San Antonio Personal Trainer Blog

-View your certification as the beginning of your learning cycle, not the completion of it. The differences are so minute, and I think it's comical when people think that any one certification makes them. It's all about experience and learning how to work with people.  With that being said, you can't get too much schooling/certifications, but be able to apply your knowledge (remember the old saying "Where the rubber meets the road...")

-Learn to market.  Once you get people, get them their results and help them become independent of you. People appreciate that a lot more and that leads to word of mouth. My worst nightmare is that one of my clients doesn't get results and then they're out talking and they say "My personal trainer said..." and their friends think "Oh my God, you never change - I'd never go to your personal trainer.

-For the reasons above, keep people accountable and do all you can to keep them motivated.

-Don't think that one thing works for everyone. The thing I find funniest of all is when some guy/gal wins a local bb'ing show and then they decide they're ready to make a career out of it. There's a big difference in contest prep and training a 50 year old mother of 4...  Don't treat everyone the same.

-Find out who the best PT in your area is and go watch them work and maybe take a few sessions under them. Talk to them. If they're good at what they do and they're the real deal, they should have no problem with helping someone else get into it.

-Never stop learning. You don't know everything and guess what - you never will. Just be honest - if someone asks you a question you don't know, don't lie to them and give them some bull - look it up and get the answer for them. Do you think a lawyer can answer everything about law? A doctor about health? They look a lot of stuff up... Fitness is too broad to master and know all of the answers.

-Always teach the client WHY (so that means that you should know why). If you are asked "Why do we do this in this order" or anything similar, tell them. Actually, don't make them ask - always explain it. "Because I said so..." is not, and will never be acceptable, and unfortunately, too many personal trainers are guilty of it.

-Separate yourself from the average joe club trainer (Gold's Gym, Bally's Total Fitness, Spectrum, etc). There are plenty environments to work in and you are only limited by your imagination. I run a few different types of training classes (corporate, boot camp, etc) in addition to my 1 on 1. Don't be limited nor confined to a gym or a studio. 

There are about 1,000,000 more things I could add to this. I was fortunate enough that when I started doing this exactly 10 years ago (right before Thanksgiving 96), I had one of the top PT'ers in the world advising/encouraging me and pointing me in the right direction, so I do everything I can to help anyone that wants to succeed in this career field. Just like anything else, it is a business. You've got to be extremely self-motivated, sharp, know your stuff, and more than anything, know how to deal with people and how to motivate and empower them. It isn't easy to ask for help (face to face) so when someone entrusts you with that responsibility, they mean business and more times than not, they'd run through a wall for you. Don't let them down. Treat each client like they're your ONLY client, they deserve it.

The first thing I said was about marketing. You could be the best doctor in the world, but just opening an office isn't going to make people line up around the block - you must establish yourself and you must get out and become part of the public if you want to be perceived as an expert/professional. Learning your craft and building your business should constantly be on your mind.  When you start delivering results and people know that you are someone they can depend on to deliver the body they want, you will find the demand for your services will be much more than the supply.  That's a good position to be in.

In reality, this is just the tip of the iceberg.  It's important that you take your job seriously and that people know that you're dead serious about their progress.  I didn't dabble into things like being on time, never missing appointments, and other similar things because as a professional, those things go without saying.  Simply put, value everyone's time and they will do the same for you.  Be where you say you'll be when you say you'll be there.

I'll expand on this later as needed, but I hope this gives a few of you that are considering the personal training lifestyle in the near future.  In my opinion, doing something you love cannot be called work!

Boyd Myers, San Antonio Personal Trainer