Personal Trainers work in a non-regulated market. In theory this means that anyone can call themselves a personal trainer. But before you decide to set up tomorrow there’s a few things you need to know about why gaining a credible personal trainer qualification is vital to your future success.
1 – Experts not cowboys
Personal training is a craft. It brings together great exercise techniques and programme design with unique coaching skills. When this is combined you have an individual who’s a fantastic mentor to their clients, delivers great results and supports their clients holistic health in many different ways.
Being a gym enthusiast, having great knowledge of nutrition and leading a healthy lifestyle are all great start points into a personal training course. But they don’t replace the need to dedicate time to your learning so that you acquire all the essential skills (and much more!) to practice safely and with confidence.
Just like we’re all familiar with the concept of the cowboy builder, there are cowboy personal trainers out there. Little do their unsuspecting clients know that they are potentially subjecting their bodies to great risk and longer term damage from incorrectly prescribed methods and techniques, that in a nutshell will cause more harm than good.
2 – Knowledge is everything
We’re always thrilled when our students reach the stage in their study when they join us for the practical part of their personal trainer course in London. By this point they’ve devoted time and effort to the theory part of their course and this always shines through with abundance when they get to roll their sleeves up and get practical.
What surprises many of our students is how much they find themselves drawing on this theory when they work hands on. Demonstrating to clients that you understand their blood pressure issue, which muscles to build up to strengthen their back, or simply that you can hold a conversation when they explain test results or physiotherapist feedback, is all tantamount to the fact that you’ve spent time learning and acquiring relevant and necessary knowledge.
3 – Reputation is king
The biggest asset you have to growing your personal training business is you. Whilst websites and social media campaigns can attract more leads, at the end of the day it’s you and your reputation that will either make you or break you as a successful personal trainer.
Most personal trainers decide to work within a given locality and typically the clients you work with will know others in that same locality. Do a great job and they will tell others and new leads and clients will follow. Do a bad job and cut corners and the reverse will happen!
4 – The independent register
Despite personal training being a non-regulated market, REPs have established a self-regulated independent register that is serious business. To join REPs and be able to demonstrate that you’re a highly skilled personal trainer (and not a cowboy), you’ll need to have studied with a REPs endorsed training provider, such as us here at the Academy of Fitness Professionals. If you’re keen to find out more, get in touch and we’ll be on hand to help.
5 – Your safety net
Becoming a personal trainer involves working with lots of different people, in a variety of shapes and sizes and at various fitness levels. Whilst we hope it never happens it’s vital you consider what your safety net looks like if things go wrong?
You’ll need a reputable level 3 personal trainer qualification in order to go on and arrange insurance post course and are ready to get started.
This serves a number of purposes:-
It protects you in the event of an injury claim as you will have public liability cover in place
It enables you to practice ethically as your clients will know you’re insured
6 – Credible employment
Once qualified you can set up and run your business, whether this is through a gym or freelance, knowing that you have the necessary qualifications and expertise to establish yourself with credibility and confidence. By getting qualified in the right way, devoting time to your learning and acquiring all the need to know skills, you can look forward to an exciting and fruitful personal trainer career for many years to come.
T – 0845 270 1990
E – info@aofp.co.uk
W – www.academyoffitnessprofessionals.com
