Post: #1

Hi all,
I've been a marketing manager for about 2 years and I think I'm starting to get bored of being in front of computers all the time.
I've been going to the gym for 1 year already and all my friends use to tell me that I inspire them to keep motivated with their fitness goals as I never give up. I have some personal routines for when I train in the gym or outdoors and I know how to eat healthy and how to establish diets depending on the goals.
I am wondering if I could make my way as a personal trainer?
I think I'm good with people, and may have enough knowledge about the fitness lifestyle.
Should I quit my job and start? How should I go about it?

Post: #2

Most of the personal trainers I see at gyms are either hanging around talking (and not training anybody) or end up in some sort of administrative role within the gym.

As far as I know, in order to be qualified to work as a personal trainer you are supposed to have some form of certification, which a lot of people just get online.

Before you dive head first into it, you might consider trying it part-time to see what its really like. It seems you're only paid per training session, and anytime in between you aren't making anything.

Edit: I will say though that you can learn a hell of a lot from a good personal trainer. I just think it must be hard to really make a great living from it. Lets say you have a degree in kinesiology or physical therapy, combined with a personal training certification, and maybe even run your own gym, then I imagine you'd be far better off.

Post: #3

This question seems to pop up every 2 years, there are multiple threads on this theme. For the sake of completeness:

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/thread-44220.html
/thread-21085.html
/thread-38786.html

I think you should try it out part-time at first. You might find you hate it. It's different story with friends who are as excited as you are to train, but paying clients are a different beast.

If you want an actual case study of someone who quit his job and ended up as a successful personal trainer, then read the story of the guy who invented stronglifts: https://stronglifts.com/about/

Post: #4

I was a personal trainer where it's an ok industry compare to a boring office job! It's more of a part time role where you work mainly from 6-10am, lunch time and at nights 5pm-9pm. It's not a normal 9-5pm job!

I'm from Australia where most of the gyms don't pay you an hourly rate. You have to pay rent $200 a week where the gym refers you all the new clients which you have to sell yourself. If you don't have people skills I wouldn't recommend it! I found it best to get a job at a council gym that pays you an hourly rate.

I gave it up cause I wanted more of a full time role where I can pump out some serious $$$$ so I can head back to the East! I couldn't travel most of the year and keep my clients. I also found most of the people just don't care about themselves where it was also a bit of counciling at times. Still a fun industry to get into which is growing like the obesity rate! Most of my PT friends still really enjoy their job! It's good being in charge and helping people try to live a better life!

In Australia you only need a certificate 4 in Fitness which takes about 6-12 months to do! Stay away from AIF, they are a shit house fitness school if your in Australia!

Post: #5

Hey guys, thanks for the insight!

Now that you mention the schedule, I don't think it is that bad. Actually, I would have more time to spare and/or run some freelance work (still in marketing ) and make extra bucks out of there. As Thomas mention too, maybe part-time would be better to give it a shot first and find if it's for me or not.

Something I haven't considered before though is the certification matter. I've been researching about that and I found this article that explains the best personal trainer certifications available and I don't know how required this really is to start.

I really would like to work hard to become a Personal Trainer even though it seems like it does take some time to get certified. It would give me more benefits though.

Does any of you know someone who's got (or tried to get) the certification?

Post: #6

Seems like this would be a lifestyle job rather than a making more money biz.

For one, it's not scalable, at least at first. You'd be working one on one, one person at a time and getting paid one person at a time.

You'd probably need to develop some sort of group class where you could put aside a 1 to 2 hour slot and have multiple people at once (multiple payments) for that time slot, rather than 1x-ing it. That way you're working less hours overall and making the same or more money.

Martial arts classes, crossfit sort of stuff, even Zumba style classes would be more lucrative it seems...

Post: #7

Off the top of my head, someone like Charles Poliquin is at the top as far as personal trainers go. Research that guy...

