The last couple of years have witnessed a boom in the fitness, wellness and health industries. Markers such as an increased awareness, a rise in lifestyle diseases, growing disposable income, the need for stress management, exposure to the Western trends in fitness and sedentary occupations have pushed the fitness market in India like never before! Major cities in India have seen an upsurge such that the estimated value of India’s fitness market was around 95,000 crores INR in 2017. This exponential growth in the health industry has led to the birth of many opportunities in the fields of training and nutrition. One such role is that of a Personal Trainer.
A Personal Trainer in India makes substantial earnings with the right qualification and guidance.
The scenario is the same across boundaries for there has been a surge in the earnings of registered and qualified personal trainers around the world.
In Dubai, for instance, a personal trainer makes anywhere between 150AED and 350AED per session, whereas in Australia a personal trainer earns AU$21.53 to AU$61.28 per hour.
The info-graphic below is a representation of the average earnings of personal trainer globally:
What do Personal Trainers do?
Well, that’s the first question that you should know about! Your role!
Personal Trainers are required to create programs for clients based on their levels of fitness and skills, supervise and instruct them as to how to perform exercises and routines, and prevent them from injury while working out.
Often, people who wish to get into fitness, do not know where to start. Sometimes they need supervision along with motivation, accountability, and discipline. Those who are already active might need to break past a plateau or might be on the lookout for a challenge. Likewise, someone might need a trainer to help them train for a sport or an event.
All these situations call for a personal trainer. The personal trainer takes charge of one-on-one clients. Given their diversity of these clients, it is clear that the role of the personal trainer is one of significant importance and responsibility.
Each client is different, for instance, their fitness goals could vary from losing weight, building muscle, increasing functional strength or improving sleep. Likewise, their physical constitution, stamina, health, and age would vary. It is the role of the personal trainer, in such a scenario, to create an accurate program for the client and guide them through it. Thus, while often people tout personal training as a career choice for a fitness enthusiast, they overlook the fact that a great degree of both skill and qualification are necessary for one to be a good personal trainer.
Within personal training, there are a plethora of specializations and categories- conditional training, strength training, weight training, mobility, stability, posture, etc to name a few. Specializations such as pilates, cross-functional training, martial arts, aqua fitness, TRX Suspension, body combat, aerobics, kickboxing, and HIIT are examples of popular techniques that have picked up in the last few months.
A personal trainer, not only needs an overview of these categories and specializations but often needs an in-depth understanding of an area or two in order to devise and execute plans and programs that help their clients achieve their fitness goals.
Within personal training, there are different business models and protocols. These include :
# Group Training – wherein a trainer trains a group of clients at once based on their need and ability.
# Semi-private Training – something in between private and group training this is a meeting point for clients who want to save their money, yet like individual attention.
# Private Training – for clients who want undivided attention and supervision, whereby trainers help by creating routines for them and delivering their exact goals.
Who can be a Personal Trainer?
Read on to check if you’ve got your credentials right!
While a passion for fitness could be a starting point for someone who wants to be a Personal Trainer, pursuing fitness professionally calls for a distinct set of skills and qualifications – these include motivation, communication, and customer service skills, a close understanding of various personal training business models and an adequate knowledge of the fitness industry. These skills and qualifications take dedication and sincere commitment. Thus, anyone with strong motivation and the necessary dedication can become a personal trainer.
There is often a preconception that the personal training industry is male-dominated or that this is a career more suited to men. This conception does not hold true anymore. By simply scrolling through social media posts you would be able to do away with this assumption quite easily. If you are a woman who wants to choose personal training as a career, nothing should stop you from choosing it.
Break those antique gender barriers with this career option!
Do Personal Trainers Need Certification?
A big yes!
Until a few years ago, the qualification and certification of personal trainers was not a mandatory prerequisite to their employment, but as the importance placed on fitness began to grow, so did the need for qualified and certified personal trainers. Right from gyms to one-on-one clients, clients have become particular about their choice of a personal trainer as they have come to recognize the value in it.
