I want to become a personal trainer

B

brose0055

0
Hey Guys and Gals,

Don't know if this is the right section but I'm going for it.

I'm such a fan of the gym and not so much a fan of my office I am considering a career change into personal training. Anybody have any tips, suggestions, etc. on how to get started, how to be successful, etc?

I’m sure there are plenty of very experienced and very successful personal trainers on this forum that could provide me some guidance.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Best,
Ben
 
Ok, I guess I have to be a little more specific with my questions to warrant a response. o_O

I have been doing more research today and my focus has been on determining which personal trainer certification I should apply for. This seems like a good place to start. I have been reading around as to which are the best personal trainer certifications such as this article which ranks ACE and NASM at the top. They seem to be highly recognized and NCAA accredited. Anyone have any experience with one of these?

Do you recommend going with one over the other? Or neither?

Thanks in advance for you help. I really appreciate any guidance.

Best,
Ben
 
It really depends what your end focus is going to be. A lot of the real trainers I have dealt with have all of these.

"Real" trainer = not someone who just spends the weekends studying for these courses (most trainers you will meet at a gym) but gets an actual degree in Human Kinetics or other such programs and then gets their certifications after the fact.
 
Ok, gotcha. Someone told me if I want to get hired at a gym which might be a good first step as I am a newbie, I need to get a personal trainer certification. Hopefully, the stuff I don't learn from the book I can learn elsewhere such as from other personal trainers and research?

I don't have a physiology based degree and hope I don't need to got back to school for one to be a good personal trainer.

Thoughts?
 
to be a trainer at a gym, you don't need much other than a weekend course.

To be a quality trainer, though, you do need an education. If you want to work with professional athletes, you will need a degree in human kinetics, at the very least. Usually, a physiotherapy degree is prefered. The problem with the personal trainer certificates, is they don't teach anything about biology, which is a necessary component to have a full understanding of the human body.

With a personal trainer certificate, you will be able to work with the average Joe that has no knowledge of what to do in a gym. However, if the person has any kind of ailments (ie. surgery, severe accident, chronic pain) or trains at the high level, you won't actually have the right qualifications (knowledge base) to diagnose their problem and prescribe a proper workout plan. It's a start but you can't do much with it.
 
Ok great. Thanks so much for the insight.

Maybe that is what I will start with. Just training beginners. I was told the baby boomer generation is a good market because they all want to try to get in shape and they have lots of money to spend on a trainer.

Then I can get specialty certifications so I can specialize in specific areas like Orthopedics, etc.
 
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