Certified Personal Trainers: What is your best advice in starting out?
489103
My advice: \n\nGet a reputable certification.\nGet liability insurance.\nChoose what route to go - club trainer, in-home trainer, open a studio, etc.\nChoose a specialty or niche.\nStudy the business / marketing side of the personal training industry.\n\nIf you want more information, check out http://www.fitnessconsultinggr... There are dozens of free articles there about how to be a successful trainer.\n\nGood luck,\n\nPat
74959
I used to be a trainer at a gym awhile back and what I used to tell my clients is that they would feel their improvements long before they would see them. Little things at first like finding it easier to breathe, pants would fit better, maybe they would be sleeping better. It's important before beginning such a program to gather data like weight, maybe a fat pincher test, take a few measurements, and definetly take pictures. Initially, you'll need this data to keep motivated, but within 2 to 4 weeks you should see some results. Sometimes it's good to have others help with this in the early stages.
381932
I suggest you check out and read the following books to get more ideas on how to start your fitness gym business:\n\nGym Biz: Starting and Running Your Own Gym for Profit by Lou Ravelle http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1552100197/powerhomebizguid \n\nSmall Club Start-up : A Personal Trainer's Guide by Ron Fay http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0970692005/powerhomebizguid \n \nThe Business of Fitness: Understanding the Financial Side of Owning a Fitness Business by Thomas Plummer http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1585188530/powerhomebizguid \n\nMaking Money in the Fitness Business by Thomas Plummer http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1585187097/powerhomebizguid \n\nHow To Buy and Manage a Fitness Club: A Guide to Success and Profit by Edward August Braun http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0741411199/powerhomebizguid \n\nHealth Fitness Management: A Comprehensive Resource for Managing and Operating Programs and Facilities by William C. Grantham http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0880115599/powerhomebizguid \n\nStarting a small business takes a lot of courage. But, as they say, courage does not pay the bills. To be successful – to stay in business – you need more than courage. You need a combination of hard work, skill, perseverance, and lots of luck. \n\nSome things you need to consider:\n- "How can I support my family while I build up by business?" \n- "What are my abilities?" \n- "Is there a market for the product or service I have chosen?" \n- "How long will it take this business to reach the financial goal I have?" \n\nYou may want to read the article "How to Start a New Business Successfully" http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol51/launch.htm , which lists six steps to launch a new business successfully:\n\n1. Provide a benefit.\n2. Determine the fit with your market.\n3. Right timing is everything\n4. Be ready to support your business\n5. Develop a blueprint for success\n6. Market, market, market\n\nI recommend that you read the following books:\n\n- What No One Ever Tells You About Starting Your Own Business : Real Life Start-Up Advice from 101 Successful Entrepreneurs \n- Starting From Scratch: How To Start A Business When You Don't Have Money \n- If You're Clueless About Starting Your Own Business and Want to Know More \n- On the Move : How to Succeed and Survive As an Entrepreneur \n- How to Make 1000 Mistakes in Business and Still Succeed
409998
I was into the same thing ...check out acefitness.org\nthey are one of the best to get certified through. hope this helps!
1117359
online personal training\nwww.jifitness.com\ninfo@jifitness.com
201476
Must of the Gyms have Instructors that can set up a working out program suit for your needs, and they should guide you at the beginning of you work out sessions, first timers always get to walk trough out to Know the best machines that will work best for you..ASK and see if they have such programs on your GYM..  GOOD LUCK AND GOOD HEALTH...
