Now that I’m a regular gym rat I’ve started quizzing the personal trainers in the gym about their businesses – I just can’t help myself I quiz everyone I meet about their business! I was surprised to find that even personal instructors in a small sleepy Wiltshire town can charge up to £65 per hour. However after a quick browse of the Internet I found the governments careers advice site which claims that the average freelance personal trainer earns between £20 and £40 per hour and employed personal trainers make between £18,000 and £40,000 per year.

That’s quite a reasonable income considering there are no legally required qualifications! That said most gyms will require you to have completed a course that qualifies you for level 3 entry on the Register of Exercise Professionals (REPs) and I suspect the better paying clients will want to see some evidence that you know what you’re talking about.

Ok so the money is good, but how do you become a personal trainer?

How to become a personal trainer

Just start calling yourself one! It’s that simple!

However it’s not that simple. Firstly you’ll need to be in good physical shape yourself. If you don’t look fit and healthy then I doubt you’ll convince many people that you can make them fit and healthy. Next you’ll need to know how to train people. So although qualification isn’t a legal requirement, I’d strongly suggest that you attain it in order to ensure you are able to offer a good service – plus you’re unlikely to be able to get insurance cover for your personal training business if you’re not suitably qualified.

Assuming you’re fit and healthy and you’re suitably qualified then the next step is to find some clients. So you’ll need to start reading about marketing a small business (a good place to start would be the marketing category on this site). Your first step however should be to tell EVERYONE you know, that you’re now offering a personal training service, then ask them if they’re interested or can refer on anyone else who might be interested.

Once you’ve got some clients it’s simply a matter of turning up on time, acting professionally and keeping the customer satisfied!

Useful references:

PT Cash – written by a personal trainer who was inspired by Business Opportunities and Ideas, it’s a comprehensive guide to becoming a personal trainer.

Start Your Own Personal Training Business provide a guide to starting a personal training business.

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