Fitness trainer: responsibilities of an instructor, pros and cons of the profession

Before starting to study the topic “how to become a fitness trainer?” It is necessary to understand that this fashionable and in-demand profession is not suitable for everyone. Despite the apparent simplicity and simplicity of the specialty, this work is primarily related to the process of forming and maintaining healthy lifestyle habits in people of different ages, sizes and social backgrounds.

What does it take to become a fitness trainer?
How to become a fitness trainer from scratch?
How can a girl become a fitness trainer?
Where to go to become a fitness trainer?
How to become a fitness trainer without education?
How to become a successful fitness trainer?

In this case, the instructor not only acts as a physical guide to the world of healthy lifestyle (drawing up a training program, teaching the principles of proper nutrition, monitoring the technique of doing exercises, adjusting the regime depending on success, etc.), but also motivates his students, demonstrating excellent preparation and excellent well-being .

History of the profession

The word fitness comes from the English verb “to fit,” which means “to be in good shape.” This direction of physical development appeared in the 20th century, and is now experiencing a period of rapid development.

Although if you look into history, you can see that individual lessons with the offspring of aristocratic families have been a common occurrence since ancient times. For boys, an instructor was hired whose duties included teaching the ward horse riding, fencing, shooting and physical education classes with him.

Starting from the 19th century, women began to be involved in physical education, and this concerned not only simple gymnastic exercises, but also high-performance sports. Nowadays, women are the main drivers of fitness development; more and more new types of activities are being developed for them.

Opinion.

At the moment, the profession of a trainer is discredited, now everyone can complete 2-3 month courses and beat themselves in the chest, claiming that they are a trainer, promote themselves on Instagram and photograph their body and their workouts in order to sell their minimal knowledge of the training process for much more money than they are worth.

Don't be fooled by pretty pictures; pay for the coach's head, not his body.

Over the past few years, due to the increased market, the fitness industry has required a large number of instructors and trainers, and universities, of course, have not been able to react in such a short time to graduate a sufficient number of specialists. In addition, the requirements for instructors and trainers are not clearly defined by law. In turn, due to such a high demand for trainers, fitness clubs have had to reduce their requirements for specialists and take risks to satisfy the needs of their members. Therefore, be extremely careful when choosing an instructor or trainer and remember that your health is at stake.

Description and characteristics of the profession

The profession of a fitness trainer is experiencing a boom in popularity. Many sports clubs, gyms, and sections are constantly opening in the country, in which people of all ages and levels of physical fitness train.

Fitness training can be very different, it is a very flexible system. A fitness trainer trains clients using a variety of techniques. The main thing is that the student is interested in studying and that after a certain time the result becomes noticeable.

Most men and some women who join the gym want to build muscle. Therefore, there are two main methods of strength training:

With the use of additional loads. This is working in the gym with barbells, dumbbells, and special exercise machines. A fitness trainer must correctly assess the client’s fitness and create an individual training program for him.
Using your own weight. This technique is based on various pull-ups, squats, push-ups and other exercises without additional weights. Such techniques are more in demand by women who want to improve their figure by pumping up their muscle corset. A striking example of this approach to training is training using loops.

A fitness trainer is also an aerobics trainer. This type of sports activity became very popular in the 80s of the last century, and now it has dozens of directions. The most famous of them are:

Classic aerobics. During classes, all the muscles of the body are well worked out, posture improves, and the cardiovascular system is strengthened.
Step aerobics. Students use only a small platform to perform a series of steps and jumps.
Aqua aerobics. A fitness instructor teaches students to perform exercises in water, which reduces the load on the skeleton and joints, but allows them to effectively work out the muscles. Good for older people.
Slide aerobics. For training, special shoes and a smooth track are used. Trainers teach clients to perform movements similar to those of speed skaters and skiers.
Pump aerobics. Classes take place in the gym using a special small barbell. Strength elements are used (squats, presses, bends), and everything is done quickly and to the music.

Women can improve their figure and stretch by engaging in many types of physical activity. Shaping is good for losing excess weight and forming a beautiful figure. Fitball and Bosu use a large ball and a hemisphere, respectively. Pilates, stretching, callanetics and flex help stretch muscles and develop body flexibility. Various types of yoga help to harmonize the physical and spiritual components of a person.

When talking about fitness, we cannot fail to mention dancing. With a little training, a dancer can become a fitness instructor and teach Latin, half dance (pole dancing), Zumba, funk or belly dancing.

How to become a successful fitness trainer?

As we found out, it is possible to become a fitness trainer without education. What does it take to be in demand, effective and highly paid as an employee in the field of sports and healthy lifestyle?

The main thing in increasing the instructor’s expertise and salary is gaining experience and the ability to adapt to different working conditions. The more clients who are different from each other and have real results, the easier it is for him to justify the price of his services.