249825
everyone knows...  work out and eat healthy, but no one can do that for very long, so i suggest getting a personal trainer to help u stay motivated
631546
I personally think NASM and NSCA are the 2 best though ACSM, NFPT, ISSA and ACE are all solid as well.  My belief is based on the difficulty of the curriculum and testing procedures as much as anything.  Being a successful personal trainer isn't based around which cert. you get, but certain ones have more credibility than others.  If you're considering training as a career, just make sure that your business / marketing education is as strong as your exercise education.  To many trainers focus on getting a dozen certs. and still don't command a respectable fee or know how to get clients.  A balanced approach will serve you best.\n\nGood luck!\n\nPat Rigsby\nwww.fitnessprofitsecrets.com
371234
Knowledge of physical fitness\n-up to date with current research\n-follows established guidelines for safety, etc\n-proper vocabulary (knows that the deltoids are muscles on your shoulders, triceps on the back of your arm, etc, and uses terms to help you know more than you did coming in but doesn't make you feel dumb)\n-if they don't know something, they'll look it up for you instead of making a guess\n\nTeaching skills\n-can communicate clearly and adapt exercises when needed\n-can use people's mistakes to constructively teach about common mistakes and how to fix them\n-teach the group why you're doing exercises, what muscles/senses they help (including balance, agility, etc)\n\nEnthusiasm\n-the instructor should seem excited about what they're doing; who wants to work out with someone who'd rather be somewhere else?\n\nPersonal Reinforcement\n-they get to know clients and involve them in the workout\n\nPersonal Attention\n-be caring\n-help with goalsetting\n-get to know their needs/wants and guide them when possible\n\nLeadership Skills\n-professional (on time, organized, skilled, certified)\n-loud enough for the whole class to know what's happening\n\nPersonal Fitness\n-who wants to workout with someone that doesn't look like they even care about themselves?\n\nCreativity\n-not the same old boring routine; should have variety and be enjoyable and somewhat challenging
197458
1) Define your goal. (Fat reduction, Muscle gain, Strength/Endurance, Performance, Maintenance etc…).\n\n2) Take all of your statistics (Body compositions, age, height, weight, how active are you. Any injuries etc…)\n\n3) Purchase the clothing contusive to training and get a membership at a gym if you do not already have your own equipment. If an athlete you may only need some dumbbells, power bands, for sprinters you may need a mini parachute for resistance (Most NFL RBs and WRs use them)\n\n4) When you being your workout use the Gradual Progressive Overload principle (GPO). The essence of this is to start off light and over the following week slowly increase the weight or resistance when your body can handle it as to avoid injury.\n\n5) Utilize the FITT principle. F= Frequency (# of sessions per week). I = Intensity (Difficulty of exercise). T = Time (Duration of exercise). T = Type: mode of exercise (Weights, machines, running etc…)\n\n6) Establish a proper diet plan for your clients particular goal (Supplements may or may not be necessary).\n\n7) Establish your workout regiments based on the information above then create the schedule and hold your client to it by keeping them motivated.\n\n8) Be sure to supervise him or her in the proper form and technique of each exercise by demonstrating it to them first then providing positive constructive criticism as needed.\n\n9) Most important rule: CAUSE NO DAMAGE TO YOUR CLIENT!\n\nThis should at least give you some ideas, it was breif and i could go on with all kinds of good info but it is your paper.
372029
if you want classes, then go to the ymca... if you are looking for the best weight sets, go to golds, if you want convenience i would choose a 24 hour center... personal trainers are in the phone book and can be taken to any facility... it is a matter of choice
406148
I went to a gym, they were really helpful and not at all snooty.  They devised an excellent programme for me!\n\nI also typed in 10 minute excercises into Google, that came out with some good sites
1148497
I suggest an excellent book called "The Miracle Seven" by John Peterson. It explains a very safe and weightless system for toning and strengthening your muscles that was actually used by Charles Atlas (a popular weightless body builder from the 30's). I know what your thinking "That's weak", hey I thought the same way until I did a full 20min workout. I have never sweat so much in my life. For someone who is overweight and just beginning I truly believe this is a great way to start.
28394
Focus on safety and effectiveness. Having given the PAR-Q is an important first step. After that, measure his/her blood pressure, and resting heart rate. \n\nBesides that, there are probably 20 questions you could ask. First of all, ask about their goal. Then, ask about training history, family history, what type of job they have, what activities they enjoy, how much time they have per week to train with you, questions about their lifestyle, nutrition, etc.\n\nAll of these variables, and perhaps others should go into designing a safe and effective program.\n\nGood luck!
1183722
ACE is the best, most reasonably priced. They are also nationally accredited which is a big deal in fitness certifications. Good luck! \nKathie CFT, SFOA, SSC - through ISSA ~ high priced but worth it ;-)
919428
There already are such agencies around. They provide personal trainers who meet you at your gym, your home or your office but there is room for more such agencies so if you're thinking of setting one up, go for it. The key thing to work on is getting enough trainers and getting a large enough client base.
218714
First come up with a powerful run. Then go to the compainies you would like to sponser you. Tell them who you are and tell them you would like them to check you out in action. A really good way is at compitions. I got sponsered at a compition. It maight take some time. It took me two months to get a sponser. I was sponsered by mt dew, borderline  and a few local places. Enough to pay for gear and travel. It was cool for two years i got to travel and snowboard, that was my job and it was tons of fun.