Owlnotes.com

I am a certified personal trainer and a physical therapist aid. I've been a certified personal trainer for over two years but I was training people before that. I just recently started the physical therapy job, doing many of the same things I've been doing as a personal trainer.

An aid doesn't need the doctorate that the physical therapist does. A physical therapist aid helps a physical therapist in doing his job. I don't diagnose, don't declare improvements, don't declare a status, I don't do ultrasound, don't stretch the patient. I don't put my hands on the patient.

I take them through their exercises I put hot packs on them, put cold packs on them, I put the electrodes on them for electric stim [stimulation].

For my training clients, I have complete control over their routines. I stretch them, take them through their exercises, I control the exercise selection. I'm in complete control of their entire exercise routine.

As a personal trainer my hours vary. I can work anywhere between four hours a week and 15 hours a week depending on my availability and my current clientele size. A typical session is either half an hour or an hour long.

With the physical therapy, my hours are limited by school so I only work two-to-four-hour shifts. But when I'm not in school I'll work six-to-eight-hour shifts.

Absolutely. The majority of my clients have orthopedic injuries or some sort of disease, either lower back pain, herniated discs, strained muscles, torn cartilage, or asthma. I follow all the precautions for those people as outlined in American College of Sports Medicine so exercise doesn't exacerbate their condition and an appropriate exercise routine is followed to give us the best possible chance of helping them recover from their condition.

I will never train someone who the American College of Sports Medicine says should not be exercising. For every person I train, I give them a health questionnaire, and those classified as a high risk to train I send to their doctor and see if they can be cleared for exercise . If I feel they aren't able to be trained, I won't.

I've had people who have gone through rehabilitation or therapy or people who are currently going through that. Physical therapy tends to concentrate on the injury alone and doesn't do much for overall muscle conditioning and aerobic conditioning. So they may go to a physical therapist for a specific injury and at the same time see me for overall conditioning. I also get people who have gone through physical therapy and are not completely healed or their insurance company has denied them further coverage so then I continue the physical therapy with them so long as they're healthy enough to do it and I am qualified.

No, I've had a client injured maybe twice, and both times was because they didn't follow the prescribed method of exercise techniques. Other than that, I've had a few clients maybe tweak a muscle but nothing major.

As a certified personal trainer, I'm required to carry liability insurance so if a client becomes injured during our exercise or while doing exercise that I've prescribed, if I am found liable, my insurance company will pay for it.

I've been exercising since I was 12..People would ask me for advice, and I used to read a lot of magazines and any information I could get my hands on. So I was pretty knowledgeable by the time I was in my mid- to late teens. I would train friends for free and then I decided to go to college to the exercise science program. While I was in that program I got certified through the International Sports Sciences Association as a personal trainer.

You're given a textbook to study from and a very extensive test. The test can be in two formats. It can be online, or you can go to a seminar and be tested. It's a very extensive test. It takes more than a day to finish. I currently have an associate's degree in exercise science, and now I'm in the bachelor's program for exercise science at a university.

A bachelor's degree in exercise science will make me a highly qualified personal trainer, I would estimate greater than 90 percent of personal trainers. Most personal trainers don't have any degree in exercise science. My associate's alone puts me above the pack, and the bachelor's will put me well above the pack. I'm learning things that most personal trainers have never heard of—or at least don't have any formal training in.

I'm studying physics, chemistry, biology, kinesiology, physiology, anatomy, and nutrition. I have done cadaver dissections, so I know muscle anatomy very well and how each exercise specifically works the muscles of the body.

I've learned a lot about training athletes and special populations such as people who have diabetes, obesity, asthma, cancer, osteoporosis, heart disease, arthritis.

I have had training on how to train body builders and the elderly. By the time I graduate I will have over 100 hours training people in stage-three cardiac rehabilitation, and I'll have spent 100 hours working with people of a mean age of 75 to 80 years old.

I've done a lot with fitness assessment and exercise programming.

I'm considering a master's degree or doctorate in exercise physiology or I'm considering a doctorate in physical therapy. Or it could be another field like a physician's assistant or MD.

I get in the gym at 6:30 a.m. and do one or two one-hour sessions, go to school, and after school, about five o'clock, I either train a client or two or do a few hours at physical therapy. I do the training three to six days a week and physical therapy two days a week.

Just before work and just after work. Before 9 a.m. and after 5 p.m.

Everybody has different goals. So I make suggestions based on their goals, some people are more advanced than others. Some people say "I just want to be more fit; I just want to lose weight," and I build a routine that's appropriate for them. Other people give me what they want in a routine, and I'll maybe add something to it or suggest changes to the routine.

In either case I treat each individual as unique and I structure a routine that's specific to them and their goals, strengths, weaknesses, injuries, age, health, ability and so on.

I give just about everybody nutritional advice, some more than others. Some people already have a good grasp of nutrition, and some don't have the slightest idea, so I help everyone pretty much reach the same point in their nutritional knowledge.

When I take someone who doesn't pay attention to their diet, I start them off slowly because usually a drastic change doesn't work. It's hard to comply with that. Other people are very advanced, and I just make small changes to enhance their diet.

There's no starting-range salary for personal training, and you don't work your way through the company because you are the company. There's a very wide range of pay for personal trainers. Anywhere from $30 to $100 per hour. The hours vary too. You can have someone working 15 hours a week or 80 hours a week. A lot of people do personal training as a side job, and some do it as a full-time job.

