The fitness industry is a growing market with more and more people becoming health conscious and wanting to look after themselves the best they can. This is leading to more people becoming interested in becoming a personal trainer to help others attain their health and fitness goals. But what are the steps to achieving this? Here is the low down on how you too can become a personal trainer.
The first thing you need is passion. Passion for not only exercising yourself and moving well in your technique but also a passion in wanting to help others. Passion is what drives you forward in any career, it is also what keeps you developing yourself going forward and not becoming stagnant and bored in what you do.
The next part of the pathway is to educate yourself and get certified by a professional qualification. A solid knowledge is needed to make sure you move well to avoid hurting yourself or others and understand the body systems. This makes any work towards fitness goals way more safe and effective. The most dangerous person in a gym is someone assisting others without any form of knowledge base.
Educate Yourself About Fitness
The first course needed is Fitness Instructor. This gives you the foundation in the human body and how it works, muscles, bones, energy systems plus gives you that practical time in the gym with professional instructor teaching you how to move with good technique on all the machines, equipment, free weights and body weight exercises. This course will give you the qualification and confidence to induct people around a gym.
Once this 3 week course has been completed the next stage in becoming a one to one trainer is to complete the Personal Trainer course. This is more in-depth into anatomy and physiology of the body, more detail in training principles and methods plus looking at nutrition which goes hand in hand with training. Answer burning questions such as how much protein should you be eating? What foods best fuel you pre or post workout? How many calories should you be eating? The Personal Trainer course is 4 weeks long and give you the certification you need to work on a one-to-one basis with clients.
This is where International Fitness Alliance comes into play. We are a leading fitness training company from the UK training up people from all works of life across the Middle East. With an awarding body in the UK, the certifications you receive are recognized worldwide and will never expire. With offices based in Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, the courses offered can betaken live or virtually online from anywhere in the world. The courses have been developed to be as accessible as possible to anyone. We offer the Fitness Instructor and Personal Trainer courses along with multiple short courses you can add on to upskill. Courses such as bootcamp instructor, kettlebell, suspension trainer and indoor cycling.
Look for Opportunities
Once you are trained up as a personal trainer there are many career options to choose from. With many new gyms opening up across the region, the first option would be to work as a personal trainer within a gym. This choice gives you all the equipment you need without investment and access to many clients in one place to market yourself to. Offering inductions or talking to people will help develop trust and rapport leading to a proportion of them investing in themselves and you. A benefit of being based within the fitness center is that you can book clients back to back making the most of your time.
If you prefer a little more freedom, the next option open to you would be to freelance. This will be where the personal trainer will go to clients and train them at home. A lot of apartment blocks have their own gym facility or clients will also invest in some equipment. It would be beneficial if you as the trainer had some key equipment that you could take around – suspension trainers, bands and even some kettlebells can be easily transported. The upside here is that you will not need to split any of the income with the gym. The downside being that you will need to drive more from client to client so more time needs to be given between bookings.
Now if you are really passionate about fitness, you could even open up your own personal training studio. Yes, this is an investment, but there are so many rewards in owning your own business and being your own boss. You could now be the one employing trainers so that you can be making an income even when you are not physically training a client.
Wherever you choose to train clients, consider how to market yourself. Word of mouth is still the biggest form of promotion so offering incentives to existing clients for referrals is a great way to build up business. Staying on top of your game and education keeps giving you an edge over others. Social media is a great tool of communicating who you are and your brand to a wide audience. Consider having a separate business account to personal account so that everything posted is relevant and professional. Offering training tips, nutrition advice and workouts are perfect ways for people to get to know you and what you can do. The world has also opened up a lot more since the pandemic. What is stopping you training clients online from anywhere in the world?
International Fitness Alliance is more than just a training provider. We offer a mentorship program for all our students. We help link you to gyms, we get experts in to share their knowledge on programing, marketing and many other topics relevant to you as a trainer. We support you from the beginning, through your education and ongoing through your career.
The opportunities are endless as a persona trainer. It is also one of the most exciting careers you could choose as you actually make a difference to peoples' lives and health. So, if this is something that you are excited about and keen to explore, do get in touch with us and let International Fitness Alliance start you off on your journey.
