Excited by the idea of working in the fitness industry? Want to help people to become the best version of themselves? Then why not consider becoming a personal trainer (PT).
Personal trainers design fitness programs to help people achieve their health and fitness goals, while also keeping them motivated along the way.
Let’s take a look at what’s involved.
Why choose to be a personal trainer?
Personal training can be a highly rewarding profession, according to Chisholm Fitness and Leisure teacher Aaron Healey.
“People often choose to become a PT because they like helping people to achieve their health and fitness goals or they want to work with people to be a better version of themselves – both physically and mentally,” he says.
“For me, it’s a fun and fulfilling career where you’re always out and about. It certainly beats a desk job.”
What does a personal trainer do?
Personal trainers offer a range of services, including:
- Fitness assessments
- Helping people to identify their fitness goals
- Planning tailored client workouts
- Demonstrating how to safely perform exercises
- Monitoring results and adjusting programs as required
- Providing basic nutrition advice.
Behind the scenes, personal trainers also have to undertake administrative tasks (particularly if it’s their own business) and professional development to ensure they are always across the latest training techniques.
Travel opportunities as a PT
What’s really great about personal training is that there are plenty of opportunities to travel and the skills are transferrable, according to Aaron. “For example, you could work in the hotel resort sector, a health and wellness retreat, or on a cruise ship,” he says. “You may even land a job with a client who takes you travelling.”
Debunking myths around personal training
You have to be a male
Personal training is not gender-specific – all you need is passion for the job.
“If you have that rapport with your client, it doesn’t matter whether you’re male or female,” Aaron says. “You just need a genuine desire to help them achieve their goals. People can see through someone who’s not genuine.”
You have to be young and ripped to be a PT
Aaron says people from all walks of life study to become personal trainers.
“We get a variety of ages and body types enrolling at Chisholm,” he says. “You don’t need to be the ripped, activewear sort of person. As an example, I had a client who had lost 70kg and got a job easily, as they appealed to people who had experienced problems with weight gain.”
However you do need to practice what you preach, Aaron says. “If you’re going to eat fast food every day after work on your way home, you’re not being genuine. You need to look after yourself.”
Clients need go without to see results
Aaron says there’s a misconception that you have to live off protein shakes to get results with personal training.
“I don’t think you need to impose any unrealistic dietary restrictions,” says Aaron. “You can get all your protein, vitamins and minerals from eating a healthy well-balanced diet.”
What attributes do PTs need?
- A strong work ethic (and be willing to work early mornings and/or late nights)
- Good body language and energy (this comes down to looking after yourself – eating well, exercising and getting lots of sleep)
- A positive attitude and a genuine desire to help clients achieve their goals
- Strong communication skills and empathy
- Initiative to build your client-base.
How to become a PT (personal trainer courses)
Chisholm’s Certificate III in Fitness is a great entry-level course which equips you with all the basics to get started in the fitness industry as a gym instructor. It teaches you everything from how to build fitness programs and run group exercise sessions to providing first aid and healthy eating information.
The Certificate IV in Fitness gives you the skills and qualification to become a personal trainer. You’ll learn about planning for small businesses, instructing endurance programs, collaborating with medical and allied health professionals and more.
Education Manager, Isaac Enbom says, “Our fitness programs are largely practical and delivered from a commercial gym with access to all the facilities and equipment you would expect in a top of the range fitness environment. This ensures you are getting the most relevant ‘hands on’ training from a real workplace. Both our courses include placement activities and can be completed in 12 months.”
It’s exciting to see our students engage with people in a real gym setting. A lot of other fitness programs are delivered primarily online, our programs provide genuine hands-on skills and are validated by our industry partners.
PT job opportunities
Right now, the job opportunities as a PT are ‘unbelievably good’, according to Aaron.
“There are thousands of jobs across Australia being advertised,” he says. “During COVID, a lot of personal trainers went and found ‘essential’ work, so now gyms are desperate for them. I’m probably getting an email or two a week from gyms and leisure centres looking for staff.”
Personal trainer salary
How much you earn as a PT depends on your qualifications, experience and where you’re working.
As a ballpark, indeed.com.au lists the average salary for a personal trainer as $59.58 per hour in Australia (as of April, 2024). Aaron says the hourly rate also depends on whether it’s a one-on-one or group session. Per year, salaries can range from $40,000 to $100,000, he says.
“You can make it as big as you want,” says Aaron. “I worked as a full-time PT for 10 years, but you can also do it part-time as well.”
Student spotlight
When it comes to personal training, Tyler Boon is one of Chisholm’s many student success stories.
In 2017, Tyler started training at a gym and experienced first-hand the positive impact it had on his life. He wanted to share the benefits with others.
Tyler completed Chisholm’s Certificate III in Fitness and Certificate IV in Fitness and found the courses equipped him with all the skills needed to launch into a personal training career.
“The teachers were great and I learned a lot from them,” he says.
After completing his studies, Tyler secured a job as a personal trainer at Infinite Fitness Peninsula (one of Chisholm’s invaluable industry partners). He works there five days a week and hasn’t looked back.
“I love working with lots of different people and we have a whole different bunch of clientele who come through the door,” Tyler says.
“A lot of it is to do with general population, but I also do more sport-specific stuff with football clubs. It’s a really cool opportunity to teach people and help them understand there’s a lot more to gym than meets the eye.”
Tyler’s message to others considering personal training as a career is to be fully committed from the get-go. “If you are passionate about it, that gets you part of the way, but you’ve just got to be prepared to do the hard work and see it through,” he says. “It can lead you to some pretty cool places.”
Keen to learn more?
Whether you want to become a gym instructor, fitness instructor or a personal trainer, Chisholm can help you make an impact for the better.
To find out more, head to Chisholm’s Certificate III in Fitness and Certificate IV in Fitness pages.
