Teen Personal Training Business

I'm sixteen and feel as though I am in pretty good shape. I'm looking to start up a "business" I guess. I really want to start off on YouTube like Mike Chang and work my way up.

Basically though, I want to know what are the first steps I should take are. I've already contacted Mike Chang about supporting us and he said that since we have nothing going for us (being my buddy and I) that he wants us to come back to him in the spring.

Should I get a personal training license? If so, how?

About the "company" it's called Teens Get Fit and is directed towards teens like myself. This isn't a bodybuilding business per se but is meant to help teens achieve their health, fitness and lifestyle goals whether that be to be a bodybuilder or to lose some fat.

I apologize for the long thread and thank in advance for any and all help!

Contacting someone like Mike Chang was your first mistake.

No.
You need to pay your dues and at your age you haven't even experienced a fraction of whats out there training wise.
Note i said "experienced"not i learned it on youtube now i can train people.
You have to put in the time training yourself and find out hands on what works and what doesn't before you offer it to someone for a price.
I have nearly forty years of training experience and am still learning.
So get experience first then a good PT cert,then think about training someone teens or other wise.

You're in "pretty good shape" but feel qualified to tell others what to do with their body? Better to focus on something else if you want to start a business, giving bad, unqualified advice with no educational backing isn't anything that the fitness industry needs. There are enough idiots dispensing advice on YouTube that have no clue what they are talking about.

You can't even get certified as a trainer until you're 18. Get good grades in high school and then pursue something related to health in university or college if that's what you want.

[QUOTE=WoofieNugget;997697603]You're in "pretty good shape" but feel qualified to tell others what to do with their body? Better to focus on something else if you want to start a business, giving bad, unqualified advice with no educational backing isn't anything that the fitness industry needs. There are enough idiots dispensing advice on YouTube that have no clue what they are talking about.

You can't even get certified as a trainer until you're 18. Get good grades in high school and then pursue something related to health in university or college if that's what you want.[/QUOTE]

This. Also go and take some business courses at college or uni, that will be vital to you succeeding (IMO).

Thanks everyone for your feedback so far.
I didn't want to sound cocky but I guess I'll put out the facts as to what I meant by "pretty good shape". I weigh 152 lbs. and my maxes are:
Bench: 245
Power clean: 180
Squat: 260 (my squat is weak as I am still recovering from a broken ankle)
Deadlift: 325
May I ask why contacting Mike Chang was my first mistake?
And I understand that I am not 'technically' a qualified trainer but where I'm coming from is that I used to weigh 140 something pounds and was above 20% body fat. I enrolled in the Personal training class at my school two years ago and now I am 10% body fat and feel great.
While I myself have only the experience of the actual transformation and know how it helped and what to do; I am backed by my Personal Training coach who does have the actual science behind it and is teaching me about it every day.

Just more info for you all! Thanks for the feedback thus far!

Mike Chang is a business man. You mentioned it yourself. You had nothing going for you and told you to come back to him once you have something going for you. Why? To share in your success if you do become successful so he can capitalize on it and make some profit. Of course he won't support you with nothing going for you. That takes time, effort and money and if the return isn't the best then it wouldn't be worth it in the first place.

If you had a major PT business with room for growth or to target a specific market with huge potential growth and profit, he would of jumped on your bandwagon in an instant.

[QUOTE=InsanelyFit;998713273]Mike Chang is a business man. You mentioned it yourself. You had nothing going for you and told you to come back to him once you have something going for you. Why? To share in your success if you do become successful so he can capitalize on it and make some profit. Of course he won't support you with nothing going for you. That takes time, effort and money and if the return isn't the best then it wouldn't be worth it in the first place.

If you had a major PT business with room for growth or to target a specific market with huge potential growth and profit, he would of jumped on your bandwagon in an instant.[/QUOTE]

That's a very good point. My thinking behind contacting Mike Chang (and others eg. BodyBuilding.com & MusclePharm) was to try and get some support in terms of marketing our name so that we could "hit the ground running".

You're not qualified period, no "technically" about it.

Cliche, but how about you learn to walk before you hit the ground running? Your entrepreneurial thinking is great at your age and it could really come through for you down the road. But for now you need to learn to walk. Just from a liability standpoint its a bad idea for you to train anyone professionally until you are 18. In fact, if you f-up it's your parents that could be sued for everything they have.

