Personal Trainer Advice Needed

[personaltrainer101]

This is kinda a long one but any advice would be greatly appreciated. About six months ago I decided to make a career change. I want to get a bachelors degree in nutrition and possibly become a registered dietitian. I've just started taking my core classes part time while I'm still working at the job I want to get out of. Unfortuanetly, I can't simply quit my current job due to financial obligations (bills, rent, tuition, normal stuff) and there's no way I could find any other job that pays me enough as my current job. But I've become extremely aggitated with my current job as time goes on, so I stumbled across the idea of becoming a personal trainer. Now as I've learned from reading much of these posts, any successfull trainer that's actually happy with their job puts forth a full-time effort. I've become increasingly interested now with this field and less with becoming a dietitian. But I'd still like to continue college to get my bachelors degree. My question is this: do any of you have experience with attending college (full or part time) while being a personal trainer? If so, was it manageable? How much did college affect your personal training? Were you still able to hold enough clients and make enough money to make ends meet? Also for those of you who recieved bachelors, did you find it to be worth your effort? What I mean is, did your degree give you a much better repuatation or make you more money? With the knowledge you have now, if someone like me wants to pursue personal training as a full time career would you or would you not advise them to continue with college? (by the way, I literally just started taking college courses) I know this is a long post, but any advice would be greatly considered!

 

[bignate73]

as a personal trainer, a degree generally won't earn you more money. It can increase your confidence so you won't flinch to charge more money, but there are people without degrees charging $150 an hour, and there are those with masters charging $50. its your business....

 

[paulytee]

In my opinion, personal training is a good in-college job. I'm currently finishing up a degree in marketing while doing training. I also agree the degree is more of a status symbol because, as bignate73 said, there are plenty of people who do personal training without a college degree. Heck, you can get hired by 24Hour Fitness, have zero credentials, then take their one-week class and be a trainer for them. Anyway, training was good for me for the simple fact I could work as few or as many hours as my class load would dictate. If I had a particulary tough semester I could easily work just enough to get by. If my classes were easier I would work more. As a matter a fact, I just started working in marketing for a web design company, and it has actually helped my personal training. I now can pick and choose my clients and do training for the passion instead of just sheer volume to pay the bills. I'm much happier now. The last thing I will say about personal training is you are going to have a tough time making a decent career if you stay working for the big gyms such as 24 or Ballys. The only true way to make a good living is open your own studio. Don't sell yourself short, look into it because it can be easier than you think! As a matter of fact, my wife (a trainer as well) and I are planning to open up a studio soon. What's nice is my current job will be enough to keep us going until we can really get a foothold in our community. Once again, go for it and do what you really want to do!

 

[personaltrainer101]

In my opinion, personal training is a good in-college job. I'm currently finishing up a degree in marketing while doing training. I also agree the degree is more of a status symbol because, as bignate73 said, there are plenty of people who do personal training without a college degree. Heck, you can get hired by 24Hour Fitness, have zero credentials, then take their one-week class and be a trainer for them. Anyway, training was good for me for the simple fact I could work as few or as many hours as my class load would dictate. If I had a particulary tough semester I could easily work just enough to get by. If my classes were easier I would work more. As a matter a fact, I just started working in marketing for a web design company, and it has actually helped my personal training. I now can pick and choose my clients and do training for the passion instead of just sheer volume to pay the bills. I'm much happier now. The last thing I will say about personal training is you are going to have a tough time making a decent career if you stay working for the big gyms such as 24 or Ballys. The only true way to make a good living is open your own studio. Don't sell yourself short, look into it because it can be easier than you think! As a matter of fact, my wife (a trainer as well) and I are planning to open up a studio soon. What's nice is my current job will be enough to keep us going until we can really get a foothold in our community. Once again, go for it and do what you really want to do!

Thanks for the advice. While you were at college did you personal train for a gym or privately? Will gyms usually provide flexible hours along with benefits? (insurance, 401k, etc.) Also, what do you think is the best way to get into the business for someone who has no prior experience or knowledge (like me!). I don't want to quit my current job unless I know I can make at least the same amount of money. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[paulytee]

Starting out, I would recommend find a local gym and work for them. For example, I work for 24Hour Fitness (although I have another fulltime job, I kept a few of my favorite clients) because they are the only gym in my area. The upside for working for a corporation is they will train you for being a trainer. They also will pay for you to go get national certifications like ACE, AFAA, NASM, etc. They won't pay you up front but they will pay 1/2 and then pay the second half after working for 6 months. A guarantee on the return of thier investment in a sense. The payscale is also determined on the level of education. 24 Hour was pretty flexible on hours and allowed me to make my own schedule as long as I fit in a few hours a week for initial evaluations and such. Benefits were available after establishing 30+ work hours a week. The downside is they expect you to be a salesman first. That was the biggest beef I had with them. Also, the best way to make money was to work a split shift such as 6am to 11am and then come back for the evening crowd. This can make for a long day. There are definately pro's and con's to working for a corporation. In my opinion, it does make for a good college job because of it's flexibility. If your planning on a career in personal training then I highly suggest working to open you own studio because the potential for bigger money is definately to train on your own. Hope this information helps!

 

[Dazz39]

Personal training as a career can be very rewarding. It really depends on the trainer and how driven they are. To tell you the truth there is no reason why a fitness trainer can't pull in a six figure salary. I would reccommend that you get certified through ACE, NSCA, NASM or ISSA - they are some of the top certifications to have. I also advise that you read everything that you possibly can on fitness. The more knowledge that you have the more money that might come your way. READ, READ, READ.
http://www.weighting-to-exhale.com

 

[Illuminati]

Starting out, I would recommend find a local gym and work for them. For example, I work for 24Hour Fitness (although I have another fulltime job, I kept a few of my favorite clients) because they are the only gym in my area. The upside for working for a corporation is they will train you for being a trainer. They also will pay for you to go get national certifications like ACE, AFAA, NASM, etc. They won't pay you up front but they will pay 1/2 and then pay the second half after working for 6 months. A guarantee on the return of thier investment in a sense. The payscale is also determined on the level of education. 24 Hour was pretty flexible on hours and allowed me to make my own schedule as long as I fit in a few hours a week for initial evaluations and such. Benefits were available after establishing 30+ work hours a week. The downside is they expect you to be a salesman first. That was the biggest beef I had with them. Also, the best way to make money was to work a split shift such as 6am to 11am and then come back for the evening crowd. This can make for a long day. There are definately pro's and con's to working for a corporation. In my opinion, it does make for a good college job because of it's flexibility. If your planning on a career in personal training then I highly suggest working to open you own studio because the potential for bigger money is definately to train on your own. Hope this information helps!

i know this post is kind of old....

what kind of pay scale does it look like at 24hr fitness?
working out is my passion, and I love helping people achieve their goals in the gym. but i want to make sure that it is something that I would want to do before I go full bore, and attempt to open my own gym. hence, i would want to work for a place like 24hr fitness first, just to get my feet wet.

 

[bignate73]

24 hour is around $23 an hour if you have 3 certifications and have been there for 2 years. thats the top! you get 10% of everything you sell too, ie training, supps.

its a good start but there is alot of BS that goes with working for someone. the good thing is that in most cases, the client prospecting is done already, and they get you clients at the point of sale on new members.

 

[Illuminati]

24 hour is around $23 an hour if you have 3 certifications and have been there for 2 years. thats the top! you get 10% of everything you sell too, ie training, supps.

its a good start but there is alot of BS that goes with working for someone. the good thing is that in most cases, the client prospecting is done already, and they get you clients at the point of sale on new members.

everybody's got to start somewhere