Personal trainers are trained professionals who offer you one-on-one physical training services. For those who want to reach and maintain fitness goals, personal trainers create safe, effective training routines. With the right qualifications, personal trainers can also help their clients with nutrition. Personal training is a wonderful career because you get to assist people to enhance their lives and notice genuine benefits over time.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, personal trainers make an average of $45,650 per year (BLS). Let’s talk about the education needed to be a personal trainer. Personal trainers don't need to have a college diploma and may become certified for a reasonable cost.
Keep reading to know whether this is the perfect job for you if you enjoy working out, helping others achieve their health goals, and seeing positive results with the fitness regimen you create. Here are the 7 steps to becoming a personal trainer.
Skip to section:
- How much do personal trainers make in the USA?
- Scholarships for personal trainer education programs
- Become a personal trainer today!
01. Make sure you’re eligible
Before you can join a personal trainer course, you must first complete a few tasks. These are the requirements to become a personal trainer.
- GED: A high school certificate or GED is usually all that is required for most national certification programs. In most states, you may earn your GED for about $150 in as little as three months.
-Identity Proof: An identity proof is required to verify that your age is 18 years or above.
02. Earn your CPR & AED certifications
Following that, you'll need to fulfil the requirements to become a personal trainer and deal with clients. Most personal trainers must be certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillation (AED) to help clients in an emergency. These certificates normally involve a one-day in-person training and a passing score on an exam.
03. Pick a degree you want to pursue
Although some personal trainers have only a high school diploma and no post-secondary education, the majority have a bachelor's or associate's degree. You might get a degree in one of the following fields to become a personal trainer that stands out in the fitness industry:
Exercise Science: Diet and exercise, fitness and conditioning, and human anatomy are all topics covered in this curriculum. An exercise science degree can help in becoming a personal trainer who knows how to identify and avoid injuries as well as assist clients to condition their bodies.
Kinesiology: Human movement, anatomy, and health and fitness are all topics covered in this curriculum. A kinesiology degree may help a physical trainer in building a firm basis for establishing exercise routines and injury prevention approaches.
Physical Education: Exercise psychology, fitness training methods, motor skill development, and anatomy are all subjects covered in physical education. Personal trainers with a physical education degree may teach clients basic exercises and fitness routines.
04. Choose a personal physical trainer certification
Many fitness studios also demand professional certification from personal trainers. The most common choices of certifications for becoming a personal trainer are:
ACE Personal Trainer Certification: For this course, you must complete a digital curriculum, pass a test to become a personal trainer. The, you have to recertify every two years to maintain your ACE certification.
American College of Sports Medicine’s Certified Personal Trainer: Earning this certificate for becoming a personal trainer requires taking an exam and recertifying every three years.
National Academy of Sports Medicine, Certified Personal Trainer: You must pass a test and hold up-to-date CPR and AED certifications to earn this certificate and become a fitness trainer, as well as renew your certification every two years.
National Council on Strength and Fitness, Certified Personal Trainer: To achieve this certification, you must first pass a preliminary test, then choose a specialized area to gain advanced certifications.
05. Develop the skills required
You'll need the following qualities to be a successful physical trainer:
Fitness: You must be physically fit in order to conduct exercises for clients and demonstrate the benefits of your workout plans. For the body type of a physical trainer, you should be healthy and in good form.
Stamina: if you are a physical trainer, you may expect to be on your feet for most of the day, showing exercises and assisting clients with routines. You'll need a lot of stamina and the ability to stand and move for several hours at a time.
Communication skills: As a physical trainer, you'll need excellent communication skills to discuss fitness goals and demonstrate how to conduct workouts with clients. You should be able to talk clearly, listen attentively, and communicate effectively using your body language and gestures.
Customer Service Skills: Personal trainers must have outstanding customer service skills since they are responsible for creating client lists and encouraging clients to become their long-term clients. After becoming a personal trainer, you should be able to identify client requirements and deliver services that meet their goals.
