Becoming a personal trainer might be the perfect job for those planning on pursuing a career in the health and fitness industry.

Interested? Being a personal trainer comes with many benefits such as workplace flexibility. Your work schedule doesn’t have to be fixed, and you aren’t limited to being stuck in one place, such as the gym. A good personal trainer takes their clients out and about, and is constantly thinking of new and different ways to challenge them!

The 7 career opportunities for Personal Trainers

The role of the modern personal trainer might be a little different than you think. Today’s health and fitness industry are constantly changing and growing, offering an influx of new career opportunities.

1

Outdoor group training

Australia offers a range of excellent fitness facilities, and clients have a wide range of choices when picking challenging workout experiences that motivate them to take their personal fitness seriously. Outdoor group training sessions have significantly grown in popularity. Successful fitness businesses like Bootcamps Australia and Fitness First have outdoor group training classes which target people of all fitness levels.

To be successfully considered for a position, new PT’s will be expected to have sound knowledge in outdoor group training.

2

Adventure racing

Adventure racing appeals to a variety of people ranging from everyday gym goers to die-hard gym junkies. Events such as Tough Mudder, and True Grit take place in both urban and rural areas with large numbers of people taking part. While the popularity of these events has grown, there has also been a side-by-side growth in fitness training to support the performance of participants. Being able to help train others so they are prepared for such events is a great career option.

You could also think of organising miniature versions of these large events on a weekly or monthly basis.

3

Small group personal training (SGPT)

Next time you walk into a modern fitness studio, don’t expect to see lines of treadmills and cross trainers. Many new gyms focus on functional training that is comprised of suspension exercises using crankit straps and kettlebells. Small group personal trainers work with groups of 3-5 people who find this approach cost effective. They mix outdoor, indoor and circuit training activities, combining a variety of training tools to achieve amazing results in a fun environment.

4

Cruise ships

With the increase in popularity of cruise holiday packages, there has been a growing need for different facilities and activities on board. Just adding a gym on a ship is no longer sufficient. Travellers expect a healthy lifestyle while at sea. To meet these expectations there has been a rise in demand for personal trainers on cruise ships who are able to provide training to a variety of clients. PTs on cruise ships will need to have indepth knowledge on how to assess and train people of all ages and fitness levels.

5

Small to large companies

Today’s business and corporation owners understand there is a direct correlation between long hours at work and poor health. Many companies are now looking to improve their employee’s fitness by providing personal training sessions during the workday in an effort to increase physical movement. This improves fitness levels and offers workers a chance for social interaction.

6

Working out at home

Many clients prefer to be able to work out from home due to convenience. As a PT, you’ll need to be prepared for this. Most people won’t have a fully-fitted gym at their premises, so expect to invest in some basic equipment that you can take along. You may find that people of an older demographic might prefer to exercise at home, due to both convenience and lack of mobility.

7

Working out at home

Your work as a PT doesn’t have to stop at exercise training. With extra knowledge and additional training, you can work to become a wellness coach. Wellness coaching usually incorporates multiple facets of a client’s wellbeing and health, such as exercise, diet and lifestyle choices. By becoming qualified in different aspects of wellness coaching you can expand on your knowledge as a PT to provide an all-round approach to better health.

This opens doors for the next level of personal trainers to enter the industry. Those that have a business mindset will conquer as the industry expands at a significant rate. You don’t have to stick to working for gyms and businesses that are already established. As a personal trainer, it’s important for you to work at building your own image. Having the right business acumen and strategy can help you build your own brand.

Companies are looking for more than a  SIS30321 Certificate III and SIS40221 Certificiate IV in Fitness. You need a sound understanding of what it takes to be a fitness professional. To really stand out aim to bring in something new to the industry. Create a unique sales perspective that may encourage the 80% of people not currently training to get up and go! Industry leaders are looking for someone who sets trends and brings inspiration into fitness – is that you?

Do you need to be fit to become a personal trainer?

When people look at becoming a personal trainer, there are plenty of questions raised as to whether being a PT is the best option for them to pursue. A question we commonly encounter is what level of fitness does being a Personal Trainer require?

The answer to this question would have to be “it depends”. There are plenty of ways to look at this question and therefore, plenty of different answers that could be provided. There certainly is no “right” or “wrong” way to look at answering this question. So, to help answer the question, let’s start with some definitions.

The definition of “fitness” in the dictionary is “fitness” is defined as:

  • 1. Health
  • 2. The capacity of the human body of distributing inhaled oxygen to muscle tissue during increased physical effort”.

This second definition brings some subjectiveness to physiological requirements. But according to the first definition, a Personal Trainer should be able to maintain their oxygen levels as they train their clients. But this is where “it depends” really comes into play. It depends on the type of PT session, the fitness and strength level of the client, and how many clients like this are to be trained either together or one after the other.

