Should I take a personal training course?
You see the last hill you’re going to run on this track. The sun’s starting to set over the horizon, and it’s beautiful… but you really don’t have the time to appreciate it because your lungs are on fire and you can barely keep it together.
You finally reach the top of the hill. You stop. You always question why you do that to yourself, but as you gasp for air, you realise that the moment after it all… that’s what you do it for. It’s the feeling of internal achievement, of conquering discomfort, that comes from the pursuit of movement and exercise.
Or perhaps it’s that feeling of the last rep on the squat, the deadlift or the curl. It’s pushing past that ‘pain’ threshold that you find satisfying. Of course, the muscles are nice too, but really, it’s the feeling of knowing that you’ve challenged yourself – and won.
After these moments of satisfaction – these small instances of internal victory… you might ask yourself a common question.
Should I take a personal training course?
No really. Should I take a personal training course?
The answer is, and always will be – it depends. For those who just want to learn, yes! Why not? If it’s not about a career change, then more knowledge is always good.
But if the mission is to have a career, then that is a different story. Because as much as we all might enjoy training, personal training is a very different story.
Personal training as a career is challenging. The drop out rates of personal trainers are high. Around 50% of personal trainers drop out in their first year. There are numerous reasons why trainers drop out, some are unavoidable. But for the most part, it usually comes down to a mismatch of expectations.
Personal training is not 9-5 job. It’s a 5:30-9, 12-2, 4-8pm job. Like the hospitality industry, personal training is all based around the client. You need to be free… when they are free. How else will you train them? There are now options for online of course, but that’s a different offering and presents its’ own challenges.
This means… you’re up at 4:30am. Some days you won’t leave the gym till about 8pm. These are long days. And it’s not for everyone.
Next, you’ve got the business side. How are you going to find your clients? How are you going to generate leads, and convert them into sales, and then retain them?
What about the service itself? Are you ready to handle the training and stressors of all your clients? Look, you’ll have some great clients who are on top of their game. These ones are rare. For the most part, your clients are struggling.
That’s why they become your clients. And rarely are they just struggling from something physical. You might have to play trainer, psychologist, counsellor, and friend… all in one day. Make no mistake, this is an emotional burden.
This is a lot to handle for just one person. On top of that, most trainers start off with immediate rental fees that increase their financial pressure. Most trainers start off slow, it’s the nature of the game. When you combine the psychological stress of long hours, low income and rental fees, it leaves you in a predominantly negative state of mind.
Of course, I’m only painting one side of the fence.
Personal training also has many, many positive sides.
You DO get to set your own hours (closely related to the above, of course).
You DO have an amazing sense of satisfaction seeing your clients improve.
You DO have a greater appreciation for the human body.
You CAN make a decent income.
You WILL make an impact on the individual you help, and they will go on to become healthier members of society.
So… should you go take a personal training course?
