Staying in shape can prove challenging, which is why many folks spend their hard-earned money on personal trainers to help them reach their goals.
Maintaining a healthy diet and exercising on a regular basis can help improve your mental and physical health, so it’s not surprising people hire the best personal trainers available. Becoming a personal trainer might seem like a dream job for those who spend each day in the gym, but there is a lot more to becoming a top trainer than you might expect.
1. Most PTs don’t work regular hours
Although there are PTs out there that work 9-5, most fitness professionals work early in the morning or late at night to accommodate their clients. If you are looking to start your own personal training company, expect to work while your clients have free time.
Some people will take a break during work hours to exercise, but most wait until they have finished work. Personal trainers have to be flexible to satisfy their clients and don’t be surprised if customers ask you to train them over the weekend. Attracting new clients won’t be easy if you only work from 9-5 throughout the week.
2. They are good listeners
The best personal trainers are great a listening to their clients. Keep in mind, that most people hire personal trainers to help them achieve their goals. Each client will have a specific goal in mind they’d like to achieve such as:
- Lose weight: The most common reason for a person to hire a PT is to shed a few pounds.
- Gain muscle: Both women and men employ PTs to help them increase their muscle mass.
- Maintain their current weight.
- Stay fit
Most PTs will talk with their client about their goals before they begin training. A good trainer will listen carefully and take everything their client says into consideration before coming up with a workout schedule. Knowing what motivates their client is key to helping them hit their targets.
3. Safely workout
Of course, you don’t need to hire a personal trainer to stay in top shape. Some folks join a gym or exercise at home without any help from a professional.
However, if you are new to the fitness world, don’t be surprised if you sustain an injury while working out. A professional trainer will show you how to safely use exercise machines and how to warm up and warm down properly.
Recovering after a workout is of vital importance. Those keen to work out on a regular basis often hurt themselves due to overdoing it.
If you are considering joining a gym for the first time in the near future, you should ask a PT for help. If you don’t know what you are doing, you could sustain a serious injury that might prevent you from working out again.
If you have exercised in a commercial gym, you can probably tell the difference between a person who has had professional training to those who haven’t. Not only do novices put themselves in physical danger, but they’ll also struggle to reach their goals.
4. You don’t need a degree to become a personal trainer
Although you don’t need a degree to become a PT, you will need to know a lot of information about exercise science, diet plans, and different parts of the body. There are exercise-based courses out there, and a lot of personal training businesses that are looking to hire recruits will only employ trainers that have a degree, but you can still become a trainer without any formal education.
However, just because you are a fit person and go to the gym regularly doesn’t mean you should become a PT. The best PTs in the business often have a master’s degree in physiology. Plus, they know what motivates their trainees, and how to get the best out of them.
5. It’s not all about exercise
When personal trainers spring to mind, most people think they only show their trainees different exercises and techniques, but there is more to the job than you might think. To become a top PT you’ll need to be able to do the following:
- Sell: At the end of the day, personal trainers provide a service. In most big cities and towns you’ll come across lots of different PTs providing similar services, which is why PTs need to know how to sell. Starting a career as a PT can be tough, especially for those without any clients. Nowadays, most modern PTs use popular social media platforms to advertise their services. Some use Facebook and Instagram ads to promote themselves, while others upload images and videos of their client’s progress to encourage others to use their service. It seems like maintaining an online presence can help bring a personal training business to the next level.
- Nutritional guidance: There is no point in exercising day in and day out if you are not eating properly. A PT will often come up with a specific diet plan for each of their clients. Not all diet plans will be the same, because not everyone has the same metabolism, which is why PTs have to know all about nutrition before advising a client on what to eat.
6. PTs are good at organizing
Once a PT has several clients to work with, it’s vital that they organize their schedule. Here are some of the things PTs organize on a daily basis:
- Create programs for their clients ahead of time.
- Hire an accountant to keep track of their finances.
- Make sure each client is up-to-date with payments.
- Confirm the client is taking the gym session.
- They will have to prepare a spreadsheet that shows income and expenses.
7. They prepare different workouts for different clients
If everybody had the same body and wanted to achieve the same goals there wouldn’t be a need for a personal trainer. Everyone could follow the same schedule and the same diet plan, but thats simply not the case.
Most PTs will spend a lot of time talking with their clients before preparing a workout and diet plan. This is another reason a PT should know their stuff. Even if two separate people want to achieve the same goal, the trainer might come up with two completely different workout plans to suit their body type and their mindset. For example, if an overweight person is hoping to gain muscle mass, the PT might encourage them to work on their cardio and focus on lifting light weights. If an underweight person is hoping to gain muscle mass, the PT might advise them to avoid doing any cardio and focus on lifting heavy weights but only doing a few reps each time.
8. A PT will know when to stop
Personal trainers will know their client’s physical limitations. During the first training session, you can expect a PT to keep a close on how flexible you are and if they notice any muscle imbalance. This is why during your first sessions they will ask you to perform basic exercise techniques. Don’t be surprised if they ask you about your medical history either. The more information they have about your current physical condition the easier it is for them to come up with a specific workout and diet plan.
