As a Fitness Manager and Master Personal Trainer, I am asked daily about Personal Trainer requirements. There is a long list of tangibles and intangibles necessary to create a successful Personal Trainer. You may be surprised by some of the answers.
To get started in the fitness industry the only major requirement is desire. Desire to succeed. Desire to perform. Desire to learn. Desire to achieve. Some people may say that every Personal Trainer should have a degree or a nationally recognized certification, but without passion that piece of paper is useless. That is why I said, “To get started in the fitness industry the only major requirement is desire.”
I have seen dozens of Personal Trainers with college educations and tons of initials following their name fail miserably in the health club setting for various reasons. It has always been my contention that you can teach a person the science behind Personal Training, but you can not teach passion.
Below we will explore a list of “Must Have” Personal Trainer requirements.
Desire – Every Personal Trainer must have the desire to succeed in helping people better their quality of life through health and fitness.
Communication Skills – To be successful in the fitness industry you will need to be able to hold conversations with people from all walks of life. This does not mean being able to recite Chapter #5 of your textbook word for word. This means being able to start, hold, and continue an intelligent conversation.
Customer Service Initiative – The best Personal Trainers I have met are not the ones with “the largest brains”. They are the people who are willing to go out of their way to help, find an answer, and make sure that the members of the gym or their customers are more than satisfied with their gym experience.
Resourcefulness – Quick-thinkers in any industry seem to find a way to succeed. As a Personal Trainer you will be given a barrage of questions from clients, potential clients, and other Personal Trainers everyday. You’ll also be put in situations at your workplace that you may never have considered. Your ability to react quickly and effectively will have an impact on your success. This is not to say that you should be giving information outside of your knowledge base and experiences. What I mean is to be as prepared as possible for any given situation.
The Next Step
Once you have met the above Personal Trainer requirements, you are ready to continue in your venture. Below, you will find a list of high priority items that you will need to continue on your path to fitness career success.
A Degree or Nationally recognized certification – These will provide validity to your already passionate approach to communicating your ability to help transform health club members’ lives.
A Specialty Certification – Earning a certification in post rehab, nutrition, or strength and conditioning (among a list of many other specialties) will make your services more valuable to a niche market. You may select one or many of these certifications to increase the number of potential clients that you are targeting.
A Business Plan – I started my career taking business classes, and then changed my major to Physical Education. It wasn’t until I had spent 4 years as part of the fitness workforce that I started to use a business plan and fully appreciated the the science of picking apart the necessary metrics for success.
Sales Skills and Knowledge – To be the successful Personal Trainer that you want to be, you must be able to communicate your skills and increase the value of your product. Educating yourself on areas outside of fitness will be a must.
Marketing and Advertising Skills – Now that you have the rest of your bases covered. How are you going to let all of your waiting customers know that you are open for business? This area can and will set you apart from your competition within your facility, within your community, and even beyond.
Continued Reading
Numerous Personal Trainers have told us that they never realized how much work actually goes into creating a successful and lucrative fitness business in addition to the above-mentioned Personal Trainer requirements. We know it can be overwhelming. Not to worry, though. Keep on reading. We will touch upon each of these major concepts in later chapters.
Personal Trainer Job Description - Understanding what is expected of you, not only by your supervisors, but by your customers and peers will provide valueable insight in starting your personal training business.
Personal Trainer Course - Our e-book supplement to the teachings found in our Online Fitness Training School Action Guide. The how to on increasing your active-client base.
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