How good of shape should you be in to be a personal trainer?

[joe d]

Being a personal trainer is all about marketing in my opinion. The basic of fitness are the same. What makes you different than others is marketing. A part of this marketing is appearance. So inorder to train other people you gotta be fit not skinny. Inorder to person train bodybuilders, you gotta be jacked.

please elaborate.

 

[RevoPT]

Know your market. If your not a body builder don't work with that market. Know you niche and what you personally have the most experience with and work with that market.

 

[trex74]

Attitude!!???! Not too sure what your talking about. Yes I am female I do have a bubbly personality. The purpose of this post was to get some expert advice on what I can to to become a good PT. Obviously I know I need to build upper body strength I'm working on it. Just wondering whats ideal and some of the posts have been pretty helpful so far. Thank you and keep the advice coming.

Well if I were looking to hire a PT I would be looking for somebody who was in peak physical condition. With defined muscles- not just skinny.
Also someone who has a sports background- but that's just a personal preference.

 

[the_alcatraz]

Well, let's put it this way. Let's pretend you know nothing about training, but you have allk the ambitions in the world but no energy or motivation. You are thinking of getting a personal trainer. You look at what's availabe and see a bunch of them all looks ok, some look out of shape, then you see a fit looking dude with big arm and a muscular chest, narrow waste and vascularity like no tmrw...would you not pick him out of the rest?? I would.

 

[ponyfitness]

Being a personal trainer is all about marketing in my opinion. The basic of fitness are the same. What makes you different than others is marketing. A part of this marketing is appearance. So inorder to train other people you gotta be fit not skinny. Inorder to person train bodybuilders, you gotta be jacked.

I agree that most builders won't take you seriously unless you are big. However, 9 times out of 10 I can make a bodybuilder cry with my workouts because they do things wrong or just throw stuff around without any real focus behind it.

Plus, inevitably most bodybuilders end up with bad shoulders and knees, which is where I come in to fix them. I had a guy just last week put up a PB on bench after a rotator cuff tear and I've worked with him for three weeks. He's super happy and will be a great source of referrals.

 

[NeverGymless]

if you work for a commercial, run of the mill gyms filled with soccer moms trying to lose weight than you can be a skinny nancy-boy. However in a gym that is a cut above the norm and there are a lot of ppl that lift for sports and that lift heavy, you better be a strong MF'er. It's so pathetic going to the local 24 hr fitness here and seeing all these losers weighting 140lbs, and don't give me that "Oh I am a runner" BS. You're not just a runner- you are a trainer. You should practice what you preach and have some semblance of muscle. Anyone can be a runner- this is very easy to do , much easier than being explosive, powerful, strong, agile and FIT. Sure you can help with rehab, and help the 50yr old soccer mom lose weight, but what about the varsity athlete who wants to be more explosive for next season? Or the actor who has to bulk up big time for an upcoming role? How about training MMA fighters? No perspective client that has some what of an athletic background will come to you if you are skinny. The bar is so low for trainers, since all it takes it for you to pass some run of the mill training course and do your paper work. Fortunately, at my university gym, lots of the dudes are jacked and we have varsity athletes and the skinny fitness world trainers have no place in such an environment. Fuck, I've even seen fat trainers at the local 24hr fitness. *barf

I go to Golds Gym and they have fat soccer moms as personal trainers. When I signed my contract , they said they have the best power stations , bumper plates and all this shit. But they don't and your not allowed to drop weights/use chalk. lulz.


Only places Ive been too where the PT look amazing are Brazil and Colombia.

 

[biggirls]

great thread , very usefu l for m e. thanks

 

[JPN9]

i would suggest doing weights

 

[EvolutionPT]

its about what you know , not what you look like. tho you probably want to at least be in good shape.
No one wants a trainer thats out of shape

<a href=http://www.personal-trainer-atlanta.com>personal trainer atlanta</a>

 

[gt40racer]

take steroids
your clients will never know the difference

I'm pretty sure all the male personal trainers at my gym are on the juice.

Kind of upsets me considering that I plan to be juice free and become a personal trainer