Post: #8

Yeah I've been realizing that it can actually take a lot of time to get started as a good personal trainer and it probably won't get me any money at first. This have turned into more like a long-term goal. Even when I have the certifications I'll actually consider doing it as a side job and later on I'll see if I can get to a point where I can actually move into it full-time.

Post: #9

(01-06-2017 11:56 PM)Thomas the Rhymer Wrote:  If you want an actual case study of someone who quit his job and ended up as a successful personal trainer, then read the story of the guy who invented stronglifts: https://stronglifts.com/about/

I don't know how he makes his money. His website doesnt sell anything.

(01-11-2017 02:59 AM)JackinMelbourne Wrote:  Off the top of my head, someone like Charles Poliquin is at the top as far as personal trainers go. Research that guy...

He is more than just a PT. He sells nutrition and supplements.

Post: #10

(01-11-2017 11:15 PM)roid Wrote:  [quote='JackinMelbourne' pid='1483054' dateline='1484121599']
He is more than just a PT. He sells nutrition and supplements.

Correct!

It's the natural progression of trainers who want to make more money. They all sell supplements, whether in their own gyms/classes or online.

Seminars and tours are also big money makers if you know your shit, have a name (brand) and can speak in front of a crowd (Polliquin ticks all these boxes).

Post: #11

PT is tough. If you are not passionate about helping others achieve their fitness goals, motivating others etc. You probably won't last long. Also you shouldn't go into it to try make money.

My cousin is a PT and has 28k followers on IG and even though she loves it, it is full on and a hectic job managing everything.

Post: #12

(01-11-2017 11:15 PM)roid Wrote:  

(01-06-2017 11:56 PM)Thomas the Rhymer Wrote:  If you want an actual case study of someone who quit his job and ended up as a successful personal trainer, then read the story of the guy who invented stronglifts: https://stronglifts.com/about/

I don't know how he makes his money. His website doesnt sell anything.

On his old blog, he used to brag about how he was booked full weeks in advance for personal training sessions, so I'm guessing that's what he is still doing. Apparently he had clients that flew in from other countries just to be trained by him over a weekend. At one point some guys paid him to fly to their country instead.

He apparently gets new clients through word-of-mouth mostly.

Post: #13

Waste of time and money.

Most of the PTs do not make money.

Post: #14

(01-12-2017 04:40 AM)Alche Wrote:  PT is tough. If you are not passionate about helping others achieve their fitness goals, motivating others etc. You probably won't last long. Also you shouldn't go into it to try make money.

My cousin is a PT and has 28k followers on IG and even though she loves it, it is full on and a hectic job managing everything.

I am thinking that way too, I love fitness but I don't love coaching strangers how to meet their fitness goals. On the other hand, I am more interested in contest prep (giving advice on steroids protocols for bodybuilding competitions).

Post: #15

(01-06-2017 10:07 PM)mariale Wrote:  Hi all,
I've been a marketing manager for about 2 years and I think I'm starting to get bored of being in front of computers all the time.
I've been going to the gym for 1 year already and all my friends use to tell me that I inspire them to keep motivated with their fitness goals as I never give up. I have some personal routines for when I train in the gym or outdoors and I know how to eat healthy and how to establish diets depending on the goals.
I am wondering if I could make my way as a personal trainer?
I think I'm good with people, and may have enough knowledge about the fitness lifestyle.
Should I quit my job and start? How should I go about it?

Wait, you've been going to the gym for ONE year?

Your friend loves to train with you? Send them an invoice after workout and see what they say?
Impressing your friend with your cooking skills by giving out free food is one thing. Charging for food is totally different game.

Post: #16

What would be the chances of becoming a part-time "personal trainer" given that you have no certifications at all, but the only thing you got is the physique to speak for yourself?

Is anyone here running something similar?

Post: #17

I'll preface this by saying I was a trainer for 6 years at a gym in an affluent area but also did some work with the basketball team at a local college.

