any other long time trainers?

[Sicshift]

seems like there are a lot of newly certed people here. Anyone been training longer than say 5 years or so as a full-time trainer?

Got the first certification 12 years ago, been full time for 5 now but on hiatus due to back injury, hence all the time I'm on this board. I'm probably done as a full-time trainer since there's other stuff I want to do with my life but I do miss doing it over the past 3 months!

[jdmalm123]

seems like there are a lot of newly certed people here. Anyone been training longer than say 5 years or so as a full-time trainer?

Got the first certification 12 years ago, been full time for 5 now but on hiatus due to back injury, hence all the time I'm on this board. I'm probably done as a full-time trainer since there's other stuff I want to do with my life but I do miss doing it over the past 3 months!

I have only @ two years as a certified trainer...been lifting/studying for @ 17 years though. I'd be curious to hear which certs you had and recommend. Also, what was your "full-time" schedule like? Any pros/cons?

I ask b/c I've been full-time at an insurance comapny for 12 years but am thinking about leaving to train full-time. Thanks!

[Sicshift]

I have only @ two years as a certified trainer...been lifting/studying for @ 17 years though. I'd be curious to hear which certs you had and recommend. Also, what was your "full-time" schedule like? Any pros/cons?

I ask b/c I've been full-time at an insurance comapny for 12 years but am thinking about leaving to train full-time. Thanks!

Cool man.

I have a lot of these because I got into a higher pay bracket at one of the big gyms. I took a couple years off training and when I came back, worked for a big gym to re-establish my clientele. During the year or so I worked there, I got more certs to make more money there. Otherwise, I wouldn't have so many CPT certs. I have a couple new ones out of sheer boredom since I'm basically stuck at home all day from a broken back.

NASM Certified Personal Trainer
ACE Certified Personal Trainer
24 Hour Certified Personal Trainer
ISSA Certified Fitness Trainer
ISSA Specialist in Performance Nutrition
ISSA Fitness Therapist (post rehab fitness therapy basically)
NESTA Biomechanics Specialist
Apex Nutrition Supplementation
NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist (almost done actually)


My full time schedule was always changing. For a few months, I might have mostly morning clients and afternoon clients and then they would change and I'd work a lot of evenings. It's always a split shift though. You'll find yourself working mornings from 8-11am and then slow till about 4pm. Then I'd work from 4-8pm. The evening stuff was by choice a lot though because the gym was empty and I'd be the only person there with my clients.

For every hour I trained someone, I spent an hour on marketing and networking trying to get to that beautiful place where you don't have to do anything but let referrals come in. I never saw that but did get about 80% of my business from referrals.

The pros are really good. You have no boss, you can set your own schedule and take time off or a day off whenever you want. You get to do your marketing and all that other stuff from home and you can create your own persona essentially. If you're younger and in a somewhat affluent area, it's one of the only ways to make 50-90k a year and not have to work an 8-5 job. As a single guy, I had tons of women always and lots of friends and knew a lot of business owners giving me a lot of perks. It was f'in awesome.

The cons though are there. Taking a vacation is expensive because you aren't making any money and you may still have to pay rent at the gym you work out of if that's your situation. The money is up and down. One month you might make 10 or 12 grand, the next you might not make any so you have to learn to manage your money well. Months like October and November are virtually dead months here along with a few others and you make a lot of money in December, January and right before summer and during summer a little. Other cons for me was the high rent at the private gyms to pay. (800-1200 a month)

For me though, the biggest con I'm experiencing now, is that I'm 29 and I was successful but it doesn't do much for any future career. Here I did some great things, ran a good business, learned sales well and know how to deal with very wealthy, powerful people. However, on a resume, people think you're just a meathead. My girlfriend is in sales and makes over 6 figures and that's where I want to head but I have to be careful about how I describe the past 5 years to future employers.

Long post, I type fast and can type a lot but I hope this helps. I've got nothin but free time right now so I'm happy to answer any questions.

[jdmalm123]

wow, great info, that will really help me...repped.

your training background is impressive.

I have an in-home gym and live in/near affluent areas so that's a plus. I also have a gym in-house, so no fees. I'm glad to hear in advance about some of the cons...it will help me plan better...

I see you were smart networking an hour for every hour worked. Glad to hear you had good results.

thanks!

