What is the Average Workload of a Personal Trainer??

If you have a passion for fitness and you are looking for the best way to turn that into a career, you might be thinking about becoming a Personal Trainer.

Personal Trainers help clients on a one-to-one or small group basis, helping every person reach their individual goals with bespoke training, nutritional and lifestyle advice, as well as encouragement. Knowing what Personal Trainers actually do in their day-to-day role will help you make the decision as to whether this is the career for you.

The Workplace

The hours you will be expected to work will depend completely on where you are working. If you are in a leisure centre, studio or corporate gym, your working hours will be dictated by the opening hours of your workplace – but you can expect both early mornings and late evenings, as well as weekends. Usually, in a studio you will have a shift system; it would be unusual to work early mornings and late evenings on the same day.

If you are an in-home trainer, then you are more likely to be able to choose your hours – but this will be dependent on the needs of your client. People will want to train with a personal trainer when it suits them – before work, after work, lunchtimes… This means that you are likely to be training people first thing in the morning – 5 or 6am, and later in the evening – after 6pm.

Make Your Own Hours

Once you are a qualified PT, there are a few things you can do to put yourself in the position to make your own hours.

Firstly, you need to decide whether you are going to be self-employed and work in a studio, be employed to work at a studio, or be self-employed and work in-home. This decision will impact your ability to choose your own hours – but it will also have an impact on your income, too. If you are employed, you will have regular hours alongside a regular income, making it reliable but not easy to personalise to suit your schedule and needs.

If you are self-employed in a studio, your hours will need to be appropriate to the opening hours of the studio, but you can mostly choose how you charge for your services when you do work.

Being self-employed and working in-home (or at the client’s home) gives the most flexibility in terms of hours and pay – but is also the riskiest for a Personal Trainer just starting out – no guaranteed work means no guaranteed income.

How Can I Choose My Schedule as a Personal Trainer?

One of the best things to do as a Personal Trainer that will allow you the most freedom is to build yourself as a specialist expert for a certain niche, a certain type of client – and then get known to the local area as the go-to trainer for that specialism.

Whether you have a special interest in helping pre-and post-natal women, working with those recovering from injuries, or focusing on sportspeople and athletes, having a niche means that you can charge more per hour of training – and choose your schedule.

This will only be possible when you can build your brand, which is why as you become qualified, it is important to also brush up on your business management skills. You will need to be able to market yourself in the best ways – through social media and through personal recommendations and word of mouth, as well as through website management and amazing client service.

Personal Training is not a normal 9-5 career – but when you are well-known, you can definitely choose when (and how) you can work.