Working as a personal trainer can be immensely rewarding. You enjoy the privilege of helping people from all walks of life meet personal goals. Sometimes those people are rich and famous, lending a touch of glamour to the job. But personal trainers also have to deal with the emotional fallout that led people to neglect their bodies, and for every rich or successful client you'll find another one struggling to purchase your services or having problems finding the inner resolve to continue.
Significance
To be a personal trainer, you need both the confidence to teach and guide strong personalities and the empathy to deal with clients that are hurting and in need of help. Every time you meet a client, you must take careful note of what she tells you -- and what she doesn't say. Your job is to beware of what she needs but might not know to ask for. Even the most motivated of clients can have a bad day or discover new hurdles, so keep your listening skills always at the ready.
Time Frame
As a personal trainer, you must be available when your clients want to work out. Often, this means working a split shift during the most popular workout times: before 9 a.m. and after 5 p.m. Your day revolves around your clients' schedules, and if you're training sports teams, you might have to work individual client sessions around the entire team's schedule. Savvy trainers will have -- and enforce -- a no-show fee and reserve the right to reschedule or cancel a session if the client shows up late. Your carefully planned day can shift suddenly as clients cancel, no-show or reschedule.
Considerations
Personal training is at least as much about business as about exercise. A happy client is the best referral possible. But you might also have to approach people working out on the gym floor to drum up clients, handing out pamphlets or business cards. Some gyms allow personal trainers to set up a small table for question-and-answer sessions near the entrance. Other ways of bringing new clients include conducting seminars or classes, distributing brochures outside the gym, offering referral specials to your current clients, and advertising -- all of which require time, money or both.
Benefits
One of fitness training's perks is getting to work with a variety of people. You might start your day dealing with motivated clients before they start their own work day, then go on to an early-morning practice with high school athletes. If you have the training and expertise, your day could also include sessions with octogenarians, professional sports teams, overweight people and everyday armchair warriors working toward fitness goals. You might work in a gym, clinical setting, school or a client's home -- all in the course of a single day.
Misconceptions
Watching televised weight-loss contests and big-name trainers might give you the impression that a good fitness trainer saves people. Although true in a sense, the reality is that fitness trainers teach others how to live a fit, healthy life. Your client then has to make the choice whether to follow that advice or not. If you're good at your job, many clients will succeed -- but a few might still backslide into old habits through no fault of yours.
Another little-known downside of the job: Unless you have an agreement with another trainer to cover sessions for you, you must either cancel or reschedule sessions every time you're sick or need a day off.
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