If you intend to pursue personal training as a career, certification is the foundation of your personal training career. The right course and certification will prepare you with various key skills and requirements for the profession – designing sessions, understanding the anatomy and nutrition, client management, self-promotion, business development and keeping up with the latest fitness trends. Along with an in-depth knowledge of weight training, nutrition, injury prevention, and rehabilitation, certification also gives you the essential credibility that would serve as a springboard for building trust with both clients and health organizations.
Recently REPS India was launched to monitor and recognize the qualifications and expertise of instructors. With the arrival of REPS, there has been a significant emphasis on supervising the standards of the fitness industry and ensuring that exercise professionals are suitably qualified to deliver safe and effective workouts.
REPS mission is to work with the entire fitness industry to ensure that all exercise professionals are suitably knowledgeable and qualified to deliver safe and effective instruction, and to promote health and well-being in the society.
Get to Know the Certifications Available!
Once you have made up your mind about choosing a career is personal training, the next step is research and networking.
A thorough amount of research is necessary to determine which area of training interests you most. You should take a good look at the different personal training roles available and settle in on the one that suits you.
It is also important to meet with other personal trainers and people from the fitness industry to understand how the business works and what the necessary skills are to complement your own strong points. Networks will also help you find out about job opportunities in other gyms, spas, and health-centers.
The courses will help you gain practical insight into the marketplace first-hand and the connections you make will come in handy when you begin to look for work.
# Certified Personal Trainer (CPT)
The CPT course is a fundamental addition to your profile if you wish to pursue Personal Training as a career. It provides the foundational basis for understanding the many factors involved in personal training. These include an in-depth study of general physical preparedness, body composition, anatomy, kinesiology, physiology; sequencing and planning client-specific exercises, selection criteria of exercise, workload & intensity, cardio regulations, fitness testing, scheduling; aspects related to basic nutrition, introduction to supplementation; and soft-skills such as personality development & interview skills.
All these factors are important for anyone looking to gain a foothold as a personal trainer. The CPT course (K11 Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) Course) can give you a holistic understanding of your role as a trainer and the many aspects of your career. Successful completion of the course grants you the license to professionally personal train in India, the United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.
# CPT for Special Populations (CPT-SP)
This course is for you if you wish to specialize in training clients with issues or injuries. Taking up this program would enable you to carve out a niche role for yourself. It involves a detailed study of the human body and its various joints, tissues and complex systems. Specialized certification will help you gain knowledge of various musculoskeletal and metabolic disorders, as well as contra-indications vis-a-vis compromised systems or conditions. It could be taken up following the CPT course.
This certification would open up the client base who are consequently willing to spend more money in exchange for this service leading to the availability of niche opportunities that aren’t open to regular personal trainers.
# Certified Sports Nutritionist (CSN)
Since training and nutrition go hand in hand, CSN is an understanding of nutrition is an indispensable advantage to the profile of any personal Trainer. Nutritionists, gym instructors, and group trainers would be able to complement their client’s workout programs with the appropriate nutrition plans, whether they are active exercising individuals or competitive athletes.
CSN provides a complete understanding of macronutrient and micronutrient ratios, digestion, and metabolism and the role of nutrition in body composition and performance. This course would enable trainers to supplement their exercise program with the appropriate eating plan to help their clients achieve specific goals like muscle building, weight loss or fat loss.
CSN certification is an essential requirement for modern day trainers since most people who are into fitness pay great attention to their nutrition. It would equip one to perform the roles of both a nutritionist and a personal trainer making their work more effective and providing a complete and well-rounded program to their clients.
The Way Ahead
While the career of a personal trainer is promising for anyone who has an interest in fitness, it is imperative that you possess a great degree of commitment and discipline, along with the right knowledge and certification, for in the presence of all these factors your career could grow by leaps and bounds!
All the best for a successful career!
