By: Brent Van Pelt
You love bodybuilding! How can you make it a career though? Go pro? You don't have the genetics. Modeling? You know that for some reason God gave you a great body but stuck you with a face that scares small children. Own a gym? Keep playing the lottery. Personal training? Hey, this might be a great idea!
Interest in physical fitness training has
grown rapidly in the past few years. Those involved with
designing or supervising exercise programs must have a basic
understanding of the principles of human physiology and anatomy.
Today's fitness trainer is more than a
designer of programs, he/she is an educator, providing
instruction in many facets of fitness, from correct exercise
technique to equipment and apparel selection.
Motivation
In addition to providing ongoing expert advice and
instruction about effective training for a client, a major
part of the personal trainer's job is motivating the client to
stick with a training regimen. Motivation, like other aspects
of exercise, is a personal issue: what works for one client
may not work for another. Developing strategies to keep each
client interested and motivated will often be as important as
designing the exercise program.
Leadership Qualities
Exercise
leadership by the personal trainer is an important factor in
adherence and motivation. Some of the qualities of an
effective exercise leader include the following:
- Punctuality and
dependability about
scheduling sessions and communicating with the client.
This includes being regularly prepared for training
sessions.
- Professionalism in
dress, behavior, and demeanor.
This means treating clients with respect and letting them
know (through actions as well as words) that you take the
trainer-client relationship seriously. It also means
respecting the client's privacy and the confidentiality of
what is shared as part of the trainer-client relationship
- Dedication to the
exercise training endeavor,
as demonstrated through putting continual effort into
making training sessions fun, rewarding, safe, and
educational. Trainers should be working as hard in their
capacity as clients are expected to work in their exercise
sessions.
- Willingness to
plan ahead
for things that may interfere with a training session and
preparing the client, as much as possible, for any breaks
that may occur.
- Sensitivity to
each client's past experiences,
current preferences and current and future needs. This
means providing a regular means for evaluating the
client's performance as well as your own, and being open
to suggestions and alternatives that may enhance training
sessions.
- A commitment
to seek additional education for professional growth,
which includes keeping abreast of the latest scientific
information about physical activity as well as current
exercise fads about which your client may have questions.
- Presenting
oneself as a role model for both exercise
training and other areas of health.
- Taking
responsibility for problems that may arise in
the course of helping clients reach their exercise goals.
- Forming with
each client a partnership in the exercise experience,
which includes having the client play an active role in
the training program and any decisions that may be needed
to pursue the exercise training goals.
As you can see, there is much more to personal training
than just showing someone how to work out. It takes a well
organized person who also has the ability to work with people.
And you must practice what you preach.
Independent
Contractors VS. Employees
Personal trainers who work in
clubs may be either independent contractors or employees,
while self-employed personal trainers are usually independent
contractors. Which
one do you start out as?
Pros and Cons
Some owners of fitness clubs
use independent contractors so that the club can avoid the
expense of training, medical benefits, social security
withholding, worker's compensation, or unemployment coverage
for these workers. However, most clubs still require
independent contractors to follow club rules. Clubs may also
prefer to deal with independent contractors because it is
harder legally to fire an employee than simply not to renew a
contract.
Many personal trainers
enjoy the freedom of the independent contractor status,
including:
- Choosing when and
where to work
- Charging variable
fees for different situations.
- Having professional
freedom in conducting work.
These freedoms must be
weighed against the disadvantages of having no employer to
provide clients, training, benefits, or equipment.
Agreements/Contracts
Both independent
contractors and club employees must be certain that all
details of their agreements are clear from the beginning of
their work with a fitness club or center.
- How much control can the
employer/club owner exercise over the details of your
work?
- Are you paid by the hour or by the
job?
- Is there a specific time you can
train in the gym?
- Do you have a written contract
with the client and gym owner?
Training Studio
Owning your own
training studio is the best situation but the most expensive.
Now you are dealing with overhead such as building lease
payments, utilities, equipment costs, insurance and so
on. One of the main aspects of getting your business up
and running is marketing yourself. You need to build a nice
client base quickly or have an existing one from the gym. If
you are starting out from scratch....good luck, this is the
hardest way to get started.
Conclusion
There are a lot
of pros and cons in being a personal trainer. It's a very
demanding job but pays well. If you are a people person and
you are organized, this is the job for you.
For now, check out these links to more information:
Brent Van Pelt
Recommend this article to a friend by e-mail here!
Back To Other Writer's Main Page
Back To The Articles Main Page.
Related Articles
A Guide To Effective Weekly Training Analysis
Finding The RIGHT Personal Trainer!
Hiring A Personal Trainer!