Problem-Solving Skills: For a physical trainer, listening to your clients' fitness concerns and assisting them to come up with feasible solutions, such as recommending appropriate workout regimens is an essential skill.
06. Take and pass the certification exam
It's time to register for your personal trainer degree or certification test once you're feeling prepared, eager, and ready. An application and your cost are usually included in the fees.
The exam will very certainly be computer-based, with 120-150 questions. The number and types of questions will be similar, but the number and types of questions may vary depending on the exam. The National Academy of Sports Medicine's (NASM) Certified Personal Trainer Certification, for example, comprises questions in four parts which are Exercise Techniques, Client Consultation & fitness assessment, Program Planning and Safety/Emergency Issues,
07. Build your portfolio and find jobs
You can start applying for personal trainer jobs after you've developed the skills required to become a personal trainer. A resume should include a summary of your schooling, professional certifications, and any relevant job experience, as well as an objective statement outlining your goals as a physical trainer.
Take the time to find out what you truly want and think about what gets you thrilled before you spend loads of hours looking for jobs you may not appreciate later on.
Only apply to positions after answering the following questions.
- What kind of job do you wish to do?
- Do you prefer gym one-on-one sessions or group training classes?
- Would you rather work at a hotel or in a country club setting?
- Are you planning to open a Bootcamp or studio of your own?
If you want to get experience, talk to the people who work at the gym where you presently work to see if there are any openings for a physical trainer. You'll have a better chance of getting through the door because you're already familiar with the location and the staff.
How much do personal trainers make in the USA?
The average physical trainer pay in the United States is $40,000 (in 2020), according to the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NDSM), which is somewhat more than the median salary in the United States. These figures, however, vary depending on who you ask. The average salary for after becoming a pe fitness trainers and instructors, according to ZipRecruiter, is $49,000, whereas the average salary for fitness instructors and trainers is $42,000, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
What sort of physical trainer you are, determines your physical trainer pay. The following three categories of personal trainers, as well as their typical pay, are identified by NASM.
- Private Physical Therapy – $78,000
- Self-employed physical therapist- $62,000
- Personal trainer employed at a gym – $34,000
According to a survey of 1,021 personal trainers conducted between August 6 and 13, 2019, the typical respondent works with 23 customers per week and charges $60 per session for individual or group training.
And, as predicted, 51% make more than $50,000 per year, compared to only 17% of those with less than five years of client training experience. So, the more the experience, the higher your physical trainer salary would be.
Read more about the salaries of US personal trainers and you much do the top brands pay their trainers in this blog. Now, let's have a look at the scholarships available for becoming a personal trainer in the fitness industry.
Scholarships for personal trainer education programs
FitnessTrainer.Com Scholarship
Applicants must be high school, college, or university students to be eligible for the $1,000 prize, which can be used for any personal trainer education related expenditure. It is given out every year on November 1st.
Ash Hayes Scholarship
Applicants must be at least 18 years old and currently or aspiring to work with youth. The scholarship provides free access to all of the resources required to become an ACE personal trainer. Is given out every year on January 1st. Each year, 25 applications are chosen for this scholarship.
Become a personal trainer today!
Now that you have all of this knowledge under your belt, it's time to put it to use. Begin by completing your qualifications.
Then pick an educational path you're confident with. You'll be one step closer to passing your certification exam and accomplishing your personal training objectives if you follow the remainder of the advice in this guide to becoming a personal trainer.
Check out the fitness organizations you must know if you are in the fitness industry and a guide to being a certified ISSA personal trainer. ISSA is amongst the top certifying organizations if you're interested in becoming a trainer who is certified in the fitness industry.
As a personal trainer, you have a lot on your hands. If you want to create an online coaching or training company, you'll need the right software. It's like living in the Stone Age if you try to provide instruction just through email and text messaging. Using today's technology, online personal training software allows you to keep in touch with fitness clients.
The software can also help you manage the long list of your clients and offer better training results. The time you save by using the software can be utilized to turn your long client list into a longer one. Bookee app is modern software just for all this. It has a number of features that make virtual training a reality. Get in touch with us and book a demo.
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