The results are achieved both by the client’s hard work and the deep knowledge of his mentor, authority and motivator. Here again it is necessary to mention the importance of an integrated approach to work and continuous professional development.

Directions, specialties and educational institutions according to the profile of training

You can study to become a fitness trainer in secondary specialized and higher educational institutions. As such, fitness education is a rarity in the list of specialties, but there are a number of areas that will become a good basis for acquiring the profession of a fitness trainer: “Physical education”, “Physical education and health technologies”, “Fitness technologies”, “Sports training system” "

You can also study one of the medical specialties, and then improve your qualifications through courses. Studying at a medical school or university provides in-depth knowledge of human anatomy and physiology, necessary to work as a trainer.

In principle, to work in a gym it is not at all necessary to have any diploma; a certificate of completion of short-term courses is sufficient. However, most sports club managers require applicants to have appropriate education.

To quickly gain basic knowledge and become a fitness trainer, you can enroll in a school, technical school or college, for example:

Moscow City Open College;
Ekaterinburg College of Physical Culture of the Ekaterinburg Institute of Physical Culture (branch) of the Ural State University of Physical Culture;
College of Bashkir State University named after. M. Akmulla;
Stavropol Olympic Reserve School (college);
West Siberian State College (Tyumen).

A higher level of knowledge can be obtained at universities. This is for example:

Saratov National Research State University named after. N.G. Chernyshevsky. At the Institute of Physical Culture and Sports, you can gain knowledge on health technologies, motor recreation, theory and teaching methods;
Russian State Vocational Pedagogical University (Ekaterinburg). Here you can study in the specialty “physical education and health services”;
The Siberian State University of Physical Culture and Sports (Omsk) graduates bachelors with a specialization in “Physical Culture” in various sports;
The Volgograd State Academy of Physical Culture has a specialization in fitness aerobics among the areas of training for trainers.

The education of a fitness trainer, along with his communication skills, often becomes a decisive factor for the client. Every person values his health, so he wants to entrust the care of it to a professional.

If your studies at a technical school or university did not work out, but you have a great desire to train, you should take short-term courses, the choice of which is quite wide. You can recall the Ben Weider College of Fitness and Bodybuilding, the Moscow Higher School of Fitness, the Federation of Fitness Aerobics of Russia, Educational, etc.

What does it take to become a fitness trainer?

To become an effective and successful instructor, it is important to have the following skills and qualities:

Excellent endurance.

Hours of training with successive groups or individual students is a serious, exhausting physical activity that you need to be prepared for.

Communication skills and love of communication.

The ability to find a common language with completely different personalities is one of the key skills of a specialist, since he has to meet and establish contact with new people every day.

A fit figure.

With his appearance, the instructor must motivate clients to reach their goals, as well as clearly demonstrate their qualifications and professional skills.

Purposeful and good learner.

Even in order to just start working in your profile, you need to undergo long, serious training. The minimum level is licensed courses, but prestigious clubs that care about their image only accept instructors with higher or secondary specialized education. Ideally – professional athletes (candidate of masters of sports and masters of sports). If a young specialist is not one, he will have to constantly develop: deepen his knowledge and expand his competencies.

Willingness to work irregular hours.

The main hours of classes are evenings and weekends, i.e. free time for people with a regular (office) schedule. Of course, the instructor has a workload during the day, but it is insignificant.

Professional Responsibilities

A fitness trainer usually performs the following duties:

searching and attracting a client, assessing his physical fitness and health status;
setting together with the mentee a goal to strive for;
motivating him for purposeful regular exercises;
drawing up an individual training program and its constant adjustment depending on the results achieved;
establishing the correct technique for performing exercises, including through personal demonstration;
development of individual recommendations on daily routine and nutrition;
provision of necessary equipment and compliance with safety precautions when performing exercises;
providing first aid if necessary.

In addition, to maintain clients' interest in exercise, you need to regularly change exercises. Mastering fashionable training trends will attract new people to work out in the gym.

Where to go to become a fitness trainer?

When choosing an educational organization, you should pay attention to the following points:

Popularity and reputation of the training center.

Before enrolling, it is recommended to read reviews from graduates of the institution. As practice shows, the more people strive to get into a certain school, the better the program is designed there. Moreover, a resonant and authoritative name of an educational organization will help you quickly get a job after completing the course.

Teaching staff.

Obviously, training with world-famous masters of sports and recognized mentors (international judges, national champions, etc.) will help you better learn the basics of specialization, regardless of the initial level of training.

Training period.

To become a fitness trainer, you need to complete a minimum of 5-week courses with passing several final exams, since 20 days of training with one control test is clearly not enough for competent independent work.

