Is personal training right for me?

[razaice]

I'm days away from deciding if I want to start a certification course for personal training, and now that I'm doing more research into it, I'm not 100% sure it's right for me. I love fitness and almost everything related to it. It's been a hobby of mine for a while now. Personal training seemed like a perfect career path for me since I'm always researching new things related to exercise and nutrition just for fun in my spare time.

My concerns are starting now because I've been reading up on how personal training works. Apparently I need to do things like walk around the gym and speak to the people there to try to sell them sessions. I have a friend that teaches swim lessons to kids, and the way his setup works is that people would ask for personal swim lessons at the club, and they would just be referred to my friend. His skills as a teacher would speak for themselves, and he could develop a client base.

Basically, my question is is personal training a good thing for someone who knows a ton about exercise and nutrition, but may not be the most outgoing person?

[PeteratCastle]

You have to be able to sell. Just being interested in nutrition and exercise, unfortunately, is not enough. You have to come up with some marketing ideas ( a PT course won't teach you any of that). What kind of PT do you want to be? What are your goals? It's a business so you have to treat it as one.
Some gyms, David Lloyd for instance, just refer clients to you rather than you having to look for them all the time. They pay you standard minimum wage for any hours you work with out clients and they pay you £12-18 (in addition to the minimum wage) for any hour that you work with a client.
This might sound pretty good but they charge the clients £40'ish for that same hour so it's not necessarily a great deal for you.

Jobs like the one at David Lloyd are also not easy to come by.

You could build up your confidence though, and you will after having spoken to loads of people without them coming up to you, so the sales might not be an issue.

The thing is, I don't know a single PT that is any good without them being outgoing. You have to talk to your clients for an hour during their session anyways. It's not just about selling them stuff, you constantly talk to people as you have to. And you had better be a happy go lucky kind of person, or be able to pretend to be, who always has a smile and a joke as otherwise people will just not work with you as they won't enjoy their hour long session.

I wouldn't pay £35 regularly to work with someone who doesn't say more than 2 words to me.

You also have to consider how feasible a business it is. Just because you might like to do it doesn't mean there's enough work out there for you. Where do you stay? What do PTs in your area charge? How many people in your area train to be a PT every year? Etc etc.

I don't want to put you off becoming a PT, it's a great job, but you have to be sure before you spend good money and time on a course.

GL with whatever you decide though.

Peter

[KyleAaron]

To get and keep PT clients you need to demonstrate competence, establish trust and rapport. This does not mean being a cheesey salesman - cheesey salesmen are cheesey because that's who they are, not because it's unusually effective. It does mean talking to people.

I'm basically introverted. However, I am not required to talk to people about their love lives or what they did on the weekend or any sht like that, I only have to talk to them about looks, health and fitness. I don't care about looks much, but I am strongly interested in health and fitness. So I talk about that. Everyone is outgoing when it comes to something they're passionate about. You say you "love fitness and almost anything related to it". Really? Have you ever bored anyone at parties talking too long about it? That's geeky passion - people respond to that. Most people respond by backing away slowly, but in a gym they expect and want that.

You only have to talk about this thing you say you love. You don't have to talk about other stuff. If you don't want to talk to people at all, work in an office.

[PeteratCastle]

To get and keep PT clients you need to demonstrate competence, establish trust and rapport. This does not mean being a cheesey salesman - cheesey salesmen are cheesey because that's who they are, not because it's unusually effective. It does mean talking to people.

I'm basically introverted. However, I am not required to talk to people about their love lives or what they did on the weekend or any sht like that, I only have to talk to them about looks, health and fitness. I don't care about looks much, but I am strongly interested in health and fitness. So I talk about that. Everyone is outgoing when it comes to something they're passionate about. You say you "love fitness and almost anything related to it". Really? Have you ever bored anyone at parties talking too long about it? That's geeky passion - people respond to that. Most people respond by backing away slowly, but in a gym they expect and want that.

You only have to talk about this thing you say you love. You don't have to talk about other stuff. If you don't want to talk to people at all, work in an office.

Unfortunately, and I do mean that, I do spend a lot of time during the monday session talking about what people did on the weekend. Repeat customers don't always want to talk about the workout during the workout. If I see someone 3 times a week, I will often have to listen to whatever they want to talk about. The talk-test is the main test I do to measure exhaustion levels so whatever they are interested in is what I have to ask the, about (theydo most of the talking, well..they try whilst I wear them out...if they can talk during the exercise they're not working hard enough) .

