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Chapter Objectives:
- Talk about client expectations of a personal trainer.
- Determine potential career starting points and career paths.
- Find out the options you have for continuing education and career development.
- Learn the expectations of a career as a personal trainer.
Client Expectations of a Personal Trainer
Know the Goal
The client will employ the trainer once they have decided to start their fitness journey, and the trainer is the expert that will guide them to their vision of success.
All clients typically set goals when hiring a trainer, and many people set unrealistic goals for many reasons. Trainers should ensure clients have realistic goals and know the types of goals.
Be Knowledgeable and Experienced
Experience is good when the trainer has successfully documented the outcomes from different training sessions, acquired employee and client references, and built their resume for a stated career objective.
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Present a Clear and Concise Plan
The mode, frequency, duration, intensity, and other general components for the exercise prescription are first made, then the written plan is put together and presented to the client. Outside of this exercise prescription, a communication plan is set in place. This regards late, canceled, or even abbreviated sessions.
Be Innovative, Creative, and Resourceful
Innovation and creativity are essential for effective trainers. Innovators introduce new techniques and methods often, always changing them up somehow. Creativity is essential when training because of the need for little things like equipment, the chance of it not being available, and the need to adjust quickly to that for each session.
Educate
A goal while training is to teach the clients basic tenants of effective and safe physical activity so they may eventually be able to do these things independently and even one day teach them to others.
Trainers should have a working knowledge of anatomy, kinesiology, and physiology to describe what is happening in the body and throughout an exercise.
Inspire
It is hard for many people to exercise regularly at a level that yields visible results. Personal training has become popular because a major training element has that trainer for inspiration. Trainers should take time to discover what drives the clients to want to succeed.
Focus
Individual attention is one of the most important features of personal training. Giving someone your undivided attention and having focus on their form, speed, posture, grip, stance, breathing, and facial expressions will sometimes differentiate between an easy exercise and a hard one.
We must prepare for every session so that the need to stop and add things to the area or for the workout is not required.
Track and Recognize Progress
Trainers will determine what the metric for success are for every one of their clients. These are things like benchmarks that are used to see if their programs are effective or not. We also use these different metrics to help to motivate the client and give them something to shoot for. Trainers should make their clients aware of their small advances as they train so that they know progress is coming. Simply having small graphs and charts regarding the clientsโ activity will work very effectively.
Positive reinforcement and recognition are two other responsibilities and expectations of personal trainers. These say that trainers should react and respond when clients do their job well, even if it is only something small. This will bolster someoneโs self-efficacy.
Where Do I Start My Career?
Background
Job prerequisites are decided by the employer and depend on the description of the job and the types of clients serviced in the scope of work. Many employers in commercial health clubs expect certification in the personal training realm.
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First Find Your WHY
A lot of trainers will start because of their own personal experience, whether it is direct or related.
Personal trainers have a challenging profession. They work long hours that are sometimes really early and extend really late into the night, focus intently on an individual client and their needs for 45 minutes or more at a time, and have 8 โ 10 clients daily. Trainers also do a lot of reading, researching, and attending webinars and conferences for their professions. It is also important that they maintain the right physical condition to sustain this level of work and serve as a role model for prospective and current clients.
Next: Start your HOW
Certification
No matter where you want to work, certification can help immensely and is often required. You should consider the eligibility requirements when looking for where you want to get your certification. The fees and if they are within your budget. Logistics needed for when you are obtaining certification. And lastly, you should know if the certification and company apply to your desired field and where you want to take it one day.
Find a Mentor
A mentor is someone that will invest time, energy, and their own personal experience into your career development. Mentors should match up with the background and experience needed. Mentors are used to providing the guidance needed to avoid business and training mistakes that often occur for newcomers in the field.
What Are Some Examples of Rewarding Career Paths?
In todayโs fitness world, there are many different types of clients, venues for work, schedules, and unique opportunities in the field of personal training. This allows the personal trainer to extend their career over many years and geographies.
Trainers can be commissioned employees or independent commercial health and fitness center contractors. Here, they would essentially be their own boss.
For minimized risk, trainers can be franchisees. This has a lot of advantages in branding, marketing, and operation.
Another bolder option is for the trainer to set up their own training business. Here they must find, rent, and renovate a location. This is the most expensive journey of all of them.
Trainers may also set up their business within another service facility.
What Are My Best Options for Continuing Education and Career Development?
Reading and Research
Trainers must always read professional journals consistently and keep current and fresh on research in the field of personal training. The ACSM has publications that provide information on various personal training topics.
Clinics, Conferences, and Conventions
Many different local, regional, and international training opportunities are available for trainers. These can be attended both in person and virtually. These educational sessions are held for one day and up to around 5 days. They are sponsored by professional membership organizations, certifying agencies, suppliers, customers, the government, and institutions for academics.
Coursework
Trainers should first look to their employers for opportunities to continue their education. Many organizations have their own internal training department that will offer informal and formal courses for assistance in day to day activities and responsibilities and will also prepare people for advancement within the company. Continuing education credits are required for certifying agencies. The agencies offer courses, and upon completion, they will award the trainer various CECs.
What Can I Expect from a Career as a Personal Trainer?
Training has grown rapidly and has become very dynamic. The field has less than 30 years of existence in the modern day and the biggest change happened with the introduction of accredited certifications. This has been used to promote better personal training and has given clients a safer and more improved experience with personal training.
The Satisfaction of Seeing Healthy Results
Working with trainers has always been used to give quicker and more effective results as someone else looks after your health. One of the most satisfying things in personal training is seeing and being an integral part of the client’s health and the positive health benefits that arise from training.
Exceeding Client Expectations
When a trainer is successful in knowing their client’s goals, then the likelihood of the client’s success will increase too. When clients have set realistic goals, then it is possible that training will help them exceed them.
A minimum expectation is for the trainer to document the sessions and workouts. Charting and graphing the results would be a major plus.
Entering the World of Lifelong Learning
Lifelong learning is an expectation as personal trainers now expect a higher education level. As discussed, reading, research, and continuing education are done regularly.
Tyler Read
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