Personal Trainers Navigating Career Challenges

“This is really valuable. Before the physical results became noticeable, what signs helped you believe the training was working — strength gains, progress photos, measurements, consistency, or something else? And what would have helped you set more realistic expectations in the beginning?”

“Just passed my (NASM) certified personal trainer exam on the first try! I purchased the bundle that also includes the corrective exercise specialist course and the nutrition course which would you guys recommend taking next? Also, if you are studying for your exam and you have any questions, please let me know. I’d love to help out some people! submitted by /u/Square_Ad_4195 [link] [comments]”

“Hey Friends! I’m looking for fun things you did to train yourself to stay in proper body mechanics. Got tips on specific workouts, or brain tricks you use? I know after school it can be easy to develop bad habits, and I want to mitigate that if possible. Up for any tips and information! submitted by /u/TranslatorComplex957 [link] [comments]”

“Hey everyone, I just wanted to post this to have a back and forth discussion about the field of PT. First, to explain where I am at. I am wrapping up my first clinical experience and am set to begin my 2nd year in my program. My clinical experience is 10 weeks and I have spent it at an urgent care PT clinic with workers compensation patients. I have really enjoyed it, I have a great relationship with my CI and I have learned a lot. While I have been here I have given the PT career a lot of thoug”

“Hey everyone! I have just been offered a position at a major gym chain here in Aus and it is a rental position. This will be my first job as a PT and I am 90% done on completing my Cert 4 in Fitness It is $300 a week which is roughly 4 clients. The job offer does include a 2 month rent free launch along with leads and training. I am just unsure of leaving my current job and putting my all into this during the 2 month launch, or do I got part time with my current job to ensure I have income whils”

“Been working in tech for years! Want to move to PT. For those who made a big change what was the biggest struggle? What’s your biggest advice? submitted by /u/sweet_sweetrevenge [link] [comments]”

“Hey guys, during a training session I jokingly called one of my clients "lazy" because she often doesn't push herself much during exercises and sometimes doesn't put in much effort. Despite that she always pays on time and consistently attends twice a week. Was calling a client once "lazy" even as a joke unprofessional? Should I be worried? submitted by /u/Low-Reaction6351 [link] [comments]”

“This is going to be interesting topic. There is two side of coin with this. End of the day your average potential are going to hire you for fat loss at the beginning and having some might be good for marketing. You got the other side where those that can afford your service aren't going to do what it takes to even get drastic transformation. I guess its also what your clientele is.If you market yourself as fat loss expert yeah you better have a lot of them. I also don't believe you'r”

“Hi, old man of 55 here 😊 just about to complete my level 3 PT course. I’ve trained for 20 years in gyms so thought it was something I would like to try. I enjoy reading about fitness, specifically weight lifting, and have built up a decent bit of knowledge over the years. I’ve also just signed up to a level 4 Nutrition course. My worry is I won’t make a living. I have a non- fitness related job but I want a change, I’m just terrified of giving that up and not being able to make a living as a PT”

“Hi guys, So a few years ago I became certified as a PT, but due to availability issues, never did get the chance to actually persue a career in the field. Recently, I've become recertified, and am ready to make my first attempt. Here's the thing. I have a zoom interview tomorrow morning with a very reputable gym, known for pretty heavy lifting, in fact.. I strength train, personally, and I look the part, but I'm also a woman of relatively small stature and frankly, I'm wondering”

Gamifying fitness definitely has an up and coming vibe - this looks great!

“I'm just getting my feet wet in the personal training world and would love to hear about other people's experiences. I have a bachelor's degree in Nutrition and Dietetics, and my own journey with fitness hasn't been straightforward. I've struggled with my weight, disordered eating, and body dysmorphia, so my relationship with exercise has definitely changed over the years. Over the past two years, I've truly fallen in love with strength training and being active. My emplo”

“I’m 28 and work as both a personal trainer and a nutritionist in Brazil. Lately I’ve been questioning my career path. My income depends almost entirely on selling my time, and there’s only so many hours I can work. On top of that, I don’t see much room to significantly increase my hourly rate in the city where I live. It makes me feel like I’ll eventually hit a ceiling unless I build or sell something that can scale beyond my own working hours. For those of you who’ve been in a similar situation”

“I mean all we got is our own anecdotal experiences to give advice by really. The math is obvious, if it was a logical/math question you sprint. Life is rarely that simple though and you’ve got to balance wealth with happiness. Over about 10 million or so another few million doesn’t change things until you get to a phenomenal number. I don’t know what that phenomenal number is however because I never reached it. I can tell you I hit a point where I was 2 million over “my number” and realized: dam”

“Does anyone here have experience training at Crunch? What was it like? Would you recommend for a newer trainer? Thank you! 🙏 submitted by /u/Many_Term2062 [link] [comments]”

“Hello everyone, I recently just passed my NASM CPT exam and just had my first interview today at an entry level gym. While this is super exciting, the fitness manager was a middle aged man and definitely gave me mixed signals. I currently do not have any experience training clients, but did let him know I did study kinesiology for about 2 years, in which we did hands on structured programming and role played in multiple classes. I also have trained a couple friends within these last couple month”

“I want to apologize, I am not a personal trainer but I am starting to head in that direction. I also know it's a career that chews up and spits out a lot of people, so am thinking a pragmatic way to explore this is to continue following my interest (/obsession) and plod away at quality learning material and experiment with my own training to gain practical learning before jumping off the ship of my current mid life career (with associated kids / family life, etc etc etc). Current interest is”

“Hello, I'm a physical therapist assistant looking into going into personal training. I'd love to be able to work with similar populations as I do at work now (neurological disorders, geriatrics, post-surgical, etc) rather than just standard personal training or athletic training. But my question is, is it worth it to get an MES cert? Or are there avenues from a standard CPT into working with more medical/post-rehab populations that would make more sense? And if becoming an MES is worth i”

