Is Personal Training Still A Sensible Career Choice?

In a nutshell, Yes. Worth nearly £600 million in annualised revenue personal training in the UK offers a financially lucrative career option. For someone looking to become a Personal Trainer this is good news. After all who wouldn’t fancy a slice of a £600 million pie? In this feature we’ll be taking an honest look at what the sector has to offer providing the essential facts you need to know ahead of embarking on your personal training course.

The Market

The UK personal training market is now an established industry. The uncertainty of entering a relatively unknown profession that existed 20 plus years ago has all but vanished. Today you can expect to join a world-class industry where qualified Fitness Professionals make a meaningful and lasting contribution to improving client health, fitness and well-being. It also follows that as with any established industry you won’t be the only personal trainer out there. But fear not. With annualised growth close to 3%, 1 in 4 of the UK population considered obese and only 1 in 3 exercising for half an hour a week there are plenty of potential clients to go round and the future looks buoyant for wannabe personal trainers.

Where to Start

Historically the starting point for most newly qualified personal trainers would be a gym or leisure centre environment. Whilst these roles are still in high demand the sector has seen some fragmentation over the past 5 years and almost 50% of today’s personal trainers take a freelance or self-employed route. This is positive news, demonstrating the improved earnings potential of this employment choice together with the freedom offered by being your own boss. Many gyms also employ freelance trainers with some charging a commission or rental, offering a great option for those starting out with a steady stream of potential new clients close at hand.

Widening Competition

New fitness alternatives such as Zumba and Clubbercise have created new exercise to music choices for those seeking to lose weight and improve fitness. Whilst on the surface you may think this widening of the market is a challenge for personal trainers, we see it as quite the opposite. We work with and encourage our students during the business skills element of our personal training courses to plan out a range of services they can offer clients. For example, circuit training, running clubs, summer fitness plan, weight loss one to one’s, HIIT, boot camps, strength and conditioning – the list is endless. Widening your personal trainer services to cater for your local market and demand is a great way to maximise appeal and win market share in your given locality.

Is Personal Training a Good Career in the UK?

If you’re thinking it’s all about being a personal trainer in London think again! By 2020 it’s predicted the number working UK wide in sport and culture will have risen to 611,000. Initiatives tackling obesity and sedentary lifestyle epidemics are making minimal impact and this UK wide phenomenon will, more than ever, require the expertise of qualified specialist personal trainers to help individuals turn things around. Equipped with this knowledge, when choosing your level 3 personal trainer course make sure nutrition features on the course agenda. Naturally we’d love you to choose to qualify with us where you can choose between the Certificate or Diploma level, but whichever route you choose being able to support weight loss by helping your clients achieve positive nutritional habits and effective exercise techniques is an essential post-qualification skill. This will enable you to offer services that assist with the growing needs of our present and future population across all age ranges and localities.

Personal Training as a Career

If you’d like to know more about whether personal training is the right career step for you our customer service team and personal training tutors are here to help point you in the right direction.

They’ll be keen to get to know you and understand your current interests, work experience and aspirations so that they can advise you correctly on your career path and help with finding the right personal trainer course for you.

Accredited Fitness Certifications – How can I find out more?

If you’d like to know more about the personal trainer requirements that matter, please get in touch and we’ll be delighted to help.

The Academy of Fitness Professionals provide the gold standard in accredited personal training courses and nutrition courses with state of the art training fully endorsed by REPs, Skills Active and the NCFE. Their specialist knowledge features in the UK health and fitness media including the Mirror, BBC2 and Women’s Running. This is the ultimate learning destination for those serious about their fitness industry education and long term career as a Personal Trainer.