Requirements to become a personal trainer/ physical therapist

[transamprincess98]

Anyone here a personal trainer or a physical therapist. I'm thinking of going back to school and changing my major AGAIN! I really enjoy working out, training and eating right and I think I might enjoy helping other people out. Anyone here know what kind of degree/ certifications you need? Does it vary from state to state? Any suggestions on where to get experience (bigger chain gyms vs smaller private owned etc)

Help please!

[Bigrus]

Anyone here a personal trainer or a physical therapist. I'm thinking of going back to school and changing my major AGAIN! I really enjoy working out, training and eating right and I think I might enjoy helping other people out. Anyone here know what kind of degree/ certifications you need? Does it vary from state to state? Any suggestions on where to get experience (bigger chain gyms vs smaller private owned etc)

Help please!

Seriously thats a B.S degree and unless you plan to specialize its a thing the usual kids from highschool, or meatheads (meatheads use it for free gym use) go for then end up being disappointed because they do not make what they wanted out of it.

[transamprincess98]

Actually I am looking at doing this on the side from my current job. I'm not looking at this for my sustantial part of my income. If I am gonna go through the BS of going back to school I'd like to do something I enjoy. Obviously I'm gonna finish up the standard courses and probably major in business and minor in physical therapy.
I want a career I enjoy going to everyday more so then the $ it will bring in.

[Sassy Cassie]

Tap is going to motivate her clients with

[snaggeltooth]

I think you would be a good physical therapist TAP....

[Spaz]

Anyone here a personal trainer or a physical therapist. I'm thinking of going back to school and changing my major AGAIN! I really enjoy working out, training and eating right and I think I might enjoy helping other people out. Anyone here know what kind of degree/ certifications you need? Does it vary from state to state? Any suggestions on where to get experience (bigger chain gyms vs smaller private owned etc)

Help please!

why not ask at your gym?

[transamprincess98]

I guess asking at my gym is the next step. I really didn't want to discuss it with the owners there or trainers there cause I don't want them to feel I am trying to infringe on their turf. I likely will not want to work at my current gym. I'd probably aim for something more female orientated. I doubt some guy would pay me to train him when I can't spot the weight he is using

[Spaz]

I guess asking at my gym is the next step. I really didn't want to discuss it with the owners there or trainers there cause I don't want them to feel I am trying to infringe on their turf. I likely will not want to work at my current gym. I'd probably aim for something more female orientated. I doubt some guy would pay me to train him when I can't spot the weight he is using

honestly...

ok... how can i put this...

ok... i play guitar.. i'm not the best... i never will be... but i like it and i have fun... when some one comes to me and asks me questions.. "how did you learn to play... how did you play that?... can you teach me...?" i take that as the biggest compliment ever... and my answer is always to cater to thier needs so that one day if they get big... i can say "i taught them that!!!"

infringing... never... some one who learns is learning or willing to learn is NEVER infringing...

you're a awesome person, you got a ton of shti going for you tap... take advantage of it... be fore it is to late...

and one day when your all big and shit... maybe i'll let ya me...

[shadegray]

Anyone here a personal trainer or a physical therapist. I'm thinking of going back to school and changing my major AGAIN! I really enjoy working out, training and eating right and I think I might enjoy helping other people out. Anyone here know what kind of degree/ certifications you need? Does it vary from state to state? Any suggestions on where to get experience (bigger chain gyms vs smaller private owned etc)

Help please!

Yeah. I'm a personal trainer. Worked 24's, a local place called miekos, and the university gym now. Physical therapy is completely different. You need a masters degree and a license. Anybody can be a trainer. I was one of like 3 guys at the gym who had an actual certification. Everyone else was just working on theirs. We all had pins that said we were certified though. You need to get certified at NASM, ACE, ACSM, or NSCA. Those are the big 4. ACSM is the best one if you're already going to school for some sort of related degree, since that's a pre-requisite for applying for their cert. You can get a training job pretty much anywhere with that. I have the NASM. 24 hour and ballys forces you to get an apex cert. It's a bullshit cert from a supplement company. Nobody actually is there forcing you to complete it though. I sold my apex crap on ebay. They charged me like $300, I got 30 bucks for it.

Once you got the job, you're fine. Half the gyms just hire you based on your looks and personality, they'll provide the cert if they like you. You sound a little shy and timid saying you're not wanting to bother the trainers or gym owners, but be confident and outgoing when you meet them. Ask for the fitness manager and make a good impression. It's the FM that hires and supervises the trainers, the general manager isn't involved much. It's actually a pretty cool job mostly. You set your own hours and make your own schedule, so you can work whenever you feel like it. 24 hour and the large places sucks. Especially if you hate high pressure sales like I do. They set you up for I-1s, which is a sales pitch session they trick new members into. At 24, they literally tell you that you shouldn't let anybody walk out the door without having purchased some sessions from you. There's a counter you have to memorize for every excuse in the book. Some of them are pretty ridiculous. Client wants to talk to his wife first before dropping big cash on training? Question his manliness, "who wears the pants in your relationship?" Doesn't have the cash? "We got payment plans."