[Sicshift]

wow, great info, that will really help me...repped.

your training background is impressive.

I have an in-home gym and live in/near affluent areas so that's a plus. I also have a gym in-house, so no fees. I'm glad to hear in advance about some of the cons...it will help me plan better...

I see you were smart networking an hour for every hour worked. Glad to hear you had good results.

thanks!

No prob. man. Let me tell you this too. Advertising does not do much in this business. Word of mouth is the main way you will get clients, not ads.

It's just something that people want to hear about from a friend and have a personal recommendation. I joined networking luncheons and other organizations and attended weekly. I actually got over 10k from myspace. I added about 500 people from my town and only if they're in my town and regularly sent out special offers by email to each person. They then referred me to other people and I got good results. The downside was that they generally couldn't afford it. I was only lucky with the ones who had rich parents. I also targeted people over 21 as they were more likely to afford it.

You want to get known in the social circles of upper income people so look at the 35-55 year old demographics and concentrate on women. I trained only models and hot girls for a while for the fun, and it was fun. But in the long run didn't pay the bills as well as the aforementioned does.

Learn a lot, become very confident in what you do and know your ****. Then act like it without being cocky. Don't undersell yourself. Know that you are worth 60 bucks an hour. Dress nice and always act professional. One of the best things I had going was that I could act very professional but still be approachable and funny and be their friend and make them feel good without acting immature or well...unprofessional. That's really important.

I spent a lot of time keeping my network close to me. I sent out special offers a lot and had a referral program and reminded them of that. Don't overdo it though. My special offers would be like ...buy a 30 session package and recieve 2 free sessions.

Also, I got a lot of business from donating sessions to charities and charity auctions. This worked AMAZING. Donate 5 sessions or something and you get free advertising to very affluent people, you get a tax write off, and most importantly you get to train someone who's very excited and will then tell people about you and at the very least, resign for a larger package.

Here's an example: I donated a 5 session package to a muscular dystrophy ball. The person who won, paid only about 250 bucks for it or something. She loved it, ended up buying 60 sessions. Then she recommended another friend who bought 30 sessions. That friend brought in a friend who also brought a friend. From donating 5 sessions, I essentially got almost 10,000 dollars in business.

A book I highly recommend is "never eat alone" by Keith Ferazzi or something close to that as for his last name. It's one of the best networking books I've ever read and very unique. I've read tons of books on word of mouth marketing, sales, making friends and influencing people, power of pursuasion etc. etc. Read all about sales, marketing, networking and people skills and it will really pay off.

Also read Guerilla Publicity or Guerilla PR and Guerilla Marketing.

[jdmalm123]

Sweet! Let me know if there's a way I can thank you!

[Sicshift]

thanks is enough man. I love helping people and like to chat about this stuff.

I'm on my way out of the business (as a full-timer at least) but learned a lot and wouldn't mind passing it on. I actually was debating on trying to get a seminar going on how to become a successful trainer and might still. There was a business that contacted me about it but I have to take care of my health first and foremost.

[jdmalm123]

thanks is enough man. I love helping people and like to chat about this stuff.

I'm on my way out of the business (as a full-timer at least) but learned a lot and wouldn't mind passing it on. I actually was debating on trying to get a seminar going on how to become a successful trainer and might still. There was a business that contacted me about it but I have to take care of my health first and foremost.

Well, thanks again. Best of luck with the back injury/recovery.

I will definitely bother you with some future questions...

[ny58]

Cool man.

I have a lot of these because I got into a higher pay bracket at one of the big gyms. I took a couple years off training and when I came back, worked for a big gym to re-establish my clientele. During the year or so I worked there, I got more certs to make more money there. Otherwise, I wouldn't have so many CPT certs. I have a couple new ones out of sheer boredom since I'm basically stuck at home all day from a broken back.

NASM Certified Personal Trainer
ACE Certified Personal Trainer
24 Hour Certified Personal Trainer
ISSA Certified Fitness Trainer
ISSA Specialist in Performance Nutrition
ISSA Fitness Therapist (post rehab fitness therapy basically)
NESTA Biomechanics Specialist
Apex Nutrition Supplementation
NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist (almost done actually)


My full time schedule was always changing. For a few months, I might have mostly morning clients and afternoon clients and then they would change and I'd work a lot of evenings. It's always a split shift though. You'll find yourself working mornings from 8-11am and then slow till about 4pm. Then I'd work from 4-8pm. The evening stuff was by choice a lot though because the gym was empty and I'd be the only person there with my clients.

