Person Trainer course?Is there any point?

mkdon

Hi all

have been working in non sporting sector for some time ,my main interest however is sport and specifically personal training

have looked into numerous courses NASM ,NEHS etc

basically are people getting work on the back of doing these courses?

seems everybody is doing these courses and I feel that there is no work out there?can anyone shed any light?

also secondly what courses are internationally recognised (e.g. Australia,USA,Canada?)

Seems NEHS is only UK and Ireland and few European COuntries where language would be a barrier to being any great value.

any advice appreciated

metamorphosis

There's ACE and ACSM too. At the end of the day , if your good, have a base or place to rent out of, work hard, get results and know what you're doing, you will build a client base over time and word of mouth etc. You may have to invest lots of your time and a bit of money too

Making money out of it is not something that happens the minute you are certified and insured. You will be in essence a business promoting yourself and have to treat yourself like any other business at times in terms of how to go about getting in revenue.

It will take time and work. 90% of people doing these courses want the money but do not have the desire or drive to slog for it.

G86

From what I've seen and heard most people who do these courses do them simply to get insured. Most are way behind in terms of curriculam and simply haven't got up to date with recent developments in training, so there's a lot of tongue biting involved if you want to get your cert.

Personally, I wouldn't go to a PT straight out of one of those courses. You would be much better getting some experience along with it by doing an apprenticeship with a decent trainer.

Tons of people opt for personal training because it seems like the easy option, they think that because they enjoy training themselves that it means they'll be great coaches. It doesn't.

From a clients point of view, you need to be in good shape, you need experience (which will in turn give you word of mouth rec's), and you need a niche. I don't want to hear about how great you are, I want to see it for myself. I don't want to see a piece of paper saying you're qualified, I want to hear it from the woman who's halved her bodyfat since training with you.

cmyk

mkdon wrote: »

basically are people getting work on the back of doing these courses?

Hi mkdon, I don't know the situation regarding work out there in gyms, I'd imagine it's similar to the rest of the working population here. You mention PT work though which is different from working as an instructor.

I have not had one single client ask me whether I was qualified, or to see said qualification. So I guess in answer to your question, no you won't just get work as a PT as soon as you step out of the college door. You'll have to get a few clients, do a good job with them and market yourself.

mkdon wrote: »

seems everybody is doing these courses and I feel that there is no work out there?can anyone shed any light?

Out of 30 people I did the NTC course with I reckon at the end of the course maybe 3 were seriously interested and had potential to make it. I'd imagine most courses are the same. People have an idealistic view on how they see a particular job, and when confronted with certain realities think otherwise.

mkdon wrote: »

also secondly what courses are internationally recognised (e.g. Australia,USA,Canada?)
Seems NEHS is only UK and Ireland and few European COuntries where language would be a barrier to being any great value.

I'm not sure about internationally but the NCEHS is recognised in the states and australia. Check their website though, this is something they pride themselves on so do some research.

Transform

cmyk wrote: »

Hi mkdon, I don't know the situation regarding work out there in gyms, I'd imagine it's similar to the rest of the working population here. You mention PT work though which is different from working as an instructor.

I have not had one single client ask me whether I was qualified, or to see said qualification. So I guess in answer to your question, no you won't just get work as a PT as soon as you step out of the college door. You'll have to get a few clients, do a good job with them and market yourself.



Out of 30 people I did the NTC course with I reckon at the end of the course maybe 3 were seriously interested and had potential to make it. I'd imagine most courses are the same. People have an idealistic view on how they see a particular job, and when confronted with certain realities think otherwise.



I'm not sure about internationally but the NCEHS is recognised in the states and australia. Check their website though, this is something they pride themselves on so do some research.

could not agree more on the reality of the post-trainer situation.

My brother is just finishing his course right now and he said there are very few people that will actually make a career from it just based on their lack of application and it was 'like' the thing to do just because they were interested in sports/training.

Zamboni

Saturated market. Tough business. Not glamorous.
There are better ways of making a living.
I did it in a past life. Turns out I'm not a people person

The real money in this industry is running a course provider. They churn out courses and rake it in.
John Sharkey and the like are creaming it and best of luck to them.