Personal Trainers

graham.brennan

Hi all,

I'm interested in your opinions on personal training. I'm planning to get into it soon to subsidise a masters I'm starting in Galway.

If anyone has any experience either as, or with a PT, please let me know what you thought and any barriers to starting up as one.

Cheers,

G.

Ruu_Old

Moved from Forums.

cowzerp

Its not easy to get clients unless your in the right location and have a good reputation, i know loads of personal trainers that have no clients-dont rely on it i'd say.

Transform

Have you currently got a personal training qualification?

Most pople start by working in a gym for a few years to bulid their reputation and business, have you done that yet?

Setting up as part of a gym would possibly be best to start with

Dragan

Transform wrote:

Have you currently got a personal training qualification?

Most pertinant point in the thread so far.

What qualitification do you have. If none, what one do you plan to attain? Have you looked into insurance and local gyms that will allow you to train clients in them? What kind of fee's are the charging? What are the average PT rates in your area?

Transform

Becoming a trainer is like any other start up business, takes time dedication and remember all clients care about is results so know how to get them fast to keep the client forever.

I have had some of the same clients coming to me every week for over 3-4 years now. Why? Results and varying the program.

Its the best job in the world but doing 30sessions of PT a week does require down time also

Fabrizio

I am living in the Northwest and i am looking for a personal trainer, but i dont know where to look!! I want someone that will be with me in the gym for an hour and a half and put me through a programme, not some gym attendant who has a pass degree in rec and leisure!! Where do i find a good PT in the North West Region! ?? Thanks

Jolly Roger

Can anyone recommmend any Personal Trainers for weight training? I go to the gym in Trinity College, Dublin. Thanks!

The FitnessDock

The easiest way to become a personal trainer is to get a basic fitness instructor job in a gym. Then, simply provide outstanding customer care which is FAR superior to the other instructors you work with. When you do this, members will ask for you and will be happy to pay you for your time. That's how I started in 1998.

The main benefit of starting this way is that you have the whole population of the gym from which to attract PT clients. This is totally different from starting out from scratch where no-one knows you. In a gym, you have multiple opportunities to build relationships with prospective clients. Earn their trust and show your ability and they are much more likely to hire you than someone they don't know, whose name they've found in the Yellow Pages.

By the way, you might want to check out this site - http://www.ptnetwork.co.uk/

It's a forum-based site for Personal Trainers to interact and share experiences. It should give you a good idea of what's involved and how best to get started. The site had only recently started but I'd expect it to have a lot of members soon. There's a feature on it in the current issue of Work Out Ireland.

If you have any questions, just pm me.

Cheers,

PAUL

martinl

As Paul/TheFitnessDock said a good way to start is to work in a gym, where you can tap into a larger potential client base – this makes life initially my easier.

Then it’s good if you stick out from the crowd, e.g. through your qualifications and of course through your experience that you gather over time. You could also specialise in a certain area e.g. a particular sport or health condition. You might be in a position where you can sell your own achievements in a certain sport.

At the end of the day it is putting in the time to continuously learn, study, expand your knowledge and expertise that you can pass on to your existing clients and potential new clients.

And as Transform said it takes time and dedication.

It’s a great job and I really love it even if I still sometimes work more hours than in my previous carrier.

You know exactly the effort, time and commitment you put in will pay off in the long term and you will reap the rewards, there is no manager or boss that takes a share or whom you have to ask if you want try something new, different.

I think one of the biggest rewards you get out of the job (beside the financial side) is seeing your client getting fitter, losing weight, living a healthier life and bursting with energy.

One last bit - you have to make the client aware of his/here progress, so he/she can see, feel the difference or hear friends and family members commenting how much slimmer the look and more energy they have – that will make it easier to keep the client.

clem

what courses does he need or what qualifactions do you PT's have?

graham.brennan

Hi all and huge thanks for the responses to my query.

In reply to some questions: My qualifications include and ITEC gym instructors cert, a degree in sports and exercise science and a couple of years teaching undergrad students in these areas.

I'm delighted that there was an interest in my query and I would love to get a few more questions. My plan really is to get a few (one or two) clients to subsidize myself throughout my masters, but insurance is my first concern. I have a few nice monitoring techniques to display change and progress to my clients and a few particular populations I would like to try and target.

I fully appreciate the strong encouragement to provide a quality service to ensure retaining customers and would love to hear more about the experiences of those who comments. Also thanks so much for the pt website link.

If anyone would like to mail me regarding these things that would be great...its <snip> and I look forward to more comments and advice...particularly the insurance info.

Cheers so much,

G.

Laslo

Jolly Roger wrote:

Can anyone recommmend any Personal Trainers for weight training? I go to the gym in Trinity College, Dublin. Thanks!

I couldn't recommend Xavier Dolino highly enough. He's a hard taskmaster but he's a great personal trainer.

The FitnessDock

graham.brennan wrote:

My qualifications include and ITEC gym instructors cert, a degree in sports and exercise science and a couple of years teaching undergrad students in these areas.

Graham - you already have all the qualifications you need. I'm a Sports Science graduate and insurance is easy to get because degrees are much more recognised than certificates by insurance companies.

I recommend you take ONE client and help them make huge lifestyle changes. The more overweight and unfit the better. Take before and after photos and video clips and then post them, along with their glowing testimonial and then put it up on a website. Repeat this process with each client and soon you'll have a book full of testimonials and photos that you can show prospective personal training clients.

Great results will enable you to keep clients for years - one you provide extraordinary service, they won't even dream of going to anyone else. Word Of Mouth referrals will also bring you more clients than any form of marketing or advertising.

My final bit of advice would be VERY picky as to who you take on as personal training clients. Avoid the ones who just want to be babysat through a workout they could easily do on their own. Only pick the ones who will train their asses of in the gym and will follow your nutritional recommendations outside the gym.

If you have any more questions, just pm me.

Cheers

PAUL

Transform

Contact fitpro in the uk for fitness insurance

graham.brennan

Superb folks

Hanley

...meanwhile, an entire Olympic cycle and the 12 months ago.