If you’re asking yourself something along the lines of ‘should I become a personal trainer?’, then this is the article for you.
We’re about to examine the benefits of becoming a personal trainer, what you will get out of the role, and how to get qualified, and we’ve also discussed some common myths that you might have heard about the fitness industry.
- Is Becoming a Personal Trainer a Good Career Choice?
In order to answer ‘is being a personal trainer a good career choice?’, we did some research into what the world of business and employment had to say about what makes a ‘good’ job.
We found that based on the traits and characteristics of a role that are deemed desirable by job seekers, becoming a personal trainer is both a rewarding and a satisfying career.
We searched a range of business and employment blogs, such as Fast Company, and found the following criteria for.
The traits of a desirable job include:
- Emotionally rewarding
- Benefits other people
- Flexible hours
- Opportunities for professional development
- Something that makes you feel valued
- Being able to share knowledge & expertise
- Meeting and working with new people
- Sufficient compensation (or salary!)
- Considering the fact that a career in personal training meets all of the above criteria (and has further benefits that we will discuss very soon!), it’s no surprise that Personal Training was featured in this list of ‘Most Rewarding Jobs Where You Can Really Make a Difference’.
What Does A Personal Trainer Do?
Seeing as you’re here looking for answers to ‘why become a personal trainer’, it’s safe to assume that you’re at least thinking about getting qualified as a PT.
Regardless of how well this career ranks in lists of the most rewarding careers, you can’t truly know whether this is the right job for you without knowing what to expect from the role in terms of daily responsibilities.
- So, what does a personal trainer do?
You’re probably already aware that the main duty of a personal trainer is to run 1-1 personal training sessions. Many of the other roles and responsibilities of a PT include tasks that facilitate the running of 1-1 sessions such as conducting fitness assessments, writing training plans, and checking in on clients.
Outside of that, there is a whole range of tasks that make up the personal trainer job description.
- 12 Benefits of Becoming A Personal Trainer
If you’re still wondering ‘is it worth becoming a personal trainer?’, you won’t be for long!
Just below, we’ve listed 12 benefits of this career path so that you can see why you should pursue a career as a personal trainer.
#1 Emotionally Rewarding
Anybody with experience working as a personal trainer will tell you that nothing beats the feeling of helping others hit their fitness goals and the emotional reward that comes with that.
You can take a client who is on the verge of tears and physically shaking at the thought of stepping foot in the gym, and help them to become a confident, self-assured individual.
#2 Flexible Timetable
If you are on the fence about whether you should quit your job to become a personal trainer, you might want to consider the hours that you will be working.
You’ll probably be pleased to know that as a personal trainer, you have a lot of control over your schedule, especially if you decide to go freelance or start your own business!
If you’re an early bird, you can schedule your clients for first thing in the morning, leaving you plenty of time to go about your day after work. Never want to work another evening or weekend in your life? That’s very much possible as a freelance PT!
#3 A Career You Care About
We all dream of a job where we actually look forward to getting up and going to work each day. As the saying goes, if you find a job you enjoy, you’ll never have to work a day in your life!
So, if you’re passionate about fitness, what better way to ensure full job satisfaction than by pursuing a career in the fitness industry?
Here’s a quote from Lifehack about why you should pursue a career that you truly care about:
“When you work at a job you’re passionate about, you’ll be able to focus more and get things done on time because those tasks don’t feel like such a burden. When you’re simply working for money, motivation is more difficult to find, which may lead to longer hours in order to get things done.”
When you think about it if you can do something that you love every day, and get paid to do so, why are you even questioning ‘should I become a personal trainer?’, surely the answer should be a huge yes!
#4 There is Demand for Personal Trainers
The fitness industry is now estimated to be worth £5 Billion in the UK alone, a figure that has increased by 20% over the last 5 years.
There are more gyms, private studios, public awareness and initiatives than ever before, which is brilliant for individuals who work (or those who are aspiring to work) in the fitness industry.
If you’re asking yourself, ‘should I quit my job and become a personal trainer?’, you may want to start writing that resignation letter as it has never been a better time to pursue a career in personal training.
The volume of establishments looking to hire qualified personal trainers is far outweighed by the number of trainers actually qualified in the UK.
