How did you decide which area of fitness was the best for you?
Hello all!
I recently passed my CPT exam and I am both excited and overwhelmed by options out there for someone just getting into the field. I got lucky because at my current job I work with people in a pool giving them workouts to improve balance, strength, and overall health. However, as much as I love my job in the future (I am calling it my five year plan) I hope to maybe open my own studio and offer classes etc. that way. I also have an addiction to trying to learn and be certified in various areas. I guess my big question is how did you decide which area you wanted to work in and how did you go about getting there? I currently feel pretty lucky knowing both an owner of a small gym and an owner of a studio in my area and I feel like I should get in with them. (It’s about who you know right?) What can I do to eventually work my way into both someone who is full of expertise in the field but also someone who runs a successful buiness?
(I should mention I am currently eight months pregnant and probably the only person who recieved their certification while six months pregnant. Not being able to just hop right in there right now is driving me crazy!!)
Hi Missy,
to me it was a matter of inclination. I got into the world of fitness as we know it after having gotten injured in sports. Since I had started as a rehab patient, this immediately became an area of interest for me. I also prefer to work with people close to my own age, and those are, but the definition of our society, mature adults.
Once I had made that determination, the certifications and specialties to obtain were just a natural progression. I have not started out with the knowledge I have today but have acquired it over the years with just a lot of continuing education, some of which in the form of additional credentials but a lot also by studying, learning and assessing what I see to what I know.
Some of this you can read your way into. A lot of it is experience. Even today, I learn with every new client because all have their unique goals and challenges.
In your case, you are experiencing the changes which pregnancy brings. This circumstance puts you way ahead of me even though I have been studying the physiological changes of pregnancy. But I have never been pregnant myself. This would qualify you very well to give advice about exercise pre-and postpartum.
I wish you very good luck. In about one month, you will have your first client who will demand every minute of your time and will pay you back with many happy smiles (and other things we won’t mention here).
Karin Singleton
www.meltnc.com
Go into what you enjoy most!
Pick an area that you would love to excel in!
Tag along with other trainers and therapists and see if you have what it takes to do what they do and enjoy it along the way.
What talents do you have? What area do people really appreciate your help with? Who would you help for free?
Strive to be the best you can be while enjoying it, excelling and getting paid for it 🙂
Are you business/sales minded or just love training? Not to many people have the skills to do both. To many really good trainers become gym owners that should not have. Look at studios for sale and you will find way more you think that will just give you the studio because they are losing money!!
Missy,
congratulations to both, your certification and on becoming a new mom. Lot’s of new and exciting times ahead of you.
I would recommend to learn from others in your business and see how they operate their business. You already have two potential connections, find out what they need and see how you can fit in.
Having been pregnant myself, just after I became a personal trainer, seems to put a stop to your carrier but the opposite is true. I started teaching pre/post-natal classes and became certified to teach them. This worked well with my schedule and I also could bring my son to class after he was born.
As for future plans, take it one step at a time and don’t try to take on too many certifications. Stay with one thing for a while, learn from the best and enjoy being part of a wonderful profession.
I have been teaching and training for over 25 years and now I operate a home studio.
Good luck
Heike Yates
www.heylifetraining.com
Consider your life up until now. The things that have brought you the most joy in your pre-fitness life might bring you equal joy as a personal trainer. Plus, going into an area you already know gives you credibility; even though you’re new to training, you’re not new to that activity / population / sport.
For example, have you:
Played a sport
Volunteered for a nursing home
Worked with kids
Danced
Cycled
Run
Had a medical condition or someone in your family with a medical condition that you’re passionate about helping improve the quality of life for?
Whatever it is,k I hope it is joyous for you. There is sometimes internal and external pressure as a new trainer to go into a specific field that your employer needs, whether you like it or not. That might be OK in the first few years of your career to get experience under your belt, but over time, I’ve been the most successful when I’ve headed in the directions of the things that brought me the most joy, because that motivated me to learn more about them, be good about them, be passionate about helping my clients in that arena.
