You wanna be a PT?

Set your own working hours, be your own boss, keep fit, count reps, drink protein shakes all day? Brilliant! Not so fast, cautions Andrew.

PERSONAL FITNESS TRAINING is one of the fastest-growing occupations in the developed world. You may have noticed the ads offering you the chance to become a trainer in a couple of weeks. Or spoken to friends who’ve decided to dump their office jobs to help others in a fitness career full of passion, fitness and vitality. If you’ve ever exercised, whether for a marathon or to build up muscle, you’ve probably thought of leading friends, family or colleagues into doing the same. It’s human nature to want to share our successes, especially those around physical achievement. After all, we’ve all got bodies, why not make a f lexible career helping others look after theirs?

Before making the leap into a PT career, there are a couple of things to consider and a few myths to see through.

MYTH VS TRUTH

I’ll be able to set my own hours, take naps in the middle of the day and train whenever. Reality: 4:30am alarms to prepare for a whole subset of the population who love to train as early as possible. It can be hard to say no to the money coming from a client asking to train at 8pm at night, too. I’m accountable to no one. I’m the boss. While this is true to some extent, training could be thought of as having multiple bosses. After all, they’re paying you. There’s also no sick or holiday pay when you’re working for yourself. I’m good at looking after myself, I have a pretty good physique, therefore I can make it happen for others. I know about nutrition; I can write meal plans. I know about training; I can write programs to get clients results. These are some of the most common reasons for wanting to take a crack at a career in fitness. Admirable, but misguided. When training others, you quickly realise that your 56-yearold client will never be interested in doing the 5-day split, 10 hours of training per week and Paleo intermittent fasting that got you into peak shape. Knowing your shit is one thing. Getting someone else to do it when they’re stressed from missing a promotion or dealing with relationship drama – that takes a different level of skill. I’ll get paid $60 to $120 an hour to just stand around and count! Any dummy can do that. One-on-one training can certainly net that much per hour, and group training maybe more. Give it at the very least a couple of months, if not years, before you get that kind of stable full time income from training. Get an education while working so that you don’t try parachuting into a gym expecting 40 sessions per week first week. It won’t happen. Crossfit/primal movements/Paleo/Poliqui… I know one of them really well, that’s all I need for my clients. There is no one best system, just the one that works for you and your individual clients. Arm yourself with a couple of models and be prepared to change your mind multiple times. And just when you think you know it all… there are client injuries.

13 PERSONAL TRAINER REALITIES

1. There are more people than ever becoming qualified. Getting work won’t be hard, but keeping it and getting as much as you expected will increasingly become a challenge.

2. You will face neverending competition until you work out your unique gifts and offerings, and then find the niche willing to pay for it.

3. There’s a minefield of continuing education courses. Look for ones run by leaders in the industry and/or advised by PhDs in Nutrition or Exercise.

4. People will try to sell you shit. Lots of it. From every angle. You’re a trainer: you are seen as the trusted conduit through which companies can reach customers willing to spend money on themselves.

5. It is up to you to determine ethics about selling items or promoting brands, but think quality and impact over monetary incentive. Word will get around.

6. People will tell you alternatively that you’re doing a great thing helping others, or ask if you’re “only” a trainer (as if it were something to fill time until you get a “proper” job).

7. There is massive churn in the industry. Get used to seeing new faces come and go all the time. 8. No two clients will ever be the same. 9. To be successful long-term, you need to be aware of some basics of psychology, motivation, counselling and coaching.

10. Never sell steroids or demand that your clients take them.

11. Always be learning. There is so much new information – not all of it realistic, science-based or even right.

12. You will not like all the people who want to train with you. You do not have to train them. On the f lip side, it is very hard to train friends or, heaven forbid, partners.

13. You cannot expect the same results with everyone. Some clients will want to talk more than others, while some will just want to be smashed and go home. Your task is to help each achieve their goals safely, securely and honestly. It is a skill to make clients happy enough to keep coming back while guiding them through activities they will resist doing.

WORDS OF ADVICE

Start with a quality education. Hands-on, in-depth, dealing with elements of coaching and psychology as well as teaching a variety of methods and comparisons of current trends. Learn how to assess information critically and with an open mind. To stand out in the industry, commit to non-stop personal growth. Protect your energy, both physical and mental. When you first start out full of enthusiasm it can be easy to say “yes” a lot. It’s the best way to burn out in a year. If you want to stay in the game, learn to say “no” on occasion. Keep training yourself, eating right and sleeping enough. You won’t be good to anyone if you aren’t in peak health yourself. Find a network of like-minded trainers who will support you. Every new (and old) trainer has a work life, a personal life, shit weeks, great moments, ups and downs. You are a committed giver of energy and health to others; find those who help recharge your batteries. more: Andrew Greig BSc(Adv) MEx&SpSci is owner and head trainer at Life Active. He offers face-to-face and online training programs around the world. Visit lifeactive.com.au or call 0401 084 238.