Personal trainer

Personal trainers work with people who want to improve their health and fitness. They find out what each client is aiming for and plan different activities to achieve this. As well as exercise, their plan often takes into account general health, lifestyle and nutrition.

Work activities

A personal trainer helps people (known as clients) get fitter and healthier by running training sessions for them. People might want to get fit for various reasons:

An illness or injury, such as diabetes or a bad back.
Getting ready to run a marathon or go on a skiing holiday.
Trying to get fit after a sports injury.

Some personal trainers work at a gym or leisure centre, others visit clients in their home or where they work. When they first meet a client, they talk to them about they want they want to get out of the training sessions. They find out about:

The client’s medical background.
Their diet.
What exercise they already do.

Using this information, they write a plan that shows the client what activities they need to do to get fitter. A plan is written specifically for each client with activities they will enjoy and that are the right level of difficulty for them. The plan may cover days, weeks or months. The training sessions usually last about an hour – they start with a warmup and then the trainer gets the client to do exercises designed to improve their:

Strength – for example using weights in the gym.
Cardiovascular fitness – for example running.
Flexibility – for example Pilates or yoga.

The trainer writes some notes after each session to keep a record of what the client has achieved. They might change the plan making it easier or harder depending on the client’s progress. A personal trainer may also spend time on other administrative tasks such as advertising their services or keeping track of clients’ payments.

Personal qualities and skills

As a personal trainer, you need to be:

Good at explaining things clearly.
Able to encourage and motivate different sorts of people.
Good at problem solving and coming up with new ideas.
Flexible, for example, if a training plan isn’t working out.
Physically fit.

You’d probably be self-employed, so you’d also need the skills to run your own business.

Pay and opportunities

Personal trainer can expect to earn between £14,000 and £22,000 per year. Working hours need to fit in with clients, so most personal trainers work in the evenings and at weekends as well as in the daytime. However personal trainers tend to work between 32 and 34 hours per week.

Even though it might seem expensive for an individual client to employ a personal trainer, work in exercise/fitness is generally a growing area.

Most personal trainers are self-employed and run their own business. Trainers find clients themselves (by advertising in the paper, for example) and work with them at home, or hire a hall or studio to run sessions in. Alternatively, they might be based in a health club, gym, spa, holiday resort or cruise ship who help them find clients to work with.

Where are vacancies advertised?

You can find vacancies advertised:
In local newspapers and on their websites.
On job boards such as leisurejobs.com
On employers’ websites.
On the Government’s Find a Job service.

Entry routes and training

You’d normally start by getting experience in the fitness industry as a coach, fitness instructor or gym trainer, for example. You’d then need to get a relevant personal training qualification.

You can join the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA) Exercise and Fitness Directory and will also need to have a first aid certificate. You’d then become self-employed and either advertise for clients yourself, or find them by being based in a gym, fitness centre or similar setting.

A level 3 (advanced) apprenticeships in the role of personal trainer is also great place to start.

Attending workshops and short courses can help keep your skills up to date. Learning new techniques and gaining relevant qualifications can widen your potential client base. Experienced personal trainers can move on to a level 4 instructor qualification.

Qualifications

Entry requirements for personal trainer courses vary. For some you need a relevant qualification, such as gym or fitness instruction. For others you just require experience of using a gym. You might also want to get qualifications specific to particular sports or fitness activities.

Some personal trainers have a higher qualification, such as a relevant HND, foundation degree or degree.

If you wish to enter this career through an intermediate apprenticeship, you will need GCSEs in English and maths, although you may be able to complete these alongside your programme.

Adult opportunities

Age limits: It is illegal for any organisation to set age limits for entry to employment, education or training, unless they can show there is a real need to have these limits.

Personal trainers usually have a background in exercise and fitness activity.

Some instructor qualifications at local colleges can be taken on a flexible, part-time (day or evening) basis. The websites of both the CIMSPA Exercise and Fitness Directory, and the National Register of Personal Trainers have course information and lists of training providers. Some colleges relax entrance requirements for applicants with relevant experience in sport and recreation.

A range of colleges and universities offer courses and degrees in Sport and Exercise Science including at postgraduate level. Always check a specialist source, for example Ucas.com for up-to-date information about courses and entry requirements. You can check directly with an institution to ensure that the course content suits your interests and requirements.

Related careers

Fitness instructor
Outdoor pursuits instructor
Sports and leisure centre assistant
Sports coach
Sports scientist
Yoga teacher