So how fit should a personal trainer really be?

A Personal Trainer should be fit and strong enough to demonstrate each exercise as required hour after hour with a reasonable resistance. Thus throughout the day, the oxygen demands will be easily met as you lift, carry, set up, demonstrate and spot clients.

If a personal trainer cannot perform the exercises requested, it not only makes it hard for the client to perform the task safely and correctly but doesn’t really reflect well on you as the trainer. Although it helps to be fit to be able to do exercise and routines throughout the day, it certainly isn’t a job requirement.

Not all Personal Training is Fitness Centre based. Walking, running and riding sessions, on land or in the pool will require greater aerobic fitness levels, greater oxygen demand. A fit PT will be comfortable to set the pace, and hold a conversation. This would demonstrate that their anaerobic threshold is at a higher level than their clients. The “talk test” would be a quick assessment of meeting the oxygen demands.

If the client were a top level athlete I would suggest that this guide is unreasonable. But the majority of PT clients are not elite, but either beginner or intermediate. Perhaps a minimum of 30 minutes continuous aerobic activity is a reasonable expectation of a Personal Trainers cardiovascular fitness.

Being in good shape is part of the definition of fitness. Clients expect Personal Trainers to look fit, and role model their profession. This is very subjective. Is it leanness? muscularity? BMI? It is certainly not specific. In fact, many people/clients will have many different ideas of what “fit” looks like. One client may think a lean physique is the best determination of fitness levels, whereas another person will only want a personal trainer who looks like they’re ready to compete in a bodybuilding event.

Be fit and be in touch with your clients

In conclusion, a Personal Trainer should look and be “fit”. They should “walk the talk”.  They should be in the “normal” % body fat range, be able to carry the heavy DBs for their client, be able to spot a challenging lift and maintain an adequate level of aerobic fitness to meet their oxygen demands during a long day of physically and mentally demanding training. This might include their own fitness training as well as delivering sensational PT sessions.

Personal Trainers are mentors, role models and motivators. But being fit alone won’t make you a great Personal Trainer. A combination of attitude, education and personal attributes, including fitness level and empathy is the recipe for an amazing PT. At the end of the day, you don’t need to be extremely fit and/or muscular to be a personal trainer, so long as you’re helping clients to reach their own personal goals.

The Australian Institute of Fitness provides training for personal trainers and fitness instructors. We offer a wide variety of personal training course options. You can choose from:

Master Trainer

SIS40221 Certificate IV
In Fitness

Master Trainer Plus+

SIS30321 Certificate III
In Fitness

SIS40221 Certificate IV
In Fitness

Personal Trainer

SIS40221 Certificate IV
In Fitness

Fitness Coach

SIS30321 Certificate III
In Fitness

Enquire now

The skills needed to be a personal trainer

The need for technical knowledge as a personal trainer

There is so much more to being a PT than what meets the eye. You need to be well versed in the technical knowledge of anatomy, nutrition, fitness assessments, program design, and first aid just to name a few of the core components. You also need to have a thorough understanding of workplace health and safety, sales, business management, and client relationships. As they are essential for a PT, all of these topics and many additional components are covered in AIF’s Master Trainer Program™.

You must be able to motivate others

Motivation is such an important part of your client’s fitness journey, especially those who are just starting out. Once you’ve been training for a while, it becomes a habit and you rely less on motivation to get you to the gym each day. Without habit, you’re relying on motivation alone, which may be short-lived or hard to come by!

As a personal trainer you need to be able to instil motivation into your clients, at all points in their journey but especially in those early phases. You’ll need to remind them of their goals and encourage them by highlighting their success so far and inspire them to be the best version of themselves.

It’s important to be patient

There is so much more to being a PT than what meets the eye. You need to be well versed in the technical knowledge of anatomy, nutrition, fitness assessments, program design, and first aid just to name a few of the core components. You also need to have a thorough understanding of workplace health and safety, sales, business management, and client relationships. As they are essential for a PT, all of these topics and many additional components are covered in AIF’s Master Trainer Program™.

The
importance of communication skills as a personal trainer

Motivation is such an important part of your client’s fitness journey, especially those who are just starting out. Once you’ve been training for a while, it becomes a habit and you rely less on motivation to get you to the gym each day. Without habit, you’re relying on motivation alone, which may be short-lived or hard to come by!

As a personal trainer you need to be able to instil motivation into your clients, at all points in their journey but especially in those early phases. You’ll need to remind them of their goals and encourage them by highlighting their success so far and inspire them to be the best version of themselves.

So where do you start? Here are a few tips that will get you on the right track.

What’s in it for the client?

Ask yourself this every time you speak: Will this educate, inspire, relax, motivate, encourage, reward, protect, build trust or benefit my client?

Ask open-ended questions.