To charge a lot you have to be in the correct venue. I'm located in an area where the majority of my clients are people who don't make much money. If I increased my hourly rate then I would be severely limiting the size of the clientele.

At the gym, there are trainer bios visible on the wall when you first walk in and you can look at the trainers and get an idea of their personalities and their interests and certifications and qualifications. If a gym member is interested in personal training they have access to that information.

New members are introduced to a trainer, who will give them an orientation of the gym and a brief start-up introduction to personal training. You can do verbal advertisements, but because there are nine trainers at the gym, we're restricted on what we can put up. They don't want it to get too competitive.

I'm limited with this gym in that I can't go and recruit clients from others gyms. I have to stay within the confines of this gym. I'm bound by contract to not train anyone at another gym. I can however, train someone at their home.

That is very typical of gyms unless you're working for a corporation. My first job was at a corporation, where they encourage you to work at multiple locations so you, and they, can get as many clients as possible.

No. I'm an independent contractor. I'm not employed by the gym. I pay the gym to use their facilities and have access to their members. The only person I answer to is the manager, who may make suggestions, but I don't have a boss. I make my own hours. I'm just responsible for basic requirements of trainers, such as attire, and I'm obligated to put in two hours a week training new members.

I do one hour-long orientation and two half-hour personal training sessions. Those are good for the new member because they get information. They're also good for the gym because it improves satisfaction of new members and helps the trainer build up a clientele, which helps the gym because the more clients I have, the more money the gym makes, so it works for everybody.

I don't have an employer, so I don't have any of those benefits. It's hard to find those benefits as a personal trainer. If I do get a master's in exercise science I will try to become employed by some organization that can offer those benefits to me.

To a degree it has. I would say the number-one quality that the majority of would-be clients appreciate is personality. Personal fitness achievements will only get you so far. If given a choice between someone who's personable and someone who's built up their body, in general they're going to go with someone who's personable.

Very high job satisfaction. You can make your own hours. You do something you enjoy, you get to interact with a lot of people, and you're moving around, you're not sitting at a desk. I can charge whatever I like. The reason I like it is because it's something I have a big interest in. If I could choose to do one thing, this would be it.

The inconsistencies of the clientele. It's difficult to rely on it as a full-time job as an independent contractor. If you're employed by a company that has consistent business, then it's a lot easier than as an independent contractor.

There's a lot of competition in personal training because it's difficult to get consistent work. When I get the bachelor's I'll be more qualified than the vast majority of trainers, but even that may not significantly improve my client base because a lot of people don't understand the significance of the difference between someone who has studied exercise science for four years and someone who got certified over a month.

So, in many cases, the person making the most money at any given gym isn't the most qualified.

Classically around the New Year is when people tend to look for personal training. A lot of people look for the services of a personal trainer, do a few sessions and then they don't follow up on a consistent basis. It may be because of the money, or they're not happy with the trainer or they thought they wanted something that they really didn't want, so the turnover rate of clients is pretty high. I would say one out of four people that I train stay with me for a significant amount of time.

I am happy with the quality of training the field has given me, but I'm not as happy with the amount of money I'm making. I will have to go up a whole level of education to make any more money.

With a master's degree I could work in a private facility or do something more clinically related such as maybe pulmonary rehab or cardiac rehab. Or I would seek to get certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association as a certified strength and conditioning specialist and work with athletes and maybe get hired by either a college or professional sports team.

From the moment you step foot in an exercise science classroom you're learning stuff that the average personal trainer doesn't know.

Many personal trainers have no more than a basic understanding from basic courses and testing. It varies, of course, but that's the average. Either they've gone to a course over a few weekends or they've attended seminars or they read a book.

I know much, much more now than I did before I got my associate's degree. I'm much more educated on diseased populations, sports training, and training specific to the individual. I have a much greater understanding of human physiology and nutrition, as well as exercise progression and training efficiency.

Training efficiency. The average personal trainer suggests more resistance training than is necessary to elicit the desired result, which does two things. It requires more money and more time from the trainee. My clients spend less time weight training and get the same results.

Get at least an associate's degree in exercise science. That will give you a good base of knowledge that will put you above the majority of personal trainers and make you well qualified for a job in personal training. Second, you have to learn ways to market yourself. You can't always expect clients to fall into your lap. You need to be friendly and show you care about the client and that you're not just interested in getting their money.

If you're interested in fitness, personal training is a great job. Whether I stay in the field or not, I'd always love to work in a fitness facility.

Being a personal trainer full-time and making a living that way would require consistent business, which is difficult to do as an independent contractor. If you're employed by a company that has consistent business, then it's possible. Personal training has the potential for a very high income, but very few trainers make that income. It really doesn't have a whole lot to do with your education but with your ability to sell yourself and sell your services.

Another way to make money is to get the master's degree and try to work at a university with athletes or get a PhD and teach at a university.

It can be. Unless you get a job in a good place, personal training is very difficult to stay with long-term because there's no provision for a pension or insurance. It's a great job to supplement your income. Or if you can find a job that will give you a pension and insurance, and if you get consistent work then it can be a very good job. There is a potential to make a lot of money, but very few trainers ever reach that platform.

I'm using personal training as a bridge. I'm building up experience, and I'm using it as a way to make money until I get a more stable, higher paying job in the field.