Continued industry training..

[elcrisp76]

Hi all,

I've recently suffered a slight setback due to injury, and due to the nature of the injury and my role at the gym, I've had to settle on the sidelines for a short time. I've decided to persue some further education and capitalise on this period - this is certainly a requirement with fitness Australia anyhow, every two years we must achieve a certain number of eductation credits for insurance and recertification needs.

Now I've been in the industry for awhile now, and I've done quite a number of accreditations and advanced training course. I have just downloaded a list of the courses currently registered with Fitness Australia, and the list is MASSIVE. I must confess that whilst so far i have completed courses that have particular interest for myself or my clientelle, I am looking at this crazy list and am drawing blanks... So many interesting courses, I'm like a kid in a candy store.

I realise everyone would probably have a completely different set of interests, and completely dfferent ideas on what direction the industry is headed in, but I would really appreciate some feedback nonetheless, perhaps a little discussion would inspire me or open me to ideas that I hadn't considered previously.

So far I've completed further education in conditioning, advanced weight training, cross training, various nutrition courses, and hold spin accreditations. Realising that the potential for further education is incredibly broad (from business to psychology to cardio to resistance and a plethora of group class training <sigh>) and really it is a personal need/interest that would ulimately decide which path to uncover next - but there is a distinct lack of discussion on the topic and I know quite a few trainers who are also sitting around scratching their heads..

Anyone care to contribute their feedback or thoughts?

 

[teamlondon]

I've been doing some research lately and it seems that 'Kids Fitness' is the next big thing. One of the most appealing things for me anyways is that you can arrange bootcamp style classes for the kids during the middle of the day when it's quiet and monetize this normally free time. You would need to consider whether this is something for you, however as I said, it is definitely a growing market.

 

[r0idb0y]

Sounds like a great idea teamlondon but you would need to think/look into the insurance and police clearance check costs involved. anything with kids there all over you now with sun protection and risk assessments and so on, but yeah it sure is something we need to do as our kids are becoming little fatties.

 

[Academy780]

I think it's geographical. It depends on where you live because that more oftten determines the market and the market price.

 

[teamlondon]

Sounds like a great idea teamlondon but you would need to think/look into the insurance and police clearance check costs involved. anything with kids there all over you now with sun protection and risk assessments and so on, but yeah it sure is something we need to do as our kids are becoming little fatties.

Definitely agree with you there. Kids fitness isn't for me but I do know trainers that are doing quite well from it. Most accreditation bodies now offer formal qulifications if this is a route someone chooses, so I would assume they accept the responsibility of sorting out the genuine trainers from the creeps.

 

[Academy780]

Kids fitness is not a big money maker. It's similar to your local Karate dojo. They always have a few kids that come in consistently, but never enough to expand the dojo. There's limited possiblity with kids.

 

[teamlondon]

I agree with you Academy that kids fitness is not something that I would incorporate at the expense of personal training time, however, I am suggesting an opportunity to develop and expand his business and not effect his current client roster.

Again, kid's fitness classes can be run when your pt business is normally on hold, between say 10am and 2pm, it's about monetizing quiet time.

There are dozens of other courses he could take which could be incorporated to offer his existing clients more variety and perhaps appeal to a wider audience like specific nutrition or HIIT training, this was just one example based on trends that I'm noticing.

 

[Academy780]

You cetainly have to maximize profits but you must not have kids.... They are in school at that time