Do you love working out and keeping fit? Would you like to work outside in the sunshine? How about being your own boss? Of course, there’s also earning money whilst helping people reaching their goals too. What’s not to like about personal training and being a Fulham personal trainer? These questions reflect some of the comments I get all of the time from clients. In many ways it’s great that they appreciate what I do, but the reality is that you only seem to sunny side of the job. Despite this, Colleges and private companies are churning out personal trainers at a rapid rate of knots. And who can blame them?
Myth Numero Uno: Personal Trainers earn loads of money
Statistics highlighting the earnings or personal trainers have been skewed by inflated sums posted by some training providers of personal training qualifications. In a bid to attract students, and therefore income, they often quote £90,000 per year as a potential salary for good personal trainers. Who wouldn’t be dazzled by that? Whether you’re fresh out of College or looking for a career change and know your way around a gym, it can be an attractive option. Yes, some personal trainers to the rich and famous may earn these figures and even higher. However, the reality is very different for most. When inflated estimates are taken out of the equation your average personal trainer is looking at £20,000 per annum. Many PT’s therefore need to supplement their income through other streams.
Myth Numero Duo: Combining your passion and career must be great
Hey! I’m a big believer in following your passions and finding a career doing something you love. And I love my job. However, it’s about way more than keeping fit. Looking great and loving your training is very different to coaching others towards their goals. Especially, if their goals differ from yours. To be an effective Fulham personal trainer you have to genuinely love working with people first and foremost. If you don’t sessions will drag and early 5am get ups will become intolerable. You also have to love coaching, because essentially that is what PT is – you are coaching someone else to get fit. And remember, not everyone wants to be like, and train like, you!
Myth Numero Trio: I can help everyone get fit
Absolutely not! Fact! You may know the principles of improving health and fitness, but this can be very different from the process of improving fitness in any one individual. if people were mechanical in their responses to training then the process would be easier but by no means easy. Different people present with unique challenges in terms of their circumstances, attitudes, knowledge and personality. And this is not to mention their varying biological make up. The very best Fulham personal trainer will know what they are good at and are able to build their clients accordingly. Experience and expertise then come to the fore as the fine tune their coaching and programming to the unique demands of any one client.
Oh and there is the small matter of these challenges:
- What is your niche? In order to make a career you have to better than the competition at delivering results. You cannot be all things to all clients.
- Your PT may be good but is the business model effective? You have a limited amount of time to sell so ensure that your admin processes are slick. Delivering sessions is easy but keeping up with the admin required beyond the sessions is the real challenge.
- Your typical client will want to train at all times of the day. This can make the work life balance difficult to achieve.
- Staying current and competitive – when you thought of the money you were thinking of the top Fulham personal trainer – once you’re out there you realise it’s saturated and how are you going to compete? It’s a daunting prospect
Any PT out there who is doing all of the above for themselves will know these things well. At NK Fitness we specialise in preparing our clients to be fit for life, whether they are a professional athlete or a work from home business owner. If you would like to know how we may be able to help you develop effective and sustainable lifestyle habits then please do not hesitate to contact us via our Fulham Personal Training page.