Life as a Personal Trainer
Transform Your Passion Into Your Business
Personal trainers use their fitness passion to help others find the way to fitness, too.
More Than the Perfect Bod
Personal trainers are increasingly in the spotlight thanks to television and movies. Sometimes these performances create a distorted view of what a personal trainer does and how a personal trainer looks. Passion, purpose, caring and coaching make a far greater impact than the size of a personal trainer’s biceps. Good personal trainers take care of their own imperfect bodies while breaking barriers to fitness and offering support to clients that increases motivation.
What is a Personal Trainer?
As a personal trainer, you are part-coach, part-mentor, part-friend and, for the right clients, even part-drill instructor. With the knowledge you’ll gain as a certified personal fitness trainer, you will design programs that are specific to each client’s needs. Whether their goals include weight loss, strength training, toning or overall health improvements, your skills and passion will provide your clients the motivation to achieve their fitness goals.
Do You Have What It Takes to Succeed?
With the right preparation, practice and patience, you can learn anatomy, exercise program design and the other skills you need to be a successful personal trainer and gain NFPT certification. Then you’ll just need to exercise your passion for helping clients meet their fitness goals so that you can meet your own career goals. Clients stick with personal trainers who know their stuff — and they refer their friends.
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What is Your Role as a Personal Trainer?
As a personal trainer, you will:
- Instruct and coach groups and individuals about exercise activities and the fundamentals of physical fitness while demonstrating techniques and ways to participate
- Observe clients and teach corrective measures needed to improve skills
- Act as a wellness coach, relying on your strong science-based education, and design exercise programs that fit a variety of healthy populations
Embarking on a new career is a huge change; it takes time before you feel comfortable in your new role. Set a realistic timeline to reach achievable goals and don’t get discouraged when you face initial obstacles. Understand your role as a trainer and be the best at it that you can be and the rest will fall in place.
What Shouldn’t a Trainer Do?
The NFPT Codes of Conduct include professional standards that you must agree to before starting the NFPT course and again during recertification.
Personal trainers often serve as coach and cheerleader for clients. But when you’re working as a personal trainer, you should avoid these challenging situations:
DO NOT give medical or physical therapy advice or attempt to make a medical diagnosis
DO NOT provide dietary advice beyond general nutritional guidelines. This means do not recommend specific diets, supplements, detailed meal plans, food portioning and/or meal timing.
DO NOT provide body massage or any similar service that could be construed as inappropriate touching
DO NOT serve as a psychological counselor to clients or become intimately involved in clients’ personal relationships
DO NOT engage in romantic or interpersonal relationships with clients
DO NOT push your own preferences for fitness goals on clients who do not want to achieve the same goals
DO NOT allow your NFPT certification, liability insurance or other standard business standards and practices to lapse
This is a user-friendly company! Their Certified Personal Trainer course is in layman’s terms and easy to follow. It equips you with just the right amount of information to get started as a personal trainer. Then there’s all sorts of continuing ed options to build upon the foundation.
I have been a Certified Personal Trainer since 2009. I originally certified with another nationally accredited certifying body. Switching to NFPT was the best move I ever made. They are a family-owned company that cares about my success. Whenever I have any questions about the industry or any aspect of fitness training someone is always eager to assist me. They allow me to be directly involved!
Being a personal trainer has been the most rewarding career choice I’ve ever made. After 25 years of acting and entertainment, I met a personal trainer with the NFPT, his knowledge was amazing. I investigated the many affiliations but none of them offered what NFPT did. I feel blessed to be a part of such a committed organization!
After calling several other certification companies, most seemed cold over the phone and always tried to say they were the best. Not with NFPT! They were honest and down to earth. I know other people who are certified with other companies and they seem dissatisfied when talking about what their companies do for them.
Where Do Personal Trainers Work?
Although most personal trainers work in gyms and fitness studios, you can carve a niche for yourself in places you may never have considered: apartment complexes, community centers, outdoor bootcamps, corporate wellness sites, resorts and cruise ships, a client’s home, your own home gym or even online as a remote trainer. Your ideal workspace can be anywhere there’s a concentrated, diverse group of people who want to get healthier. Be sure to check into insurance and local laws and regulations about home businesses before you get started. You can tailor your programs to suit your clients’ needs wherever you decide to work. The only limit is your imagination.
Get Certified!
Build a rewarding career by helping others live a healthy lifestyle. As a personal trainer, you can live your dream by sharing your passion for fitness. Embark on a new career now.
Get Certified Today