The best thing for you to do right now is be hungry for knowledge and learn by participating. Being strong doesn't qualify you for anything. Start taking different fitness classes to widen your knowledge. Try out yoga and kick boxing for 8 weeks or so, things that don't even appeal to you right now. See if you can be a towel boy or work the desk at a gym. Volunteer with some sports coaches to see if they'll let you help keep practices organized.

I know it's not what you want to hear but humble yourself and approach your education with the same enthusiasm as your lifting sessions.

Are you expecting money from a bunch of teens that don't have any? One of the best warehouse gyms in Miami, Florida is run by a guy who owns the gym as his second job. The place is full of high school athletes that he trains with the Westside Method and is a certified Westside gym. He doesn't charge these kids anything because he knows they don't have money and wouldn't come. So I don't know what kind of money you expect to make.

Also, as people mentioned you need to gain knowledge and experience first. One way you can try training people and gaining experience is helping out your friends for free. Alot of my friends would hear I'm all into working out and ask me to write them a program. So they were able to get free training advice, even though it wasn't the best, and I was able to get a guinea pig for my programs. It's a win-win situation. Same with nutrition, I got to practice figuring out nutritional protocols for someone other than myself.

@pcproffy: I understand that I am not certified nor qualified to teach anyone how to run their lives. But are you saying that even though I'd be just posting videos on YouTube and maybe creating a website to give tips an tricks to working out and staying fit that even that's out of my range of capabilities?
The liability and legal issues are exactly why I'd just be doing this on YouTube and not giving anyone training sessions at the gym.
With the millions of people who watch YouTube daily (much of them teens or young adults) wouldn't it be nice to see an inspirational video that helps them get off their ass and take the first steps (or maybe get their mind distracted from sitting down) towards fitness?
About the hungry towards knowledge idea; I think that's great. I would love to try and get a job at the gym and I completely forgot about those little jobs... I was thinking they were all personal trainer jobs and as everyone said earlier, I must be 18 for that.

@arian11: No. I am not expecting ANY money whatsoever. This is why my "business" pertains just to YouTube for now. I have other ideas in mind but those cost money for either me, or my followers. YouTube is a win-win (free-free) situation where I can post for free and people can watch for free.
I have had a couple of friends at my school who have asked how I became so fit and I explained to them how and they always asked for advice. As with most other people, my setback is my eating habits so I can't really design a meal plan for someone. I have designed however, multiple fitness plans for people whom all of which are loving and are in the process of completing it.
Speaking of my fitness plan, I have narrowed my research down and have figured out (I think) one of the best programs for teens, kids and young adults.

Thanks again for the feedback thus far. I have given all that have helped rep points!

Remember eating/nutrition goes hand in hand with training or progress will will be nil to little at all.
Like your enthusiasm though its part of what a good trainer needs to have.

[QUOTE=Garage Rat;998954493]Remember eating/nutrition goes hand in hand with training or progress will will be nil to little at all.
Like your enthusiasm though its part of what a good trainer needs to have.[/QUOTE]

Yes I know and that's what's holding me back! Recently I have hit a plateau in my gains and I think it's because of my poor eating habits.
I appreciate the compliment by the way.

Oh okay, well then that's different. Sounds more like you wanna create a YouTube Channel and website as a hobby, not as a business. That is fine. Make a channel and just do short videos about nutrition, cardiovascular training, weight lifting. And either you will do it correctly and help people or you will do it wrong and gain experience from it. I don't know about you, but when I was a teen I thought I knew a whole lot more than I actually did. And I was doing many exercises wrong that I thought I was doing right. Had I known about bb.com or if YouTube was big back then, I probably would have been told by the experienced people alot sooner and learned faster.

sounds like mike chang wants to ride off your success wang

lol mike chang... Dude move by me seriously my school sends me to a program that is worth high school credits and at the end of this year (my second year) i can pay for exam and get certified as an ACE personal trainer... all schools need this [url]http://www.e1b.org/wps/wcm/connect/963b79004854aebdae9dbe93bc68ded9/Certified+Personal+Trainer.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&lmod=-93631115[/url]

@arian11 I guess you could say it's a hobby. The reason why I called it a business is because I have huge mid & long term goals for this. I want it to become trademarked and hopefully expand it to open some gyms across the nation (and to be ambitious; maybe even the world!).

