Why Not Get Paid For Working Out? How about This Idea?

[curling]

Why not be a personal trainer and get paid for training yourself?

I started thinking about this because I have been training my wife lately and she is getting pretty buff. It is not that hard actually it is kind of fun pushing people to their athletic potential.

So why not just run an ad and be a trainer. That way you do your regular workout and make your client do what your doing while you are resting for your next set. Cool. All except when you leave the gym you got muscles and money.

 

[WarriorPL]

i think you need to take a test to be a certified trainer...

~WizKid

 

[wrlord]

Curling, I see idiots like you every day in the gym telling their "trainees" how to work out the WRONG way. Maybe it's a cycle of abue, in which someone gave YOU the wrong info when you were coming up. I don't care. You're a danger to the reputations of those of us who do want to see people reach their potential, and a danger to the health (and wallets) of those people you train. Shame on you. If you have to ask questions like "why bother training legs?", you have no business trainning others.

 

[Exodus]

unless your certified it will be hard to get client...... most will wonder if you will teach them what worked for you or what will work for them

get the certification first...... GOD willing i will be certified within 2 years.

 

[MaGilicuti]

wondering how one goes about getting certified

 

[LiftHardOrDontLiftAtAll]

To wrlord not all personal trainers are idiots. So fuck all you motherfuckers who think different. I have been a trainer for years and have trained different people from all walks of life and have nothing but an excellent client reference to others who seek my guidance. Gee maybe thats why I run a fucking business. Yes there are some trainers that don't know there ass from a hole in the ground just as there are mechanics, programmers, and contractors. But something about that comment bothered me. The way curling had stated being a trainer was a bit ignorant but you can't judge them all just because one bad apple spoils the bunch.

 

[wrlord]

Lifthard, your pojnt is well taken but it's a whole lot more than one bad apple. I think it's fair to say that a newbie is just as likely to get a moron knw-nothing as a "trainer" as he is to get someone who knows what he's doing. And a newbie, of course, won't know the difference.
If you're in the biz you should be calling the loudest for some sort of standardization of requirements before someone can call himself a trainer.
Trainees wasting their time or money is the least of the problems. People are getting injured. And others are giving up on a healthy lifestyle because of bad info. It's a serious problem and I think we all need to be more vocal about it.

 

[LiftHardOrDontLiftAtAll]

Wrlord my reply was a bit of an ass of a response. You made a couple of excellent points. There really should be more of a standart for personal trainers. Just because one is certified doesn't prove any level of competence. Thats the problem. So many trainers out there walking around they have no idea what they are doing. And people that are trying to make a change in their lives end up getting one of these gung ho mofos who push their clients to hard. And the last line you said hit the nail on the head. People are getting injured and quiting a healthy lifestyle. That is an emphatic hell yes I agree totally. Thats the whole damn problem. Because of these John Wayne gotta be a hero assholes they don't know how to train people of a different degree in fitness. They pile 400 pounds of plates on the bar for a 60 year old man that has never lifted a day in his life and tell him give me 20 sets of 100- 10,000 reps. You can do it. And when the bar almost kills the poor bastard the trainer is still calling him a pussy. It just seems because you have a piece of paper you are now a god of fitness. Hate that. But totally. to all those that are seeking personal training make sure the trainer has good credentials as well as a good client rapport. And unfortunately sometimes that is still not enough.

 

[absolute hardgainer]

Here is what I have to say about personal trainers:

The gym where I work out is owned by a member of our states' fitness industry authority. She is certified to give personal trainer's courses, examine and certify personal trainers. That is she can run her own courses in her own gym, set her own exams and qualify new personal trainers as she likes.

This has led to her offering a 1 week/5 day (!!!) course to become a personal trainer, for around $1200. She starts charging people around $600 for the course, then they have to pay to participate in a workshop (1 weekend) and the exam, it all ends up to about $1200 for people to become personal trainers. Now, she advertises this course constantly and runs it at least once a month. In any one year my gym spews out about 150-250 new certified personal trainers. Not bad business for them.

These certified personal trainers (with their massive 1 week experience) no absolutely jack shit.

I mean, they do NOT know how muscles grow or can explain how fat is reduced.

But they are certified. They are permitted to go around training people, and advertise themselves as though they knew anything.

Some of them have in the past approached myself, and offered there services to me. The going rate is about $45 for a 1 hour personal training session. Since I have been involved in the fitness industry (I have done a 2 year night course for personal training) and have been working out for a while I generally have nothing but utter contempt for these 'personal trainers' and their 'knowledge'.

Curling, I suggest you get a work-out buddy. Somebody who is equally dedicated to working out as you are.

Working out with a paying client while you are really interested in working yourself, and making some money at the same time does not seem a very ethical reason for becoming a personal trainer. If you are serious about helping people improve their fitness and life, as a personal trainer should be. Then you should educate yourself as a personal trainer for a long period of time and gather enough experience to seriously assist others.

hardgainer (my two cents)

 

[Abbaddon]

Some very good points.

I didnt decide to become a trainer until basically the gym I worked out at kept asking me over and over again. I thought hey how hard can it be. VERY!! That is if you want to be good at it. First of all I have seen these week training things that make personal trainers. They are a danger to those asking these people for training and an insult to those of us who actually went to school for this. I got a good deal were the gym helped me pay for my education, but still it is something you must have. A trainer isnt someone who should just tell someone to push weights. A majority of the job is evaluating a persons fitness level, showing and teaching them how to achieve the results they desire(yes as funny as it may sound not everyone wants 20 inch guns). Many are in it to just lose weight and get healthy. Classes and training should be completed on nutrition, muscle developement, anatomy the whole nine yards. It is to the point were I am so happy with it I am trying to convince the gym that I have now been training at for a few years to help me go back to school and get my degree in nutrition or sports therapy so they can have a in house nutritionist or therapist.

Trainers need to continue their learning constantly as things in the fitness world do change.

The biggest point is that you have someone elses health in your hands they are trusting you with it and paying you to boot. It is something that should be taken very very seriously