A career in the fitness industry is incredibly rewarding and fulfilling – especially when clients show consistent improvements and feel great.
Working within such an active industry, your career as a Personal Trainer (or PT) will allow you to make a difference in the community every day.
To help you get started, let’s explore a career in personal training and look at some of the steps to becoming a personal trainer.
What is a personal trainer?
A Personal Trainer works to improve the fitness and health outcomes of clients of all ages and from all walks of life by designing specific workout programs that best suit their needs.
Personal Trainers can take their own individual approach, but their role revolves around developing fitness and activity plans and then guiding their clients through exercise in private lessons to meet their fitness goals. They can also advise their clients on health, nutrition and lifestyle issues to support their exercise routine.
A personal gym trainer’s duties can include:
- Determining their client’s health goals.
- Assessing the current level of fitness of clients through weight, body composition, strength and endurance.
- Developing an exercise program to help clients achieve bespoke objectives.
- Demonstrating exercises and workout techniques so clients can perform them safely and effectively.
- Monitoring client progress and adjusting their workout programs as necessary.
- Providing clients with basic nutritional and health advice.
- Delivering first aid in the event of an emergency.
According to recent Australian data, the average wage for a personal trainer in Australia is $72,521 per year or $37.19 per hour. Entry-level positions start at $63,375 per year, while most experienced workers can earn up to $112,125 per year.
4 steps to becoming a Personal Trainer in Australia
Personal training can be an incredibly rewarding job especially if you’re passionate about fitness and people – but what’s the best way to break into the fitness industry?
1. Get Qualified
The first step to becoming a Personal Trainer is to earn relevant qualifications. The minimum requirement to become a registered Personal Trainer is a Certificate IV in Fitness, which you can complete at accredited institutions like TAFE or the Australian Institute of Personal Trainers.
The Complete Personal Trainers program includes the Certificate IV in Fitness and practical experience in a gym, so you will be job-ready once you complete the program. You can also work as a PT if you have a Diploma of Fitness or a Bachelor in Exercise Science.
2. Get your first aid certificate
Before you begin work as a registered Personal Trainer, you will need to be certified in both first aid and CPR. This ensures you can help clients in the event of an emergency. To gain these certifications, you can attend a one-day, in-person training course.
Here are some institutions which offer the first aid training course:
As always, investing in earning important certifications and undertaking training courses like this will help ensure you’re all ready to thrive in the fitness industry.
3. Join Fitness Australia or Physical Activity Australia
Once you have earned your qualification, you can get professional membership to either of these two organisations.
While it isn’t mandatory for individuals who plan to be Personal Trainers to become a member, joining any of these associations will show prospective clients and employers that you’re a qualified fitness professional who has the knowledge and skills to perform your role within the industry successfully. It also shows your commitment to maintaining the highest level of industry standards through ongoing accredited training.
4. Network network network
This step is important in any career as networking can really help get your personal training career kickstarted. After all, fitness employers are more likely to consider someone they have already met or talked to before.
A good way to do this is to start taking as many fitness classes as you can. Introduce yourself to the instructors, ask them questions and share what you want out of a personal trainer career. You can also check out local sports clubs, recreational teams, health and fitness seminars and also online fitness social media groups.
You can also network digitally too. The MPLOI job app also allows you to proactively reach out to fitness businesses, PT gyms and more so you can get on their radar long before they post a role. This can help open some doors and offer exciting opportunities in the fitness space.
It pays to be proactive when job hunting fitness roles
To help you get noticed by the right employer that matches your core strengths and work ethics, our intuitive and revolutionary recruitment platform, MPLOI allows proactive job seekers like you to start your career as a Personal Trainer on your terms.
What is MPLOI?
MPLOI is an innovative employment app that matches like-minded employers and potential employees based on similar values, qualities and skills through a career alignment algorithm.
With MPLOI’s modern approach to proactive recruitment, we empower job seekers and business professionals to pursue new career opportunities by simply swiping to start a conversation with a potential employer.
This recruitment platform gives you instant access to a plethora of potential employers offering the ultimate stress-free recruitment solution for business professionals like you.
Register your interest below and get notified of our upcoming launch! HERE: MPLOI