Personal Training

slum dog

Hi,

Im over in NYC at the moment and I was thinking of giving personal training a go. I have no credentials except that I ran a marathon and do cardio trainuing about 5-6 days a week. I looked up whether I needed to be accredited or not and their doesn't appear to be any laws which say I must. I've lost over 50 pounds from training in the past 2 years and I think my experience is enough to give it ago. Should I?

Mellor

slum dog wrote: »

Im over in NYC at the moment and I was thinking of giving personal training a go. I have no credentials except that I ran a marathon and do cardio trainuing about 5-6 days a week. I looked up whether I needed to be accredited or not and their doesn't appear to be any laws which say I must. I've lost over 50 pounds from training in the past 2 years and I think my experience is enough to give it ago. Should I?

I've no idea is you need qualifications under NY law, but i can't imagine you'd get any insurance without them. Also, running a marathon and losing weight is about 20% of the required knowledge for a PT.

Transform

slum dog wrote: »

Hi,

Im over in NYC at the moment and I was thinking of giving personal training a go. I have no credentials except that I ran a marathon and do cardio trainuing about 5-6 days a week. I looked up whether I needed to be accredited or not and their doesn't appear to be any laws which say I must. I've lost over 50 pounds from training in the past 2 years and I think my experience is enough to give it ago. Should I?

oh good god!!

No dude you are not

xgtdec

Perhaps sit some form of certification first??

and above all all make sure you look the part.....no one likes a pudgy trainer;)

Michael 09

You should put that entire post up as your ad looking for clients...

'Sure look, I'll give it a go'

ceegee

A quick google shows about 45000 people run the NY marathon each year, so running a marathon isnt going to be a USP. Neither is having lost a load of weight in the past few years because frankly most people would rather a PT who has more than 2 yrs experience of exercising anf healthy diet.

I really think you should look at some sort of training before going into this, not only to give yourself a better shot at success but also to make sure you know what you're doing and dont leave yourself open to any legal issues if a customer gets injured

Zamboni

Go for it dude.
Just put any and all earnings away for future litigation.

Transform

Zamboni wrote: »

Go for it dude.
Just put any and all earnings away for future litigation.

LMFAO!!!

slum dog

thanks for all the replies. has anyone got any reasons why I should do it?

gymfreak

slum dog wrote: »

thanks for all the replies. has anyone got any reasons why I should do it?

i'm not really sure what you are expecting people on a Health and Fitness site to say to you?!? You have no experience in coaching/training others, you have gained no qualification, you do not express an interest in gaining one, and you lack both training experience and a recognition as to what the job of a personal training is.

You sound like you possibly just want to help others and motivate others into losing weight or starting a fitness journey but that is one small portion of the role of a personal training *BUT*

I'd suggest that you go DO a course in personal training, gain some knowledge and experience and then go on and then 'give it a go'.

But for God sake get insurance first!!!

cc87

Make friends with a personal trainer, follow him at work for a few days, then see what you want to do.

Burkatron

cc87 wrote: »

Make friends with a personal trainer, follow him at work for a few days, then see what you want to do.

Or just follow a random PT to work one day & see what happens! It can't be a worse idea then giving PT ago without experience, knowledge, a qualification or insurance!!

xgtdec

Is there enough advice on here yet?....or do we need more snooty comments from the overlords of the personal training world?

Hanley

xgtdec wrote: »

Is there enough advice on here yet?....or do we need more snooty comments from the overlords of the personal training world?

YEAH!!! Let's all tell this guy to do something stupid and then we can be one big happy family.

Seriously like?! this guy has no experience, has done nothing but run, probably doesn't know a squat from a deadlift, or how to manipulate kcals for weightloss, and you expect anything other than snooty comments?!

Personal training is looked down on enough as it is. You wouldn't have a business owner talk about setting up an accountancy firm just because he managed to make his own books balance one year would you?!

xgtdec

Well im figuring if the OP hasnt got the point at this stage then he may well give up!!

I guess i may have expected the boards PT overlords to be a tad more positive and motivational on helping the OP get to where they'd like to be rather than sit in their warehouses on their giant PT golden thrones pointing and laughing.

or do you only do motivational for a fee? (thats "you" as in PT's...not "you" as in Hanley)

Hanley

xgtdec wrote: »

Well im figuring if the OP hasnt got the point at this stage then he may well give up!!

