This little training motivation comes at the perfect time, for me and for you, not only is it ‘that time of year’ for weightloss and motivation it’s also smack bang in the middle of apprenticeships and training scheme signups! I’ve always dabbled in the idea of getting my PT qualification but I’d been in college for 4 years so putting myself through that just isn’t on the cards for me at the moment.
Getting your training quals on is not only motivational for your progress as a career focused person, it’s also a great way to keep motivated in your own health. Whether you’re positive and make the right choices, sometimes being more invested in your health is the only way to keep focused on it.
Luke, From OriGym explains his reasons why becoming a personal trainer could be a great move for you this year.
Now 2017 is well under way, hopefully, you have started to implement some of your New Years resolutions to make this year as productive as possible. January in fact is the time of the year where new career goals and ambitions are realised more than any other month of the year according to a survey by gov.uk, where 16% of the population put a new career as their main goal each year and it’s the 4th most common New Years resolution.
The fitness sector is no different, with more people enrolling onto a personal trainer course than any other time of the year, when everyone wants that summer body in just 2 weeks. If you are a dedicated gym goer you normally dread this time of the year as all the seasonal trainers, recreational gym goers and first-time novices pack your local gym out, taking up the equipment. If you do decide to become a fitness professional you might have a slight change of attitude towards January joiners, as these individuals could become your clients and hopefully become a regular gym attendees and your new business. This leads me onto…
Why you should become a personal trainer.
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Genuine Job Satisfaction
Anyone looking for a career change is doing so for 2 reasons. They’re either unhappy with the work or the pay. Personal training is one of the most rewarding careers that you can delve into. You can genuinely change people’s lives from the point where they are on the brink of tears about their weight or have been doctor referred and need to make drastic changes to their lifestyle for their long-term health sustainability. There is no better feeling when you know you have made a real difference to someone’s wellbeing and you think about where that client started to where they are now.
Job satisfaction also derives from doing something you truly care about and personal training allows you to wake up every day and actually look forward to going to work. It is not uncommon to hear a personal trainer say “its work without feeling like it”, plus wearing trackies every day is not too shabby either.
Which is why I (Amy) blog about health, I love reading about people’s positive changes and knowing I had an influence in that.
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Become Your Own Boss & Flexible Hours
If you hate having that feeling of having to report to somebody else and having that dreaded boss breathing down your neck, you might be pleased to know that 79% of personal trainers are freelance in the UK according to the exercise register.
The beauty of the fitness sector is that it is what you want to make of it. You can work as much or as little as you desire, depending on what your own individual goals, business aspirations and family life is like. The hours are different from the majority of 9-5 mundane office jobs. You will find most clients prefer mornings or evenings to train with you and ultimately it is all your choice if you want to pack your schedule out or fancy going on holiday for a week, the only person you answer to is yourself.
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Practically Uncapped Personal Trainer Salary (UK)
Becoming a personal trainer has a few key benefits in the sense that when it is done right, the earning potential can be extremely appealing, so not just do you get to talk about fitness everyday but you get paid well for it too.
Personal training salaries and hourly rates do heavily fluctuate from individual to individual with hourly rates ranging from £10 per hour, all the way through to several hundred per hour and in rare instances even more. This is normally due to several key factors including amount of experience, level of fitness qualifications, how busy their timetable is, quality of service and most importantly reputation.
Some personal trainers earn literally tens of thousands per month, which makes the personal trainer salary wage quite wide, but the average is around £25 per hour. Similarly to the flexible hours aspect, you reap what you sew, the harder and smarter you work, the more you earn, it is that simple!
Becoming a personal trainer and working for a gym is a little easier to predict, as basic personal trainer salary is normally within a very tight parameter, with the personal training average salary being £19,483 per year according to payscale.com.
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Endless Opportunities
When the majority of people are thinking about what they can do with their personal training certification they normally envisage working in a gym and you might be thinking the same?
The reality is completely different, there are literally tons of options that you can go down and quite often you can mix and match too. The more further development courses and strings to your bow you add, like any other industry, the more employable and avenues are open to you. Take a look at this mini list of job roles, careers and additional revenue streams that you may not have known existed or thought about:
- Physical Trainer with the NHS
- Personal trainer for a sports team (football and rugby clubs)
- Work with special populations like the elderly or children
- Become a fitness tutor with an education provider
- Become a freelance class instructor
- Become a sport therapist or sports masseur
- Become a cancer rehab or sports rehab specialist
- Start Your own Gym / Studio
- Become a fitness writer or blogger
- Affiliate with nutrition or gym equipment companies
- Become a gym manager
….Plus many, many more…..Just think about every fitness product you have ever purchased, utilised or seen, it was most likely started by a personal trainer. The only thing that will limit your earning potential is your own imagination.
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You will get to be fit and healthy too
Living a healthy lifestyle is an important aspect to most of us and being able to be working in a fitness environment everyday allows you to get quick and easy access to staying in tip-top shape yourself. In fact, for personal trainers working within a gym it is normally in your contract to teach classes on shift, where you will be expected to lead by example and get fully involved with the class that you are teaching. You won’t need to try and squeeze those late sessions in after work or try and get to the gym on your weekends to stick to your programme, you will be literally getting paid for to exercise instead.
Not only that, you’ll learn how to do the exercises properly to get the best benefit to your body!
With the fitness sector “booming” according to the Telegraph, due to increased exposure, awareness and government initiatives to combat the UK’s obesity crisis, there has never been a better time to get involved. Becoming a fully-fledged personal trainer is perhaps easier than you think and once you have completed both the level 2 gym instructor and level 3 personal trainer certification you are good to go to start your very own fitness business.
Luke Hughes Co-Founder Origym
Luke is a certified personal trainer and is co-founder of fitness education company Origym. He moved from Birmingham to Liverpool, where he now resides, in pursuit of his personal fitness ambitions to start his own fitness education company. Luke has a real passion for all things sport and fitness, but loves cycling more than anything and can often be found on the hills of the Lake District in his spare time. You can find him on facebook too!
Whilst you may not leap at the idea, at least think about it. What it could do for you, whether it means learning how to progress your own health or even using a qualification as a career. There are so many benefits to learning how to train yourself and others.
