Don’t like working in an office, having to wear a suit and sitting through boring meetings? Do you want to have a PT career to be able to make a real difference in people’s health? If your answers are yes, then read how to become a successful PT.
Being a personal trainer, you can make a living doing what you love. You can share your passion for health and fitness to make a real difference in their lives. The best thing about the job is it’s totally within your reach.
At Fit Education, we will help you to gain the skills, knowledge, experience and qualification you need to have a successful personal training career. Here’s what you need to know about how to become a PT.
The Benefits of Becoming a Personal Trainer
Working as a personal trainer can be a very satisfying and rewarding career. Here are some of the benefits to expect:
- Job satisfaction – By helping others to get healthy, you can experience the satisfaction of helping others making a positive difference in their lives.
- Flexible working hours – Whether you work in the gym or self-employed, personal trainers can have flexible work hours so you can fit work in around your family and other commitments.
- Alternative career – It’s never too late to start working as a personal trainer. If you are unhappy in your current job, you can complete an online course and step into your new career after qualification.
- Limitless career paths – Work with kids in a community program, move overseas, start your own business or specialise in professional athletic development. Personal training is a job with lots of avenues for career growth.
- Live a healthy life – Personal training is a physical job. Monitoring, motivating and helping other people get fitter, you automatically get fit and healthy.
Steps to Becoming a Personal Trainer
So, you want to become a personal trainer. Welcome to the team! Here’s how to get started:
1 – Choose a Training Provider
There are many PT training providers out there. Choose one that’s:
- Nationally recognised – All the courses offered by Fit Education are recognised throughout Australia so you have a qualification to get a job anywhere in Australia. We’ve even helped past students to find work overseas.
- Suits your lifestyle – Do you want to study while you’re working? Look after your kids at home? Travel the world before you begin a full-time career? With online study options, you can complete a Fit Education course any way you like.
- Includes a practical component – By including hands-on learning and assessment days, you’ll qualify with the confidence to get out there and start coaching straight away.
- Taught by qualified and experienced lecturers – To become a great PT, you’ll want to learn from the best. Our staff are qualified fitness professionals with years of work experience. They have trained professional athletes, school students, operated their own businesses and taught at universities.
- Offers a valuable employment network – As a Fit Education graduate, you’ll have access to a wide range of contacts to connect you to jobs in commercial gyms, personal training studios, cruise ships and sports clubs.
- Recognises prior learning – If you’ve studied or worked in a related field, we can help you to apply for recognition of prior learning so you don’t need to relearn what you already know.
- Offers flexible payment – We can organise a monthly payment plan for your course fees. Or, if you’re ready to pay upfront, we offer a discount.
In 2019 of graduates at Fit Education:
- 96.6% were employed or enrolled in further study after training.
- 92.0% were satisfied with the overall quality of their training.
- 91.2% would recommend the training and 93.3% would recommend their training
provider. (NCVER report)
2 – Choose Your Roadmap and/or Speciality
Once you’ve decided on your fitness course provider, it’s time to choose a course and/or area of speciality. At Fit Education, we provide six programs of study:
- Certificate II in Sport and Recreation – Work as a coach or recreation assistant.
- Certificate III in Fitness – Become a gym or group fitness instructor.
- Certificate IV in Fitness – Industry standard for personal trainers.
- Diploma of Fitness – Become a gym manager or group fitness manager.
- Diploma of Sport – Advanced course for anyone who’s serious about creating an exceptional fitness. career, specialising in strength and conditioning and working with elite athletes.
- Certificate in Nutrition – Fit Education – Learn the skills to become a Nutrition consultant and obtain professional registration and insurance through the IICT.
3 – Complete Your Fitness Course
Once you enroll, work through the course material at your own pace. A lecturer will pair up with you to answer any questions. You also need to attend hands-on practical learning and assessment days to work with other students.
Many of our students work in the fitness industry while they’re completing their course with us. Consider a side career option as a fitness model or work as a recreation assistant or fitness instructor as you complete higher qualifications.
4 – Get Insured
Once you’re qualified, you’ll need to obtain the relevant insurances before you start working as a fitness professional. We recommend registering with AUSactive- Latest news and information from Fitness Australia (Australia’s largest health and fitness association) which includes insurance cover in a yearly fee.
5 – Maintain Certifications
Although your Fit Education qualification doesn’t expire, you’ll need to maintain your first aid and CPR certifications throughout your career. You will also need to stat up to date by completing Continuing Education Courses (CEC’s). Fit Education offers a Nutrition Shortcourse and Level 1 Strength and Conditioning Articulation.
You may also want to consider expanding your professional qualification and skill profile by completing specialist health and fitness courses in nutrition, massage therapy or yoga.
Tips to Help You Become a Successful PT
At Fit Education, we want to equip you with all the tools, knowledge and experience you need to build a successful career in fitness.
We recommend that you:
- Train to become a confident and people’s person – As a personal trainer, your success will largely come from being able to develop strong, long-term relationships with current and potential clients. This will be easier for you if you’re already a confident person who’s comfortable talking to people you don’t know. But if that’s not you, don’t worry, these are skills you can learn.
- Develop exceptional communication skills – To attract new clients and build relationships with current ones, you’ll need exceptional communication skills. You’ll also need to practice clearly explaining correct movement patterns, principles of anatomy and nutritional guidelines to effectively train clients.
- Lead by example – Practice what you preach by exercising regularly and eating healthily. Show people what healthy looks like and in doing so you will have a better understanding of the struggles and successes of healthy living. Experience naturally attracts attention!
- Be inspiring – Learn to motivate and inspire others to make healthy lifestyle changes by sharing the benefits of exercise and good nutrition.
- Try lots of different methods of training – This will help you to develop your general knowledge of fitness so you can develop fun and effective programs specific to your clients’ needs.
- Learn how to train special populations – Many personal trainers don’t know how to train people with different exercise and nutritional needs. Set yourself apart by learning how to work with special populations such as pregnant women, people needing injury rehabilitation or those who have a disability.
Salary Expectations for Australian Personal Trainers
Working as a PT in Australia, you’ll enjoy a somewhat uncapped earning potential. Your ability to grow your income will depend on your decision to work as a regularly employed or self-employed PT, your experience, specialist skills and entrepreneurial mindset.
During 2019, Payscale.com listed the average salary for an Australian personal trainer at $52,000/year. Pay rates vary depending on experience and location with higher-paying fitness professionals earning an average of $60/hour or $125,000/annum.
Outlook for the Australian Fitness Industry
The health and fitness industry in Australia is currently booming with an aging population, rising rates of obesity-related diseases and a general increase in health consciousness. As such, there’s never been a better time to get qualified and start developing your own successful fitness business. Check out the latest personal trainer and gym manger employment statistics.
If you’re interested in becoming a personal trainer and help others to achieve their health and fitness goals, contact us today.
With a range of nationally certified qualifications, excellent teachers, flexible learning options and a valuable employment network, Fit Education is the first step in your rewarding PT career in fitness.
If you found this article useful, you may also enjoy reading How To Become a PT, or Know Your Fitness and Gym Lingo.
If you have are interested in studying to work in the Fitness Industry, you can schedule a phone call with our Careers Adviser, just click in the image below.