I guess i may have expected the boards PT overlords to be a tad more positive and motivational on helping the OP get to where they'd like to be rather than sit in their warehouses on their giant PT golden thrones pointing and laughing.

or do you only do motivational for a fee? (thats "you" as in PT's...not "you" as in Hanley)

Well that was unexpected. Bad day?

EDIT: ...this thread has actually been very good when it comes to advice so I don't know what you're complaining about.

I am pie

xgtdec wrote: »

Well im figuring if the OP hasnt got the point at this stage then he may well give up!!

I guess i may have expected the boards PT overlords to be a tad more positive and motivational on helping the OP get to where they'd like to be rather than sit in their warehouses on their giant PT golden thrones pointing and laughing.

or do you only do motivational for a fee?

Chip, vinegar etc....

Look, I pay for a PT. I do so because i want professional help. I expect that person to have been educated in what they profess to be expert in. I expect them to be qualified. I let them tell me what I should eat, and put them in charge of my physical wellbeing whilst i am training in the gym.

It's an insult to whoever it is you think would pay for the services of an unqualified amateur. It's ridiculous, and is being rightly ridiculed.

All this talk of throne and warehouses and whatever else you're on about seems to ignore all the health and safety risks and liability issues which are completely critical to whether i will pay someone to help me train/get fit/lose weight. It's also completely ignorant of the fact the the US is an extremely litigious society and encouraging the OP without qualification and proper insurance would put him at risk of lawsuits.

OP - No, it's not feasible without qualifications / certification.

Raven_Melody

xgtdec wrote: »

Well im figuring if the OP hasnt got the point at this stage then he may well give up!!

I guess i may have expected the boards PT overlords to be a tad more positive and motivational on helping the OP get to where they'd like to be rather than sit in their warehouses on their giant PT golden thrones pointing and laughing.

or do you only do motivational for a fee? (thats "you" as in PT's...not "you" as in Hanley)

The OP wants to start working in a capacity where he will advise people on their health and lifestyle. A position where his advice will have a direct effect on their general health and could have pretty dire consequences should it be the wrong advice. It's borderline dodgy enough for someone who has simply completed a course with no relevant experience to do this, but to just jump in all guns blazing because you've lost a bit of weight an run a marathon??

One of my favourite subjects in school was biology; so what if after the leaving I said 'ah sure **** med school, I'll just throw on some scrubs and give surgery a go'. I mean, are you for real?

OP, no-one is getting on their high horse with you here from what I can see, and I'd be one of the first to point it out if they were. It's great that you know what you want to do, but you also have to acknowledge that there are people currently trying their best to raise the standards in an industry that is overpopulated with eejits who don't know their arse from their elbow. Do your time; study, get some experience, and then work with some clients and get some results. Prove your worth before you expect people to pay you what you think you're worth.

Oryx

slum dog wrote: »

thanks for all the replies. has anyone got any reasons why I should do it?

What you are asking is like me saying 'Ive used a computer now for a few years to buy stuff on ebay and tweet a bit. Should I offer my services as a web designer?'

You should not do this because you are not qualified, and because of your inexperience you dont realise how much information you are lacking. You would not help clients as you do not have the knowledge base to help them.

If you want to be a PT (and not just looking for a way to make an unqualified quick buck) then find out what you need to learn and start taking courses.

xgtdec

Raven_Melody wrote: »

OP, no-one is getting on their high horse with you here from what I can see, and I'd be one of the first to point it out if they were. It's great that you know what you want to do, but you also have to acknowledge that there are people currently trying their best to raise the standards in an industry that is overpopulated with eejits who don't know their arse from their elbow. Do your time; study, get some experience, and then work with some clients and get some results. Prove your worth before you expect people to pay you what you think you're worth.

And theres some good advice nicely put...that's all i thought the Op deserved to get....thats all!!

Hanley

Dunning Kruger.

Zamboni

Hanley wrote: »

Dunning Kruger.

I had to google it to make sure it wasn't the lead guitarist in some nu-metal band but yep.