Ask questions that will get them to talk about their interests and their life. Talking about themselves can help them gain a new perspective on their life and goals, and can help you understand their motivations and emotions.

Listen attentively to everything they say.

Don’t focus on what you’re going to say next as they are talking. Instead, maintain eye contact, listen to every word they say, pause, and respond back as relevantly and smoothly as possible.

Adapt to their body
language.

Watch them closely and try and gauge how they are feeling by observing their body language and voice tone. You can then shape your words, body language, and tone to the ones they are more likely to respond positively to.

Have positive energy!

Generally, people want to be around those who lift them up and will naturally gravitate towards you if you display a high energy level. Consistently indicate this with your voice and your body language to maximise your client’s enthusiasm.

Just remember that personal training is more about training your clients’ mind rather than their body. Clients need motivation, and motivation is fueled by emotion. If you never really develop a trusting relationship then you will never truly understand what drives your client.

Encourage your client.

Give them encouragement whenever you can. You are a role model and an inspiration, and your opinion definitely matters! Convince them that they can surpass their problems and limitations and they will look forward to having you as a person to talk to.

Be on their team.

Use words like we, us, we’re, our, and ourselves to instantly build a bond that instills confidence to overcome adversity.

The 5 things that a personal trainer should never do

In every field, there are different ways of doing things that, essentially, yield the same result. This is true of personal training, in that there are multiple different exercises, pieces of apparatus and training modalities that can all be used to help clients reach their health and fitness objectives.

However, in order to avoid causing injury, delivering a bad training experience and, subsequently, losing clients, there are some behaviours a personal trainer should never exhibit.

1

Lose focus

A great personal trainer’s focus on their client doesn’t waiver. There are some PTs out there that will remind you of Dory from Finding Nemo – very easily distracted. Always remember that your clients are paying for your time. From the moment you greet your 10:30am client to the moment they leave, it is 100% about them and their training.

Whether it’s fixing technique, handing their client a water bottle, or just being the motivation they need, it’s all about delivering an experience that will help them achieve results. Whoever else just walked into the gym can wait. If you’re a personal trainer and you are constantly getting waylaid by other things, checking your phone (see below) or chatting with other people during a client’s session, you may find your clients parting ways with you to find a trainer that will give them undivided attention.

2

Train every client the
same way

Every client is different. They each have their own health concerns, movement deficiencies and training preferences. So why are there so many cookie cutter programs out there? Each program should be tailored to the client’s needs – that is, after all, why they are paying you to personal train them.

In every client’s first personal training session, you should ask:

  • what their needs and wants are
  • what their goals are
  • what they hope to achieve
  • about the client’s past history with exercise

Everyone has different goals, but they also have different capabilities, so everyone’s session should look and feel different.

3

Fail to program a session

The great trainer will have every moment of their client’s training session accounted for prior to beginning the workout. It’s pretty obvious that when a PT is umming and ahhing about what’s next for the client, they’re winging it. You should know what will be happening at each minute, and how to program the best possible workout specific to your client’s goals within the time they have booked with you. If a PT seems to be lost, chances are they aren’t really sure of how to help their client reach their goals. Remember, those who fail to plan, plan to fail.

4

Look at their phone!

Even having your phone in your hand while you’re taking a session, regardless of the intention, looks like a distraction. You may very well be timing your client with your stopwatch app, but the outside world – and any future clients that may see your session – can’t tell the difference between timing a client, and swiping right on Tinder. Clients are paying for the time and attention of a trainer for a reason. Great PT’s will ditch their phone for the whole session and focus their attention solely on their client.

5

Fail to ‘walk the talk’

As a personal trainer, you are your own brand. Prospective clients start forming opinions about you the second they see you. In that first second, how are you marketing yourself? That first second might come when you turn up for your 5:30am client on a Monday morning, and a brand new member to the gym sees you as you walk in the door. Do you look (and smell) like you just rolled out of bed, or do you look clean, neat and tidy and greet the m with a smile?

Feeling and looking fit and healthy will positively influence your clients. A client will feel more motivated to get up early and complete a great workout if their PT looks like they’ve already done the same and is feeling (and looking) fantastic.

If you’re a PT and you find yourself exhibiting any of these five behaviours, take a look at how you can address them in order to help your clients reach their full potential. If you’re a client and are noticing some of these ‘red flags’ with your own trainer, it may be time to take a look at other PTs who will give you the attention you need in order to succeed.

The Australian Institute of Fitness provides training for personal trainers and fitness instructors. We offer a wide variety of personal training course options. You can choose from:

Master Trainer

SIS40221 Certificate IV
In Fitness

Master Trainer Plus+

SIS30321 Certificate III
In Fitness

SIS40221 Certificate IV
In Fitness

Personal Trainer

SIS40221 Certificate IV
In Fitness

Fitness Coach

SIS30321 Certificate III
In Fitness

Enquire now
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