Help to aspiring personal trainer. Best school to go to on the west coast?

[VampireWithTan]

Hey everyone. I am 23 and have always had a enthusiasm for fitness, and competitive sports. I have worked out pretty seriously over the course of the last 6 years, studied a lot, read some forums, trained with multiple reps/weights/ and programs and feel i have a pretty good grasp on what it takes to build muscle, lose fat, and eat healthy


. After recently taking some time off i realized, fitness is something i would like to make a commitment too. I am financially stable, and work from at home, so i am free to travel and have a wierd idea of turning this into a trip/vacation.


I am from washington, and would consider finding a school near the portland oregon area. I would also consider finding a good school in the LA or Las vegas area. I basically would liek to spend the next month or two immersing myself into personal training, getting important certificates, and doing what i need to do, to do this seriously, and well.


I am pretty new to this, but really like the idea of helping people change thier lives, and want to make a lifelong commitment to fitness myself.

I am somewhat uneducated about what to look for in a school, what programs to get. My goal is to work part time(15-20) hours as a personal trainer, help people get healthy, and would love to hear any ideas or tips to help me a long my way.

thanks for the help

matt

[Ronin4help]

Before you spend alot of time and energy trying to obtain a credential, you should first understand what the market is like where you live. Sixty percent of certified trainers do not work. You should have a really solid entrance into the industry before you waste you time taking exams.

[askthetrainer]

Hey everyone. I am 23 and have always had a enthusiasm for fitness, and competitive sports. I have worked out pretty seriously over the course of the last 6 years, studied a lot, read some forums, trained with multiple reps/weights/ and programs and feel i have a pretty good grasp on what it takes to build muscle, lose fat, and eat healthy


. After recently taking some time off i realized, fitness is something i would like to make a commitment too. I am financially stable, and work from at home, so i am free to travel and have a wierd idea of turning this into a trip/vacation.


I am from washington, and would consider finding a school near the portland oregon area. I would also consider finding a good school in the LA or Las vegas area. I basically would liek to spend the next month or two immersing myself into personal training, getting important certificates, and doing what i need to do, to do this seriously, and well.


I am pretty new to this, but really like the idea of helping people change thier lives, and want to make a lifelong commitment to fitness myself.

I am somewhat uneducated about what to look for in a school, what programs to get. My goal is to work part time(15-20) hours as a personal trainer, help people get healthy, and would love to hear any ideas or tips to help me a long my way.

thanks for the help

matt

Ronin is right. I can't tell whether you're talking about spending 30k on a University or 500 on a cpt certification but you need to figure out the market you want to train in before you invest your life in a profession which may not be for you. I can tell you from personal experience, that the market for a personal trainer is 100x better in San Francisco than anywhere in Oregon but there may be a pocket or 2 with an untapped pool of clients which it is up to you to find.

As far as college education goes, the human body hasn't changed very much in the past 1000 years so most college exercise science programs concentrate on anatomy & physiology, kinesiology, and biomechanics which is pretty much standard amongst all schools. Most trainers find out that a college degree is a great base, but the knowledge learned by no means substitute experience.

I personally would recommend you start by signing up the the NASM-CPT exam. They will send you tons of study materials (I do believe it's all online videos/presentations/PDF now) which is going to run you $600 ish. You can study it on your own time and even use yourself as a guinnea pig for their training principles.

If you're not looking at spending $600 try going to Amazon and picking up a ACE, NSCA, or ACSM textbook. It will get your feet wet in with the knowledge which you will need to know for under $100 bucks

You could also find a willing trainer and shadow them for a couple sessions, or better sign up for an internship.

[josephinedalton]

Ronin is right. I can't tell whether you're talking about spending 30k on a University or 500 on a cpt certification but you need to figure out the market you want to train in before you invest your life in a profession which may not be for you. I can tell you from personal experience, that the market for a personal trainer is 100x better in San Francisco than anywhere in Oregon but there may be a pocket or 2 with an untapped pool of clients which it is up to you to find.

As far as college education goes, the human body hasn't changed very much in the past 1000 years so most college exercise science programs concentrate on anatomy & physiology, kinesiology, and biomechanics which is pretty much standard amongst all schools. Most trainers find out that a college degree is a great base, but the knowledge learned by no means substitute experience.

I personally would recommend you start by signing up the the NASM-CPT exam. They will send you tons of study materials (I do believe it's all online videos/presentations/PDF now) which is going to run you $600 ish. You can study it on your own time and even use yourself as a guinnea pig for their training principles.

If you're not looking at spending $600 try going to Amazon and picking up a ACE, NSCA, or ACSM textbook. It will get your feet wet in with the knowledge which you will need to know for under $100 bucks

You could also find a willing trainer and shadow them for a couple sessions, or better sign up for an internship.

I so agree. Knowing your market is a first step.

These days, you really don't have to spend money on a specialized school or formal college education unless you will be working for a company that requires it. Most trainers get by with a basic cPT cert. But because you will need to know more than just the basics; a reputable organization is a must ! Typically in a 4 year program, there will be only a handful of requisites that will apply to actual personal training. But in ALL good PT cert programs, you will be taught what you need to know to get started as a working cPT. The rest of your skills will come with practice.

Also, I wouldn't be surprised if the best and most successful of trainers can thank sales skills and the ability to motivate as the reason for their success. No point in having all that knowlege if can't sell a PT package.

As for the book suggestions by askthetrainer, you can often find a good used on on ebay. Just make sure you get the right edition and that you will find on the website of the certifying body. I bought a replacement textbook for $20 ! ! ! ! ! Got lucky of course

good luck !


BTW_ do keep in mind that if you seek to be a trainer as an ultimate career, there are potential changes underway that might require licensing of trainers. Here is a link for more info on this

http://www.ideafit.com/fitness-libra...censing-debate

[VampireWithTan]

thanks for all of the info guys, im re reading and absorbing it still.

One thing i should make clear about my situation, that may be relavent is that right now im basically looking for the best school that will allow me to get a job at a lot of places...

im willing to dedicate a lot of time in the next 1-2 months, and spend up to a few K.

One thing that might be relavent...is thatI am doing this, moreso for the love of fitness, and the desire to get into a positive routine for myself, and to help others. I have played very succesfully the last 4 years high stakes internet/casino poker. I currently dont plan on wokring 40 hours a week, even if i was able to, and am basically just looking to go to LA or VEGAS for a few months, find the most intensive, serious, respected school i could go to, so wherever i go, i can get a job, working part time, at a gym. I have a lot of flexability with where i can live/work. My first concentration is just getting the best degreethat would allow me to get a job, where ever i wanted...

While i am pretty clueless about what it takes to get certified, what gyms are looking at education wise from prospective trainers, the job market etc, for whatever its worth, i am pretty knowledgable about fitness, and have spent several years researching it seriously, , through here, reading books, wokring out on my own, playing competitive sports, nutrition, supplementation, and all of those things. I dont know if that comes into play at all, but if it would make a difference in what you guys reccomend, i do have a decent grasp of why and how the human body works towards acheiving different fitness goals

thanks guys