Becoming a Personal Trainer

The book I read to research this post was Becoming a Personal Trainer for Dummies by Linda Formichelli et al which is an excellent book which I bought from kindle. A lot of this book is concerned with the nitty gritty of being a self employed personal trainer in other words running a business. If you apply for a job as a personal trainer at a gym they will expect you to be certified so that's your first step. Once you are qualified it's a good idea to get a job at a gym as you can gain contacts & experience. When you become self employed look at your personality if you are a bit like a sergeant major maybe you should be training athletes, if you are quite patient & are happy to explain things perhaps you should be working with children & adults who are new to gym training. Some personal trainers are self employed but pay a fee to a gym so they can be based there. A lot of people have a gym at home so if you don't mind travelling that's an option. Still other self employed personal trainers will rent somewhere & buy their own machines etc. It's important you have some sort of fat/muscle composition testing so you can start your client off at the right level of workout. To start with get them to use the machines rather than freestanding weights because it's easier & they are less likely to get injured. It may be if someone has special needs that you need to get permission & advice from their doctor before they embark on any kind of gym work. You will find even if you don't employ any other trainers you will have to employ other people like accountants & electricians at least from time to time.