in any way, just PM me. I'll be glad to help any way I can. Good luck to you.