@projectcody Woa..... That's insane. You said that it gives you high school credits so I'm just going to make sure... Did you really mean high school credits? Or do you mean college credits? Or does it give both?!?
I think I'll try and take that up with my school!

A: You're not qualified nor are you of the age of it

B: Teens will probably not have the money for it and even if they did I doubt they will pay you for your 'expertise'


I think your initiative is awesome. Stick with the youtube vids and build your confidence that way.

[QUOTE=PerFit;999313863]A: You're not qualified nor are you of the age of it

B: Teens will probably not have the money for it and even if they did I doubt they will pay you for your 'expertise'


I think your initiative is awesome. Stick with the youtube vids and build your confidence that way.[/QUOTE]

I appreciate it. I came up with a counter argument for B and I understand that A makes it a no go. Period. For a PT license.
I appreciate how you gave a solution like response after you addressed the problems.

So let me just ask in general because this seems to be the case... Should I work on my own with no support from any other organizations and do my own thing on YouTube and go from there?

[QUOTE=HunterTGF;999072983]@arian11 I guess you could say it's a hobby. The reason why I called it a business is because I have huge mid & long term goals for this. I want it to become trademarked and hopefully expand it to open some gyms across the nation (and to be ambitious; maybe even the world!).

@projectcody Woa..... That's insane. You said that it gives you high schooledits so I'm just going to make sure... Did you really mean high school credits? Or do you mean college credits? Or does it give both?!?
I think I'll try and take that up with my school![/QUOTE]

It gives both.. .5 ela and science each year so 1 ela and 1 science then college credits if u manage an 85 average which is easy if you actually want to do it

[QUOTE=projectcody;999420673]It gives both.. .5 ela and science each year so 1 ela and 1 science then college credits if u manage an 85 average which is easy if you actually want to do it[/QUOTE]

That is really cool. I'm surprised my school/county doesn't have that. Thanks for supplying the link, I'm definitely going to talk to the school system about this.

Feel free to post all you want on YouTube. I'm supportive of teens getting fit, and maybe you can connect with that age group better than others. I don't know how you will make money from that so it's more of a hobby/fun for a teen.

My concern will be if you start working with, and giving personalized advice to clients in exchange for money.

What's funny is I did the opposite as a kid. 20+ years ago I was the vending machine. I bought candy wholesale and sold it at school, making $50 a week, in 1980s dollars. 25 cent profit per sale, yeah that's some volume. My school made everyone wait outside until 10 minutes before school started so I had a captive audience of hundreds of kids every morning. I totally get the teen desire to hustle.

[QUOTE=pcproffy;999424243]Feel free to post all you want on YouTube. I'm supportive of teens getting fit, and maybe you can connect with that age group better than others. I don't know how you will make money from that so it's more of a hobby/fun for a teen.

My concern will be if you start working with, and giving personalized advice to clients in exchange for money.

What's funny is I did the opposite as a kid. 20+ years ago I was the vending machine. I bought candy wholesale and sold it at school, making $50 a week, in 1980s dollars. 25 cent profit per sale, yeah that's some volume. My school made everyone wait outside until 10 minutes before school started so I had a captive audience of hundreds of kids every morning. I totally get the teen desire to hustle.[/QUOTE]

In a sense, then yes, this is more of a hobby than a business. I am not looking to get paid, just to help some kids out.

That's funny. In elementary school I had the same idea but never went through with it. Now in high school, we have like four vending machines in the cafeteria alone and probably about 10 throughout the school.

Yea, I do understand where that concern comes from. My idea for this is to get it off the ground from YouTube for the next two years, turn 18, get my license and then go from there. I'll still be a teen so I'll keep that going but for YouTube I'll probably get somebody else (who'd be younger) to take responsibility for the younger more teenager audience and then appeal to adults as a certified trainer.
Who knows though, right? As ambitious as I am, this could go nowhere or it could be bigger than I had ever dreamed. W'ell see.

My suggestion is work hard in high school on your maths and sciences, go to uni and take either Kin, AT or some ex science/ health science B.Sc degree and then get all your certs.
Or take a 2 year fitness and health dipoma