1) You're not getting a decent job without certifications, usually one of the top four or so(NASM/ACSM/ACE/NSCA). That isn't to say you can't get a decent job with other certifications but the higher end gyms which pay more require the better certifications. I've never come across a gym which didn't require certification and you running the interviewer thru a program.

2) The difference in pay is quite noticeable depending on which gym you work at, which is also dependent upon your certifications. At my previous affluent gym which had a great reputation, we'd get 60-70% of the training package amount. Right now it's $78 for a single hour, $72 per hour for a package of five, $68 per hour for a package of 10 and so on. So you can average about 45-50$ an hour. In most other gyms in my area the trainers are only getting $20-30 per hour. Mostly chain gyms. Big difference.

3) Private training and/or working for a sports team/school requires a few years experience and is a much tougher gig to land or making real money with until you've got a client roster and a reputation.

4) The industry is not as glamorous as many believe. Sure, you get some trainers who have a client roster full of hot women or trainers who make some real good money training hardcore, high level athletes but that's not most. You'll find many more who are training the fat kid whose parents forced him to lose some weight with you and hates being there, or the recovering alcoholic who's making a life change, or the old lady who had a hip replacement and needs rehab. You'll also end up playing therapist for a number of people who show up, dump all their negative energy and life problems on you, then leave after an hour.

5) There's not much upside to the industry. At some point, a point I reached, you hit your max % of commission and you're training 8 hours per day, sometimes more, but there's no real avenue to earn more while still working for a gym. Starting your own gym is an entirely different endeavor, requires a different skill set. In home training you can charge more per hour(I charged $100-125) for that but you're limited. You don't have all the equipment your gym has. So you can make more per hour but you'll have fewer clients. You can train at a gym and outside as well but a number of gyms also have territorial rights written in the employee agreement. Mine didn't allow training outside my gym within a 25 mile radius. I still did, just a limited amount and was very careful about it.

6) It gets really fucking annoying when you're going back and forth to the gym and people cancel last minute on you. Here's a common scenario. I'd be in the gym at 6am, train six clients until noon. Then go study or have lunch or workout, come back at 3pm and train two more clients. Then go back home until heading back for an 8pm or 9pm client. Then they cancel. Well, you're evening was just wasted. Or you get up at 5am, head out and your 6am is a no-show. Or your 9 and 10am clients cancel because of the dentist or diarrhea or didn't sleep well and you're sitting there with two hours to kill until your 11am client shows up. After dealing with that shit for months you get sick of it. The worst part of the industry is you work around the schedules of your clients. There's a very high flameout rate in the industry.

7) A number of trainers, male and female get many of their clients, approached, simply because they look good. The hottest female trainers will get big numbers of men signing up with them just because they're hot. Women too, especially in their 30's and 40's will go after the hottest looking male trainers. That only lasts so long. Get deep into your 30's or your 40's and they're going to start going after the new 24 yr old.

8) All these crossfit boxes which popped up a few years ago are limiting potential as a trainer in gyms. Fewer are even joining gyms. Likewise, the crossfit industry has become so saturated, opening your own box doesn't make much sense. There's also more and more cheap bootcamps in parks/private studios which also have hurt the gym industry. You still get plenty who pay for a membership and come in and do their thing alone but the percentages of those willing to pay for a trainer/instructor in gyms is taking a hit as there's far more options outside the typical gym environment now.

9) I'd say it's the perfect job to earn money on the side while in school, especially if like me you were an athlete previously and are quite experienced in gyms. Great way to meet women. You gain confidence teaching/training people from all walks of life. Hard to not gain a little confidence when you're 24 and high paid doctors and lawyers and CFO's are booking you because of your expertise. You make connections. You become a better public speaker as you are running the session for an hour. It's not a career though, not unless you really love it and don't mind topping out at under 100K.

Post: #18

Sorry for the very delayed response, I have been just caught up in work. I really appreciate all your guys input, especially you rainy. That was invaluable