So you have decided to become a personal trainer? Awesome! These are a few tips that can help you get started on your new career path as well as give some general insight into what being a personal trainer entails.

First and foremost, what is a personal trainer? A Personal Trainer is defined as: “A person who helps improve a client’s fitness by setting goals and providing feedback and instruction on exercise technique, workout planning and nutrition”. Basically, your job is to help people reach their physical goals — getting stronger, losing weight or just general. That’s what personal training looks like on the surface. However, as I’ve been quoted many times before, “Personal training is about showing someone they can go far beyond what they set out to do. This starts in the gym and with physical changes. It transfers over into all aspects of life and we as trainers get to take part of this process”. Yes on the surface we work in gyms, wear sweat pants and spot people performing exercises but it really is so much more than that. It’s a process that takes time. It involves being able to read people, motivate them, educate them and guide them. You need to balance science, customer service, sales and physically execute on the gym floor. It is rewarding but not everyone can do it.

Here are three big but rudimentary concepts I work on with new trainers:

1. Rapport building

If we as trainers want to be successful we need to build trust and rapport with our clients. I like to start this process on the first day. We establish who we are, what we will accomplish together and how communication should happen throughout the process. All of my good results come from good communication thus establishing this foundation is crucial for me. If we build rapport, we create retention. If we create retention, we can generate long term results. Retention is what allows us to continue to show our skill set and put it to work. Without it, we won’t be changing any lives. You’ll hear me speak more about this, when I discuss the personal side of personal training!

2. Continued Education

The fitness industry changes every day in some way shape or form so being able to adapt is key. This means that you have to be hungry for knowledge and dedicated to your education. Basic personal training certifications and degrees are necessary to truly crack into the industry. However, you will soon learn you need to really push your education through different types of coursework and mentorships to establish yourself.

3. Be Authentic

I have used this before in previous blog posts, but that’s because its a foundation in my life and it MATTERS. Clients will be able to tell if you aren’t authentic. They can smell it from a mile away! If you want a client to trust you and follow your lead, they need to know that you are someone they can count on and not just another cheesy sales person in the gym. This is something that gets overlooked with new people getting into the industry. If you’re getting into personal training to make “a lot of money”, you won’t last! When I first started training clients and created my brand GlickFit, I was working for free. I absolutely love every second of personal training and I make sure that clients see that in every session whether it is at 6am or 6pm.

If you can establish these three things early on in your personal training career, it will open the doors to every other opportunity that comes along with this great industry. This is just three of many takeaways I have that can help you along the way. Keep reading and checking out my other blog posts for more info on how to start your personal training career!

Best of luck!

– Coach Kyle Glickman