24 pays a pretty good commission. The smaller places have a better floor rate. You're usually getting $20 or so bucks for the hour you've got someone to train. Near minimum wage when you're working the floor. You'll have to sell supplements too at chain gyms, you've got a supplement quota. I think it's around 2k for 24, 1500 for miekos a month, so I guess they're all pretty close to there. Paychecks can be unpredictable. I don't reccomend being a trainer as a permanent career. It's fun money while you're young, you meet cool people working the floor, set your own hours, and the pay can be pretty good when you've got clients lined up. Later on, if you get more advanced you figure out personal training is a rip off and that kind of took the fun out of it for me. The thing is t he processes are not fully understood by science and the best training style for an individual depends on muscle fiber type distribution, which is impossible for you to figure out. The certification process basically just teaches you a formula that you modify slightly for each client, but it's not really personal in my opinion. Besides, physical therapists make twice the salary trainers do.
But I'm getting tired of talking now. You can ask me if you got anything else you want to know about training.

[2000 SS #1305]

I'm currently working on my certification through NSCA. Once I become a CPT, I'll continue and go for my CSCS test (certified strength and conditioning specialist) in October next year. I'm a middle school science teacher now and once I pass the CPT test, I'll do it on the side at first. I'm not going to quit my job to be a trainer exclusively (unless some awesome opportunity arises). Shadegray has some good advice. What he posted is similar to what I've been hearing. If this is something you want to do, definately go for it. If you need help, just PM me.

[transamprincess98]

Thanks so much for the info.
My gym is a 24 hour gym and is I would guess 90% men. It's mostly "meatheads" I honestly would not fit in there as a trainer. I am looking to do this on the side for additional income. I also think it would keep me motivated to stay in shape.
I'm really not at all shy. I just don't feel my gym is the best fit for me to work in. I would not be at all good for the guy trying to get big. I'd be a better fit to women or men looking to trim down and tone, since I have my own success story. I'm upbeat and a little nutty at the same time so I thought this might be a good option

[AKIRA]

Thanks so much for the info.
My gym is a 24 hour gym and is I would guess 90% men. It's mostly "meatheads" I honestly would not fit in there as a trainer. I am looking to do this on the side for additional income. I also think it would keep me motivated to stay in shape.
I'm really not at all shy. I just don't feel my gym is the best fit for me to work in. I would not be at all good for the guy trying to get big. I'd be a better fit to women or men looking to trim down and tone, since I have my own success story. I'm upbeat and a little nutty at the same time so I thought this might be a good option

Fuck the meatheads. In most cases, 90% of trainers know shit. The 10% (like myself ) keep up with current training techinques, supplements, latest diet fads, and dispeling myths.

You being a woman would attract future female clients and especially members. If youre not comfortable working there, theres always another place, such as your home!

When I first got certified (from NASM as well), I trained clients at their homes. I didnt really advertise, in fact, I met all of them at bars! Because of my physique and personality, I could sell myself at a cheesecake factory. in any case, when you trina your clients at home or a private studio, its all cash in YOUR pocket.

Its all about selling yourself.

[shadegray]

Thanks so much for the info.
My gym is a 24 hour gym and is I would guess 90% men. It's mostly "meatheads" I honestly would not fit in there as a trainer. I am looking to do this on the side for additional income. I also think it would keep me motivated to stay in shape.
I'm really not at all shy. I just don't feel my gym is the best fit for me to work in. I would not be at all good for the guy trying to get big. I'd be a better fit to women or men looking to trim down and tone, since I have my own success story. I'm upbeat and a little nutty at the same time so I thought this might be a good option

Don't worry about that. Only a fraction of clients who actually buy training are guys looking to get big. They all think they already know it all. It's usually older people, fat women, and some yuppy chicks. Don't be worried about not fitting in with the muscular male trainers. Girls do really well, a lot of clients are intimidated by the muscular male trainers and prefer being trained by a girl. The only girl trainer we had at miekos was our top seller. The rest of us buff typical trainer guys just scraped by around the minimum quota. Gyms are even putting out ads looking specifically for female trainers. The fit, tan, good looking girls have a big plus, girls want to look like them and guys want to be around them so they usually have lots of clients and lots of I-1s. We even had one russian chick who barely spoke english, no certification or anything but she was super hot and fit and still got the job. But I had the training with an older woman who did really well too. Your sales skills is going to be huge. Gyms will keep around a trainer who teaches unsafe technique, and fucks everything up as long as they can make the sales and get them the money. You really need to be confident and believe in yourself to make a convincing presentation when you're doing the sales. Why do you think you wouldn't be right for a guy looking to build mass? Because you're a girl and don't lift heavy weights or want to put on a lot of muscle yourself? Don't tell yourself stuff like that. If you have the knowledge and ability, you can coach anybody. You don't need to be able to bicep curl what he's benching. If you can handle 10% of it, you can spot him. You're just lightening the load he has to lift a little on his last rep, or last few if you're doing specific techniques, so he can put it back up. I've trained 12 year kids and 60 year old lawyers with back problems as well as the mass wanting guys you're talking about. I don't have to be them or their physique goal model to know how to train them.

24 and Ballys are supposed to be at the bottom when it comes to how they treat their trainers though. If you have other gyms around, I'd go look into those before applying at either of those.