For every hour I trained someone, I spent an hour on marketing and networking trying to get to that beautiful place where you don't have to do anything but let referrals come in. I never saw that but did get about 80% of my business from referrals.

The pros are really good. You have no boss, you can set your own schedule and take time off or a day off whenever you want. You get to do your marketing and all that other stuff from home and you can create your own persona essentially. If you're younger and in a somewhat affluent area, it's one of the only ways to make 50-90k a year and not have to work an 8-5 job. As a single guy, I had tons of women always and lots of friends and knew a lot of business owners giving me a lot of perks. It was f'in awesome.

The cons though are there. Taking a vacation is expensive because you aren't making any money and you may still have to pay rent at the gym you work out of if that's your situation. The money is up and down. One month you might make 10 or 12 grand, the next you might not make any so you have to learn to manage your money well. Months like October and November are virtually dead months here along with a few others and you make a lot of money in December, January and right before summer and during summer a little. Other cons for me was the high rent at the private gyms to pay. (800-1200 a month)

For me though, the biggest con I'm experiencing now, is that I'm 29 and I was successful but it doesn't do much for any future career. Here I did some great things, ran a good business, learned sales well and know how to deal with very wealthy, powerful people. However, on a resume, people think you're just a meathead. My girlfriend is in sales and makes over 6 figures and that's where I want to head but I have to be careful about how I describe the past 5 years to future employers.

Long post, I type fast and can type a lot but I hope this helps. I've got nothin but free time right now so I'm happy to answer any questions.

why not look into pharm sales. . or maybe sales for a fitness company?

[Sicshift]

why not look into pharm sales. . or maybe sales for a fitness company?

My gf has a degree in molecular biology and sells xerox. She's doing really well and looking at jobs that pay above 200 now in the medical device industry. I'd like to follow in her footsteps so i'm going to get my foot in the door in some form of outside sales like her.

If I can.

If there's a fitness co that will pay me well, I'll definitely go that direction. We're probably moving to Los Angeles soon so i'll have a lot more job oppurtunities then. Thanks for the recommendation though. I didn't think of sales in that direction to be honest. It's really something to look into.

[adoniscomplex]

hey
how do you find out about charity auctions in advance
i have been wanting to do this ,

[HowardsRock]

I'm studying for NASM right now, how hard was the test, if you don't mind my asking?

[ny58]

I'm studying for NASM right now, how hard was the test, if you don't mind my asking?

it wasn't to bad. . a lot of questions like this: .. if a clients knees are turned in during a squat assessment what should u do. . and the options would be different muscles to strength (so know that chart that shows under and overactive muscles for assessments). . page 123 in text. . that entire section is important also know how to stretch them or correct these movements with exercises. . ie if there is an excessive lean forward during the squat assessment. . u should know that a stabilty ball wall squat is a corrective exercise . .. . . some of it was common sense. . .at least 3 or 4 questions on the planes of motion. . ie A biceps curl is performed in what plane of motion. . or a cable rotation is performed in what plane of motion?. . make sure u understand all the info. . dont just memorize. . for instance in the book it repeats a bunch of times that an average adult needs 96 ounces of water a day, but then on the test they ask it in quarts. . just to try and throw u off. .stupid little things like that. . overall it's a fair test . .i went to one of the workshops 5 days before i took the test and it def helped. .oh yeah they will give u an exercise and ask u what type it is. . ie a balance strength, stability power ect.. so know the OPT model

[guitarua]

I'm currently looking to take the ACE PT exam late summer. Any thoughts and or tips about the test? I'm studying everyday at least an hour and honestly getting through the anatomy and kinesiology is the toughest part. Thanks!

[ny58]

I'm currently looking to take the ACE PT exam late summer. Any thoughts and or tips about the test? I'm studying everyday at least an hour and honestly getting through the anatomy and kinesiology is the toughest part. Thanks!

yeah see i had a backround in kines and anatomy so wasnt to difficult fore me. .look into ur local community college see if they have a kinesiology, exercise phys, or biomechanics class u can jump in

[BOLDERNECK]

Cool man.

