Train Now, Earn More

Skim the newspapers long enough and you’ll see it: another report that we’re all getting too fat. It's a common sight nowadays on TV news to see supersized people in the streets.

Obesity has become a major problem in North America, with a growing percentage of both young and old weighing too much. If it wasn't the case, then why do we see endless lines of "fat-free" or "low-fat" products on the grocery shelves?

Unfortunately, these lower-fat foods aren’t working. Waistlines are still expanding at an alarming rate.

Become A Personal Trainer
But that’s where you come in: You’re looking for a new career. You want to earn a stable income in a growing field. It’s time for you to become a personal trainer.

Talented personal trainers with a strong client base can make upwards of $50,000, $70,000 or more a year. And as we struggle with our obesity problem, it doesn’t look like there will be a decline in the number of potential clients any time soon.

But how do you become a personal trainer? Investing in a fitness training course is the best jumpstart to your career. By doing that, you'll get certified. It is way more important than you could possibly be thinking: Fitness professionals are very much recognized due to their certifications, helping them attract more clients.

A good place to start learning about certification is American Fitness Professionals & Associates. This organization put up courses specially made for trainers who want to be accredited.

Earning this certification should pay off. According to the fitness association, Certified Professional Trainers working for themselves can earn to 5 an hour. Also, certified trainers can freely reap the fruits of their own businesses because they have total control over decision-making, recruitment, and income-generation.

Low Requirements

The good news is that there aren’t many hurdles for you to overcome if you want to take a certification course. American Fitness Professionals & Associates only asks that you be at least 18 years old and have a high school diploma or the equivalent of one.

During a personal trainer course, you’ll learn how to best identify your clients’ needs, and then how to develop exercise routines that help them achieve their goals. You’ll learn how to recruit new clients and how to market your business most effectively. Basically, you’ll learn everything you need to know to start earning money as a personal trainer.

So what are you waiting for? Start a little research on the internet and look for your nearest fitness professional. Courses offered by the American Fitness Professionals & Associates start as low as $370. That's not much of a financial investment if you consider the stable career you'll be getting in the long run.

Personal Training Jobs are booming; are you cashing in?
Here’s the inside scoop on salaries, courses, and certification training.

Trainer Salaries: Are You Making Enough?

If you’re making the average personal trainer salary, they say you're poor.

It's not nice. But it’s true. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average personal trainer works long, hard hours to make about thirty-five thousand dollars a year. That's not a lot of cash to spend on fancy cars and 52" plasma TVs. In fact, for many big cities, that income isn’t even enough for a decent house and nightly mac-and-cheese dinners.

But there is good news.

Thirty-five thousand dollars a year is only the average salary for average personal trainers. But are you "average"?

If your answer is "yes, I'm average", then there's really nothing I can do to help you. But there's no reason you can't make far more than what the government says most trainers take home annually. All you need is some business knowhow.

The secret key to making more money as a personal trainer is really a secret to no one: you need lots of clients. And to get more clients, you have to market yourself.

You're probably staring in disbelief at your monitor right now and thinking, "marketing? I'm a fitness professional, not a salesman!" And you have every right to feel that way. You didn't become a personal trainer so you could put up with things like market research and demographics; you became a personal trainer to help people, and possibly make some decent money along the way.

The bottom line is, if you don't step up to the plate and put some time each month into marketing, you'll be stuck making that average salary.

Don’t panic.

I won't mince words here: marketing isn't easy. That said, it doesn't have to leave you penniless: the spread of the World Wide Web in recent years has made sure of that.

The key for fitness experts hoping to boost their income is the Internet. All trainers should create their own websites and blogs: these sites should feature a schedule of available fitness classes, testimonials from satisfied clients, short videos of exercise classes and your latest discounts or special offers.

Trainers should try to promote their web homes through the social networking giants such as Twitter and Facebook. It’s relatively easy to collect friends on either site; try for both if you can. Once trainers have a large enough database of these friends, they can send them regular announcements on current events in the world of fitness.

And don't think the Internet has completely killed offline ways to market your business. A good fitness trainer should help out their local community as well. They should talk at local hospitals and YMCAs. They should hold free group exercise sessions at their local Rotary Clubs or park district facilities. Basically, a fitness trainer should be willing to do anything and everything to get their name out there.

You shouldn’t skimp on the traditional advertising, either. In this recession, you can purchase advertising space in your local newspaper for relatively cheap - and a weekly ad can prove to be a wise investment.

I understand that all this marketing takes time, and that you’d rather spend your working hours helping clients shape up. But you can’t afford not to market yourself and your business. The only way you can make sure that your salary continues to grow is by expanding your client base. Who wants to work the kind of hours that personal trainers log only to make thirty-five thousand dollars a year? To me, that just isn’t worth it.

Personal Trainer Jobs are booming; are you cashing in? Here’s the inside scoop on salaries, courses, and certification training.