“Gross anatomy lab wasn’t just memorizing. It changed how I see and cue the body. Anyone else? submitted by /u/Pokkiesmith [link] [comments]”

“graduated a year ago. i am currently working as a pt in a small gym but it’s a really weird way of working that we have here since all the clients are from all the workers (qe are 3) so basically it’s not really MY client because the workouts keep switching sine i don’t always have them. Anyways, i am probably gonna start in a new place next week and im gonna be earning more but also it’s gonna be way different and I’m scared to not be enough. Help me. submitted by /u/notanyonehere66”

“A little background about me, currently I am preparing for CAT but I have immense passion for fitness, I have been training consistently for the last three years and I have made significant progress from being a skinny dude to someone who has a strong physique,Beyond just the physical growth, the journey has helped me become a much more confident and social person. Because of this, I've always wanted to pursue something fitness-related, like becoming a personal trainer. I'm feeling reall”

“I am already NASM certified as a PT and am wondering if getting a GFIC would be worth it on top of it. I am pretty fresh so I’ll be working for commercial fitness gyms for at least a while. Anyone had both and it was useful? Anyone regretted it? submitted by /u/Obviously-an-Expert [link] [comments]”

“Hey guys so I'm thinking and kind of wanting to become a CPT. I'm multi-passionate and that includes fitness and health. I want to make sure I am getting a solid education that benefits the people I work with long term and prevents injury or harm. I've looked into the cpt programs out there and I've landed on a few that I want to go for: NSCA, NASM, and NPTI. So far I've heard nasm is the gold standard but the material is not effective or correct and will leave you crippled m”

“Hi! I'm Considering a bit of a life pivot and I recently had the idea of Getting certified as an ACE personal trainer and maybe getting the Precision Nutrition certification as well. Some background on me ( Sorry I know this is kind of a lot, I'm a talker, also I'm anxious and really trying to decide if this is a the right path for me so there's a lot here) : I'm 35 years old I graduated from college about 13 years ago and have struggled with direction my whole life. I got I”

“I know it’s nothing new, but I have 3 days available in my week outside of my small group PT sessions. I’m wondering if people feel it’s a good niche training people at their homes. I’m not in a stay at home mums kinda city. In Sweden both couples very much work. I’m thinking retired CEOs, hybrid professionals, high performers mothers on parental leave which can be 9 months here in Sweden and wealthy retires. Those who don’t want to drive to the city gym, use 2 or more hours out if their day str”

“Is the study program with the modules something that is required to be completed? Not that I don't want to complete it, but I do want to spend my time wisely studying in the most proactive way. submitted by /u/Ok_Food_7267 [link] [comments]”

“Hey everyone! I’ve been working as a personal trainer at a gym for the past few months and I’ve always had an interest in training clients in their own homes. I'd love to hear from people who've gone down this path: how you got started, what you like most about it, what mistakes you hit, and how you handle contracts, waivers, and policies. A few things I've already worked out: - Keeping my service area within 30 miles of my city - I looked at local gym PT pricing so I have a rate in”

“I’m a month and two weeks into PT, 21 clients in and currently at my busiest week of 33 hours of training sessions this week alone. I have my ups and downs, but always brought back to how good it feels after giving someone a great workout and hearing clients say things like “I’ve never worked out this intense before” And hearing clients I’ve trained since I started now seeing strength gains visible with their increase in weights lifted. So far the worst part about this job was management trying”

“Passed the CSCS today. Took about a month of hard studying (I'm a nerd). my degrees are unrelated and I don't work in the field, but I've been lifting for 25 years and I live this lifestyle. Made my studyhub public if anyone wants to use it. everything free of course, just wanted to pay it forward. (also, the nerd in me is proud of the site I built lol) liftaroo.app/cscs Happy to answer any questions about how I studied or give advice to folks! submitted by /u/ijustsigned”

“Hi! Has anyone taken the Ace group fitness exam and have any tips and tricks? Would anyone be willing to share study guides? I have a few I made as well. Have heard a wide range of level of difficulty so trying to super over prepare (: thanks in advance submitted by /u/betteryoulifecoachin [link] [comments]”

“Hi all, I am new to this community and looking to help my gym buddy get a job as a personal trainer. The guy really knows how to train hard and when he talks about fitness he's very inspiring. However, he's not that great at the whole job aspect of it, so I want to help him build a resume and apply to places. What should a personal trainer CV look like? Should we include a picture, education, his areas of expertise? I would really love some help regarding this.”

“Hello! I just quit my job working at my local rec center as a fitness associate and personal trainer (long story). My immediate supervisor at that job is awesome and referred me to work at the Y as a personal trainer. I wanted to see if anyone here has ever worked at the Y and what your experience was. I'm hoping it will be better than my previous job lol submitted by /u/cruelworld16 [link] [comments]”

“Hi everyone, I am a 26 year old woman and Ive been pondering getting a certificate in personal training for a long long time (my school uses the ACE) and im not sure if its meant for me. Ive asked so many advisors, prior PTs and they wont give me a straight answer. Me personally, I am somewhat introverted until I get comfortable (I know sales is a big portion of this career) I have a soft spot and do really well around older adults, elderly, and the disabled population”

“Ok so I just finished the NASM course. Still have to take the exam. And if you threw me into a gym right now and told me to train a client, I would have NO IDEA WHAT TO DO. I know it takes hands on experience and a lot more training and learning to really get the hang of this but, why do I feel so completely unprepared? Am I lousy at studying and retaining information, or was the course truly not enough? Anyone else feel this way? Feeling very discouraged and overwhelmed. Curious to know how oth”