Personal training essentials: What you need day to day in the industry
A job in the fitness industry as a personal trainer isn’t always as it seams. Yes, we do spent time outdoors and people may be envious of this. They see us in shorts and t-shirt in the summer and they think its all glorious. We still have to have great time management, organisation of sessions & paperwork. All of this and we still go through the rained and cold all winter long. I think we deserve the sunshine when it appears from time to time.
As a mobile personal trainer in Windsor there are some day to day essentials that I use all the time. And if your planning to do personal training anytime soon you might want to take note of these.
Watch
One of the most used pieces of technology during the day is my watch. I use it to make sure a session is going to time to fit in all that I have planned. Finishing on time is a necessity because you will have a client booked in straight after another time to time. I also use the stop watch on my wrist to time rest periods and workout time for tabata routines.
Winter jacket / summer jacket
In the winter it can become very cold, especially when spending lots of time outdoors. There isn’t a day in the winter where I don’t have a thick fleece or jacket on. I might be working outside with ice on the floor in -5 degrees, I have to be warm.
In the summer its more of a precaution to have a rain coat with me. Just a small one does the job nicely. I pack it into my North Face duffle with all my portable equipment.
Shorts / track pants
I wear shorts all year long, its one of the body parts that don’t usually get cold. It has to be passed 0 degrees for me to wear track pants. It’s good to have both in hand just incase. I keep a spare pair of both in my car. This can be for if i get rained on in the park and need to get changed.
Hat and gloves for winter
There can be a lot of coaching going on during a session, Focusing on how a client is moving is part of making them move better. I can’t have a distractions like cold hand or ears, so I keep them covered up. I buy something built for harsh conditions usually from a outdoor shop.
Duffle bag or ruck sack.
The duffle bag has the same impact as the watch. I need a big enough bag to carry all my portable equipment in. I use a North Face basecamp duffle. This bag is waterproof, tough, reasonably sized and I can carry it on my back. I can’t be carrying my equipment by hand, I don’t have enough hand room to carry more whilst carrying the weights already.
Laptop and phone
As I mentioned before a personal trainer has paperwork to do. This could vary from working on a blog like I am now, emailing clients to keep up to date and other various financial paperwork. A mobile personal trainer can find themselves far away from home in the day. So spending some time in a local coffee shop is in the daily routine to keep all the paperwork up to date. If you can’t get to your laptop on a busy day then your phone will be your go to gadget for emailing and contacting.