[KyleAaron]

Oh certainly, people will talk about that stuff. But I am not required to talk about that stuff. They talk, I nod and smile and then tell them to keep the speed up, or keep themselves tight during the squat, or whatever. "Hold that thought, finish telling me after the next set."

So in terms of what a trainer must do to get and keep clients, they don't have to make small talk. You only have to talk about fitness stuff. If you don't even want to talk to people in THE GYM about fitness stuff, then you DEFINITELY should not be a trainer.

Just look at those wargaming geeks, all quiet at work, get them over some green felt and suddenly they're the life of the party. A quiet introvert can be a noisy extrovert when it comes to something they love.

[Kataz]

"Hold that thought, finish telling me after the next set."

My #1 saying during training lol

[PeteratCastle]

Oh certainly, people will talk about that stuff. But I am not required to talk about that stuff. They talk, I nod and smile and then tell them to keep the speed up, or keep themselves tight during the squat, or whatever. "Hold that thought, finish telling me after the next set."

So in terms of what a trainer must do to get and keep clients, they don't have to make small talk. You only have to talk about fitness stuff. If you don't even want to talk to people in THE GYM about fitness stuff, then you DEFINITELY should not be a trainer.

Just look at those wargaming geeks, all quiet at work, get them over some green felt and suddenly they're the life of the party. A quiet introvert can be a noisy extrovert when it comes to something they love.

true enough

[Footballa_19]

a lot of good advice on here OP. If you want to make enough money to have a good living, you have to be able to sell. Finding a good balance is key for me. I think Personal Trainer is exactly how it sounds. Personal meaning you can be a friend they can trust in and talk to (although im with KyleAaron, I usually just give my usual quick responses and tell them to focus on the exercise), but you are also a Trainer, and must have that respect that they can be ABSOLUTELY sure you can help them in their health needs. It will take time to feel it out, but once you get the hang of it, it can be very rewarding. Bottom line though is that you gotta grow a pair to sell programs. Most trainers dont get clients simply because they aren't comfortable asking for a sale.

[razaice]

Thank you to everyone who gave a response. I think I'm going to just go for it. I've got 6 months to get certified and finish out my current job, so in that time I'll do what I can to build up more confidence socially and see where I end up.

[Garage Rat]

Interacting with people and making them feel comfortable goes a long way.
If they like you and your trainng style they will recommend friends and family to you which makes your job a whole lot easier.
The other option and not a great one IMO, is to get a job at a chain gym where they give you clients to train.
You work a lot of hours for a small amount of money but you still have to try and sell them more sessions and or supplements.
On your own is the way to go if you can.

[PeteratCastle]

Thank you to everyone who gave a response. I think I'm going to just go for it. I've got 6 months to get certified and finish out my current job, so in that time I'll do what I can to build up more confidence socially and see where I end up.

Try saving up some money mate, was the best advice anyone ever gave me before I went on my own

[razaice]

Try saving up some money mate, was the best advice anyone ever gave me before I went on my own

You mean save up before I actually start the personal training job, or save up during?

[racejunkie]

Oh certainly, people will talk about that stuff. But I am not required to talk about that stuff. They talk, I nod and smile and then tell them to keep the speed up, or keep themselves tight during the squat, or whatever. "Hold that thought, finish telling me after the next set."

So in terms of what a trainer must do to get and keep clients, they don't have to make small talk. You only have to talk about fitness stuff. If you don't even want to talk to people in THE GYM about fitness stuff, then you DEFINITELY should not be a trainer.

Just look at those wargaming geeks, all quiet at work, get them over some green felt and suddenly they're the life of the party. A quiet introvert can be a noisy extrovert when it comes to something they love.

Agree with this 100% and I'm not even a trainer yet I noticed the same thing when I saw physical therapists interacting with patients when I was shadowing in an outpatient facility. Patients or clients sometimes tend to talk about anything from politics to failed marriages, but the therapists kept it real when they directed the conversation back to the business at hand.

OP---- I wouldn't worry too much about being an introvert as I'm more introvert than extrovert, but I have a passion for helping others. If you have the same passion, it will show in your workplace. You dont have to be a social butterfly to be a personal trainer as you are there to provide a service and people can tell if it is genuine or not. It is not the same as being a furniture or used car salesman! If you are unsure, ask a personal trainer if you can tag along with them for a day to learn the ropes.

[KyleAaron]

Don't get me wrong, I'll have unrelated chit-chat if the topic interests me and I have time. But if I've six people in a row for half an hour each and the topic bores me, then it's "tell me after the next set" - by which time they've usually forgotten what they were going to say anyway. Lots of the time they were just trying to get more rest anyway.