Do You Think You Have What it Takes to Be a Successful Certified Personal Trainer?

I am still amazed when people make the occasional off-handed comment about picking up some fast cash by becoming a personal trainer. I hear the comments all the time:

"Hey, how hard can it be? I mean, I'm in pretty good shape. So what's the big deal about getting other people in shape?"

"I can just get walk into any gym and get $100.00 per hour as a personal trainer with any old certificate I buy from the internet. You just tell people to stop eating too much junk and stand over them and count reps as they work out."

One of my favorites has always been:

"I see the personal trainers at my gym all the time. They don't seem to be busting their behinds and for what the clients are paying them I can do the same job. Getting fit It isn't rocket science."

And then there is reality.

1. You must have the bare bones minimum industry accepted combination of certification and real time training to learn how to become a certified personal trainer before any gym will hire you. This will cost you a much larger investment on your part regarding up-front expenses (for tuition and materials) and time before you can even begin to look for a job where you would earn compensation for your expertise. Just because you are in good shape that doesn't mean you know anything about helping other people reach their specific fitness and wellness goals. Don't believe me? Just walk into any gym and get hired.

2. When you are starting out your pay will be directly commensurate to your experience and the grade of your certification. If you have little to no professional experience and have a lower grade industry standard certification you have very little chance of commanding the type of pay you think you can get. You don't get paid based on how ripped your midsection is. You are confusing a certified personal trainer with a fitness model and that's another article altogether.

3. The gym does not pay the personal trainer the same amount as the fee they collect from the client upfront. Some of the larger chain gyms pay their certified personal trainers as little as $12.00 an hour before taxes. Most gyms will only pay you your hourly wage after you have trained the client.

4. Your success will not be solely determined by your clients' success. It will also be dependent largely on your sales ability. Many gyms expect you to find your own clients. This is one of the biggest little secrets that people who think they can make "some easy side money" personal training have no clue about. If you don't know how to market yourself don't even think about pursuing a career as a certified personal trainer.

5. Some gyms may also expect you to carry a certain amount of liability insurance and have you sign non-compete agreements causing you to limit your ability to work within a certain radius of that facility.

6. Some gyms also offer incentives to their fitness staff to take certification programs that only have value at their specific gym chain. In other words, the gym takes your money to offer you training that only has value at their facility in exchange for as little as an extra $2.00 per paid training session you expend with one of their members.

7. If you decide to train the gym's members on your own time negotiating a fee personally circumventing the gym you will be fired.

8. There are clients who may be very demanding, not truthful and not very dedicated to their own goals. Their expectations amount to, "I'm paying you so I expect you to do all the work." Unless you have a true desire to help people this is not the line of work for you.

A career as a certified personal trainer can be very rewarding but you only get out of it what you put into it... no different than your clients.