A career as a personal trainer can be a rewarding and healthy way to make a living that can allow you to work closely with people, stay on the cutting-edge of fitness techniques and nutrition and also allow you to stay in fabulous shape. It truly is one of the best jobs that combines a healthy lifestyle with an active career. Before we get into the specifics of what a personal trainer can earn in terms of salary, let’s take a look at what they do.
Generally speaking, personal trainers design customized, one-on-one programs to help their clients in exercising, training and nutrition. As a personal trainer you’ll work closely with your client to monitor their fitness progress and help guide them through their exercise routines to help them hit their fitness and health goals. Working as a personal trainer can include creating custom workouts, training programs, and nutrition plans.
Many personal trainers work at fitness centers but can also be found working at a wide range of other facilities such as seniors homes, rehabilitation centers, clubs, and even corporations and businesses. They can also work as freelance personal trainers from their homes. Personal trainers not only help their clients perform their exercises and training properly but they are often great motivators. If you are interested in becoming a personal trainer it will be key to develop your own training style and your own motivation style.
Personal Trainer Salary
The average personal trainer salary the United States is $52,869 a year. Not surprisingly, there are a variety of factors that will influence a personal trainer’s wage. Depending on where specifically you work out of, years of experience, and geographic location your salary will fluctuate accordingly.
Education and Certification Needed to Become a Personal Trainer
The minimum educational requirements become a personal trainer are relatively small. Personal trainers need to have their CPR training certificate, high school diploma, be at least 18 years old and have completed a personal trainer course . (These can be taken online)
There are a wide range of personal trainer certifications available, with an equally wide range of credibility. Look for certifications online that are approved by the National Commission of Certifying Agencies (NCAA). In order to gain certification you’ll generally be required to take a test to demonstrate your knowledge.
If you are interested, you can also join the Association of Professional Personal Trainers. This Association offers members a variety of benefits including low cost health insurance, continuing education classes, and good networking opportunities. Joining an association is a great way to get good career advice and guidance.
Job Growth Outlook for Personal Trainers
Growth in personal training is booming. Jobs for personal trainers are expected to increase at a rate of 29% between the years 2008 and 2018. This is much faster than the average for all other jobs in the US and should give any prospective personal trainer some good news.
The fact that baby boomers, a massive portion of the population, is becoming older yet are concerned with staying healthy and physically fit will be a huge boon to the personal training industry. Personal trainers will see massive growth in both fitness centers and freelance individual “from home” training.
On top of the aging boomer baby boomer factor, the increasing awareness of obesity in the United States is expected to give an additional boost to the personal training industry. Parents are becoming more and more aware of childhood obesity as well, and will resort more and more to hiring personal trainers to keep their children in shape and healthy.
If you’re interested in becoming a personal trainer be sure you do some further research online into fulfilling a personal trainer certificate in getting your personal trainer training completed. Good luck!