In this regard, it is worth noting the educational programs from the Modern Science and Technology Academy. For more than six years, CHTA has been offering advanced training and professional retraining courses in the field of “Sports and Fitness,” guaranteeing quality education and a high level of competencies.

Who is it suitable for?

To become a fitness trainer, you first need to love the sport and working with a variety of people. In addition, the advantages of good trainers include the following qualities: the ability to win someone over, perseverance and patience, goodwill and sociability, energy and optimism, stress resistance and willpower, discipline, responsibility.

Of course, the coach must be in excellent athletic shape, otherwise people will not believe in his abilities. He must be able to find an approach to each client, explain his requirements as clearly as possible and convince that the person is capable of doing this. Personal example is the basis of the lesson.

It is also important to have extensive knowledge of physiology and anatomy, dietetics, and biochemical processes occurring in the human body under stress. Also, a mentor is a personal teacher and psychologist who can understand the student’s fears and concerns.

The positive aspects of the profession are interesting work, maintaining your athletic shape, the opportunity to earn good money and gain new knowledge. Disadvantages: fatigue from daily physical activity, stress from dealing with dissatisfied clients, long working hours, since many can only train in the evenings.

How to become a fitness trainer without education?

Becoming a fitness trainer from scratch (for both a girl and a man) in modern realities is not at all difficult. To do this, you need to decide on the direction of work, analyze the offers available on the full-time and distance education market, choose a training center and carefully work out the program provided for mastering.

The answer to the frequently asked question “how to become a group fitness trainer?” duplicates the above-described scheme: first of all, you need to undergo training in the field (usually it lasts a little longer) and receive a specialist certificate.

Documents certifying completion of additional education courses are very important when finding employment, because they:

Confirm qualifications;
Increases loyalty of both the management of the sports club and clients;
Demonstrate specialization.

Prospects for the profession

The number of gyms across the country is growing by leaps and bounds. This is a fairly promising area of activity that can bring good income. Therefore, the words “I’m studying to become a fitness trainer” no longer evoke a condescending smile from the interlocutor.

If you still have even the slightest doubt that the profession of a fitness trainer is right for you, then we strongly recommend taking a career guidance test from Profguide . It costs mere pennies, and at the same time allows you to avoid mistakes that can go in the wrong direction and cripple your entire life. Find out more >>

The fitness trainer is responsible for the client's results

A trainer is, first of all, a teacher, therefore the client’s result depends on the quality and effectiveness of his work. And this, believe me, is a huge responsibility. A good fitness instructor always cares about his students, sincerely wants to help them, comes up with an individual plan to solve their problems, and gives personal advice that will be effective for a specific person.

Therefore, you need to treat the coach with the same respect as a doctor and teacher, strictly follow his recommendations, do not argue, do not act contrary, and do not deceive.

Even if your social and financial status is high enough, this does not give you the moral right to humiliate the coach or brush aside his requests and demands. Remember that you trust this person with the most important thing you have - health, figure and beauty.

Seller Skills

The bulk of a trainer's salary usually depends on individual lessons sold.
Some part will be provided by the club card that the client buys, but the main part will be what the instructor can earn on his own. This is where sales skills are required. But, unfortunately, many novice coaches do not want to deal with these issues and believe that work will provide them well anyway. This is why many subsequently leave this industry. They earn little money and they are not happy with it. Some people find it very difficult to impose themselves, and it will be very difficult for such people to achieve great heights in coaching. If you work at least a little, you can understand the simplicity and banality of sales techniques. But this is only available to the most hardworking people who are willing to work on themselves.

Theoretical knowledge

The theoretical basis for training a personal trainer is formed by knowledge in the field of:

anatomy;
dietetics;
physiology;
biochemistry;
a healthy diet, according to your goals (rules for building a training program, diet for gaining muscle, losing excess weight);
medicine.

Other conditions

To begin your professional coaching career, obtaining a diploma or certificate is not enough. Customer interaction and contact are important factors in achieving the overall goal. People who come to the gym strive not only to lose extra pounds, make their body fit, become stronger and more flexible, but also improve their health.

The benefits of sports

A passive and sedentary lifestyle leads to negative consequences - obesity, atherosclerosis, strokes, migraines and other ailments. The only way out is physical activity.

The process of natural weight loss without systematic sports training is impossible. They have a positive effect on accelerating metabolic processes in the body, improve health, and make the body more resilient. A healthy body looks good not only on the outside, but also on the inside. All processes occur more intensely, accelerate, and regular exercise enhances physical strength, activates blood circulation, saturates cells and tissues with oxygen, strengthens the heart muscle, promotes fiber growth, burns fat, and removes toxins.

A person leading an active and healthy lifestyle can be easily recognized by his slender, toned body, even posture, and clean and beautiful skin. Classes develop discipline, fortitude and responsibility, and improve psychological well-being.