I have a lot of these because I got into a higher pay bracket at one of the big gyms. I took a couple years off training and when I came back, worked for a big gym to re-establish my clientele. During the year or so I worked there, I got more certs to make more money there. Otherwise, I wouldn't have so many CPT certs. I have a couple new ones out of sheer boredom since I'm basically stuck at home all day from a broken back.

NASM Certified Personal Trainer
ACE Certified Personal Trainer
24 Hour Certified Personal Trainer
ISSA Certified Fitness Trainer
ISSA Specialist in Performance Nutrition
ISSA Fitness Therapist (post rehab fitness therapy basically)
NESTA Biomechanics Specialist
Apex Nutrition Supplementation
NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist (almost done actually)


My full time schedule was always changing. For a few months, I might have mostly morning clients and afternoon clients and then they would change and I'd work a lot of evenings. It's always a split shift though. You'll find yourself working mornings from 8-11am and then slow till about 4pm. Then I'd work from 4-8pm. The evening stuff was by choice a lot though because the gym was empty and I'd be the only person there with my clients.

For every hour I trained someone, I spent an hour on marketing and networking trying to get to that beautiful place where you don't have to do anything but let referrals come in. I never saw that but did get about 80% of my business from referrals.

The pros are really good. You have no boss, you can set your own schedule and take time off or a day off whenever you want. You get to do your marketing and all that other stuff from home and you can create your own persona essentially. If you're younger and in a somewhat affluent area, it's one of the only ways to make 50-90k a year and not have to work an 8-5 job. As a single guy, I had tons of women always and lots of friends and knew a lot of business owners giving me a lot of perks. It was f'in awesome.

The cons though are there. Taking a vacation is expensive because you aren't making any money and you may still have to pay rent at the gym you work out of if that's your situation. The money is up and down. One month you might make 10 or 12 grand, the next you might not make any so you have to learn to manage your money well. Months like October and November are virtually dead months here along with a few others and you make a lot of money in December, January and right before summer and during summer a little. Other cons for me was the high rent at the private gyms to pay. (800-1200 a month)

For me though, the biggest con I'm experiencing now, is that I'm 29 and I was successful but it doesn't do much for any future career. Here I did some great things, ran a good business, learned sales well and know how to deal with very wealthy, powerful people. However, on a resume, people think you're just a meathead. My girlfriend is in sales and makes over 6 figures and that's where I want to head but I have to be careful about how I describe the past 5 years to future employers.

Long post, I type fast and can type a lot but I hope this helps. I've got nothin but free time right now so I'm happy to answer any questions.

HEY HOW ARE YOU...HOW IS YOUR BACK? I WAS TRYING TO DO SOME PRIVATE TRAINING ON THE SIDE MOSTLY IN THE MORNING WHAT WOULD BE THE BEST WAY TO START I GRADUATED FROM NPTI...WHICH CONTAINS 3 CERTS AND DIPLOMA AND I HAVE ISSA...I MEAN I WAS THINKING ABOUT FLYERS [JUST AROUND MY NEIBORHOOD] I WAS THINKING ABOUT TRAINING PEOPLE NOT IN THE CONVENTIONAL WAY [OF CORSE WITH WEIGHTS] BUT ALSO DIFFERENT TECHNIQEUS THAT DONT REQUIRE FANCY EQUIPMENT..MY GF WATCHES ME IN THE GYM AND SAID 'DO YOU JUST MAKE UP EXERCISES IN YOUR HEAD AND I SAY YES' SHE THINKS THAT WOULD BE A GREAT WAY OF AQUIRING PEOPLE SHE BELIEVES TRAINING AT THEIR HOME IS A GREAT ANGLE.....WHAT DO YOU THINK? SORRY ABOUT THE CPS....BROKE!

[Maximum]

passed my 5yr mark in January. I didn't even see this section til 5 minutes ago. This is pretty cool.

[alikaeos]

I'm at the 5 year full time mark. I have to agree with a lot of the info the sicshift said. Thats why after 3 years at Ballys I opened up place. Now after 2 years of hard work the business is in cruise control. We exploring ways to take it to the next level. But to be stuck as career trainer is tough. I'm 31 now and my friends are all lawyers ors finance guys so I keep myself in check to make sure I am on par with them.