Not to mention, the demand for online personal training services has rocketed since the start of 2020, a trend that is set to continue for the foreseeable future.
#5 Wear What You Like
If you’re not yet convinced that you should become a personal trainer, just think how nice it would be to whack on your trackies and trainers in the morning instead of pulling on a shirt, tie, and smart shoes every day.
No more sitting in a stuffy office wearing a suit, as long as you are clean and well presented, you can spend those hot summer days in shorts. Who knows, wearing shorts to work might even inspire you to start an outdoor fitness boot camp business!
#6 A Challenging & Diverse Role
Another benefit of working in the fitness industry is that personal training clients come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, each with varying fitness goals.
Once you complete a Level 3 Personal Training course you will be able to work with clients who want to achieve fat loss, tone up, gain strength, and improve flexibility, as well as clients who require sport-specific training, or have injuries that need catering to.
This adds an element of challenge to the role and provides a variety to tasks such as programme writing and running training sessions, which ultimately diversifies your day to day routine.
Working with such a range of clients will keep you on your toes and requires you to continuously learn and educate yourself on a vast array of fitness topics, especially as the industry continues to evolve with new training methods and enhanced science.
#7 Keep Yourself Healthy
Another great reason to become a personal trainer is that it is an active job that allows you to keep fit and healthy.
Whether you’re taking 1-2-1 PT sessions, running a group class, or carrying out gym induction, personal trainers spend a lot of time on their feet, burning calories, and getting those steps in!
Pursuing a career in the fitness industry makes it much easier to keep fit. Since you spend so long in the gym, there is no excuse for missing your own session! It’s super easy to squeeze in a quick workout before or after work, or during breaks between clients.
#8 Share Your Knowledge
As mentioned in our list of desirable job traits, the ability to share knowledge is something that is highly valued by individuals searching for their dream job.
Fortunately, this is something that is very much possible if you pursue a career in personal training.
There are thousands of people all across the UK that need the help, expertise, support and guidance of a PT in order to help them to achieve their fitness and nutrition goals. Just think about how rewarding it would feel to be the person that others are coming to for knowledge and expertise.
Sharing your knowledge and expertise, and seeing that convert into action through your client’s programmes, is something that is guaranteed to give you great pride in what you’re doing for a living.
#9 Meet New People
Still not sure why you should be a personal trainer? As a PT, you get to meet new and interesting individuals pretty much every day. Whether that be clients, gym members, or other fitness professionals – working as a PT is arguably one of the most social jobs that you can do.
If you’re a social individual with a bubbly personality then this is an ideal career path for you as you will spend huge amounts of time getting to know people, chatting to them, and obviously, training them.
That’s why social skills, such as the ability to build rapport, being confident in social situations, and coming across as an approachable individual are all essential skills of a good personal trainer.
#10 Unlimited Earning Potential
Is it worth becoming a personal trainer in the UK? Just look into a personal trainer’s potential salary and the figures speak for themselves!
Whilst the average personal training salary in the UK is £31,461 per year, there is no end to the upper limit. Some extremely successful personal trainers who have been in the exact same position that you are in now, have gone on to open their own gyms, personal training studios or online personal training business.
#11 Work With Like-Minded Individuals
Another great reason to become a personal trainer is that you get to work with loads of brilliant, like-minded people.
As well to meeting new gym members and clients, PTs get to work with other fitness professionals and even those not in personal training roles tend to have a big interest in health and fitness.
We all spend huge amounts of time at work, so who you work with and the working environment is incredibly important. When working as a personal trainer you can interact with people that share the same passion for fitness as you on a daily basis and build lasting friendships that will stand the test of time.
#12 Getting Qualified is Affordable
One further benefit of becoming a PT is that getting started with this career is far more affordable and much easier now than it used to be.
Nowadays, there are more gyms than ever before, more focus from the government on health and wellbeing, and the cost of personal training courses has reduced massively.
- Before You Go!
We hope that this article has helped you to get a better idea of whether becoming a PT is the right career for you.
Outside of the reasons listed above, don’t forget that your opinion is the one that counts the most, so be sure to ask yourself, why do you want to be a personal trainer?
If you’re feeling excited about kick-starting this exciting new career, be sure to check out our blog page for more ideas on personal training.
