An apprentice personal trainer creates one-on-one training programmes for their clients, encouraging and aiding them to achieve their goals.
Clients may want to lose weight or gain muscle, and as a personal trainer, you will teach and support them in exercising efficiently via routines and individualised programmes. In addition, clients will be guided and advised on a choice of workout equipment, courses, and weights.
Fitness teacher and gym instructor are similar careers, but a personal trainer has extra fitness credentials that enable them to provide consumers with specialised health and exercise suggestions.
Responsibilities
Throughout your apprenticeship, you may help:
- help clients set short-term and long-term fitness goals
- plan a fitness programme to help clients achieve their goals
- teach, motivate and coach clients in how to follow their programmes safely and effectively
- give advice on health, nutrition and lifestyle changes
- help clients with their workouts
- check and record clients’ progress, using methods like measuring heart rate and levels of body fat
- promote your services and do business admin tasks if you are self-employed.
Salary
A large proportion of personal trainers work freelance (self-employed) and are therefore paid by the hour for each session they undertake.
- Freelance instructors can expect to earn between £20 and £40 an hour.
- For those employed by a gym or similar, expect to start on a salary between £14,000 and £16,000, rising to between £20,000 and £30,000 with experience.
Working hours
Working hours vary widely depending on whether you are employed by a gym or work for yourself. To meet your client’s needs, you’ll need to be flexible; therefore, you’ll most likely work late at night, early in the morning, and on weekends. It’s common to work 12-hour days while developing your customer base.
Working environment
You could work at a fitness centre or at a client’s home.
Your working environment may be outdoors some of the time.
Qualifications
Qualifications you can achieve as an apprentice personal trainer include:
- Level 3 Personal Trainer – Entry requirements for this level include 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship. This qualification will take 15 months to complete.
Skills
On a personal trainer apprenticeship, you’ll learn:
- customer service skills
- the ability to teach people how to do something
- the ability to work on your own
- physical skills like movement, coordination, dexterity and grace
- knowledge of psychology like theories of motivation
- knowledge of teaching and the ability to design fitness programmes
- physical fitness and endurance
- patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
- to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device.
Employers
There are different types of employer you could work for. These include:
- leisure centres
- gyms and personal training studios
- health clubs
- hotels, resorts or spas
- cruise lines
- health care charities
- the armed forces
- self-employed or freelance work in a gym or client’s home
- a large organisation which provides employees with workplace fitness facilities.
Professional development
Personal trainers often progress via specialisation or diversification. You may train in various skills and possibilities to provide to your clientele. Among them are yoga, Pilates, nutrition, kettlebells, aerobics, pre-and post-natal exercise, circuit training, and workout advice.
A course that leads to membership in a recognised society, such as REPS, CIMSPA, or NRPT, will allow you to develop your profession. Several universities offer these certifications as part of their degree or postgraduate programmes.
Career prospects
Although it is possible to start your own personal training business right after certification, many trainers work for an employer first and then branch out after they have a stable client base.