How to Become a Personal Trainer in 6 Months or Less

A personal trainer works with individuals or small groups of people to help them reach their physical health and fitness goals. These are the most common personal trainer responsibilities:

• Create custom-tailored exercise plans.
• Guide clients through exercises.
• Help clients overcome mental obstacles.
• Ensure exercises are performed safely, with minimal risk of injury.
• Assess a client’s performance and give helpful advice and feedback.
• Provide advice on other lifestyle aspects that impact clients’ fitness goals.

Fleur told us that the most important task that a personal trainer faces isn’t actually physical at all—it’s helping clients overcome mental barriers that may be preventing them from achieving their fitness goals. If you can’t do that, they’ll be out the door (and you’ll lose a client).

There are different types of personal trainers. Some work with a general client base, typically out of gyms and other fitness facilities. Others provide specialty training.

Some personal trainers work as staff gym trainers, whereas others run their own personal training business. Those working independently may open their own fitness studio or even work from home by offering online personal training services.

Getting started as a personal trainer isn’t easy. In addition to developing the right set of skills, you’ll need to complete several prerequisites and get certified.

What skills do personal trainers need?

To start, a personal trainer must have a wide range of technical, interpersonal, and business skills to get personal training jobs and ensure clients are safe, fit, and satisfied. Additionally, a good deal of knowledge is necessary for being a personal trainer.

Personal Trainer Skill Set

Your technical knowledge and personality both have a big influence on your clients’ commitment and the results they get from your physical training program. Personal trainers aren’t standing idly by, shouting out commands and watching clients get a workout in. Instead, they take a hands-on approach to help people achieve their fitness goals.

Fleur says professional skills are most relevant to freelance personal trainers who are self-employed. Those working at fitness facilities don’t really need any business knowledge since their employer is handling the business side for them. That said, some facilities expect you to sell your services to their existing clientele, in which case sales and marketing skills can be a big help.

One skill that Fleur emphasized as especially important for today’s personal trainers is using social media, particularly knowing how to use platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube “to reach your local clients.” If you’re a self-employed personal trainer, the strength of your online presence will be a major factor influencing how much business you get.

Required knowledge and education

Personal trainers need a firm understanding of the human body and the impact that external forces (like exercise and nutrition) have on it. This includes foundational knowledge of the following subjects:

• Anatomy
• Physiology
• Exercise physiology
• Biomechanics
• Kinesiology
• Human behavior
• Nutrition

Don’t worry if you don’t know much about these topics right now. You can get much of the knowledge you need through self-education and personal trainer courses.

Popular degrees for personal trainers

You don’t need a degree to be a personal trainer. With that said, if you’re considering getting a bachelor’s or master’s degree anyway, these college majors are popular picks among professional personal trainers:

• Physical education
• Sports science
• Sports medicine
• Sports nutrition
• Exercise science
• Kinesiology
• Biomechanics
• Health care
• Business

Do you need to be certified to be a personal trainer?

In short, yes—you need to be certified to be a personal trainer. While you can learn everything there is to know about personal training and never get certified, it’ll be difficult to find work. The vast majority of employers (including private clients) require certification.

If you only want to work with specific equipment or in a particular fitness niche, you don’t necessarily need to get a standard certification. You could simply get certified in your chosen specialty. For example, Fleur doesn’t have a standard certified personal trainer (CPT) certification—instead, he has a wide array of specialized certifications, including for kettlebell and CrossFit training.

Even so, Fleur says that times have changed since he first started his career, and these days, a personal training certification is necessary to get hired. “Most gyms and insurance companies require it,” he told us. Without one, your job options will be limited.

To compete in this competitive industry, you need a personal training certification from an accredited institution. Here are the steps you need to take to get certified and land your first personal training gig.

1. Pick a specialty

In addition to getting certified as a personal trainer, you also have the option to get certified as a specialist. While the job outlook is good for personal trainers, becoming a specialist can help you stand out even more from the growing crowd of candidates looking for work.

Here are some specialties to consider:

• Personal sports trainer
• Bodybuilding coach
• Group fitness instructor
• Medical exercise specialist
• Women’s weightlifting trainer
• Health and lifestyle coach
• Nutritionist
• Weight loss coach
• Beachbody coach
• Youth fitness coach
• Senior fitness coach
• CrossFit trainer
• Corrective exercise specialist
• Kettlebell instructor
• Virtual coach or trainer

If you decide to specialize, it’s a good idea to figure out which track you want to take before you start. Certification programs differ in terms of requirements, topics covered, and costs. Knowing what you want to do will help you prepare accordingly.

Choosing your target clients

In addition to picking a fitness specialty, you also should start thinking about what type of clients you want to work with. Would you prefer to work with older or younger people? What about overweight people, fit people, or athletes? Think about your preference but also what you’d be best at.

You should also reflect on the type of training approach you plan to use. Fleur says some clients prefer working with a trainer who can be tough/hard on them, whereas others prefer a gentler approach. “It’s important to not be a generic trainer but to find your niche and market based on that,” he added.

2. Meet the prerequisites for certification

The leading personal trainer certifications have the same set of base requirements:

• Proof you are at least 18 years old.
• Government-issued photo ID.
• High school diploma or GED.
• Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) certification.
• Automated external defibrillator (AED) certification.
• First aid certification.

If you haven’t completed CPR, AED, and first aid training, don’t worry. These certifications are relatively straightforward to get, and you can sign up with the American Red Cross or the American Heart Association.

3. Enroll in a personal training program

You can find personal trainer classes all over the web. While you might be thinking about trying a cheaper or shorter alternative, bear in mind that most legit fitness facilities require a certain type of certification.

Once you have your prerequisites out of the way, take a look over the various certification programs. Some offer basic certified personal trainer certificates. Others offer specialty certifications. Find the one that aligns best with your goals as a personal trainer.

Here are your main options:

• Accredited CPT courses: Get trained to be a certified personal trainer by an accredited institution, either with an online course or in-person classes. Some programs offer the certification exam only. Others also offer training materials, training support, and job assistance.
• Vocational colleges: In contrast to personal trainer online certification courses, this option is more expensive and time-consuming. However, it’ll give you hands-on experience in the field as you work with a mentor.
• Specialty certification programs: You can get certified in just a few hours or days in some fitness specialties. However, it may not be possible to get a staff job as a personal trainer at a gym afterwards, and you’ll be limited to offering coaching and training only in your chosen discipline.

A safe bet is to get your fitness trainer certification from a program accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA), since they’re arguably the main authority on personal training certifications. However, this isn’t a strict requirement.

Below are some popular organizations that offer CPT programs.

Personal Training Certifications and Costs

For some of these programs, you’ll only pay for the certification exam. Other organizations have you pay a lump-sum fee upfront that covers everything. These programs are pricier.

While you can save money by only paying for the exam, the tradeoff is that you’ll have to create your own study plan. However, organizations offering this option do give you access to free study materials as well as recommendations on supplemental materials to buy and read.

4. Take an exam to get certified

Every program handles the exam a little bit differently. For some, you’ll need to find a local testing center to take the exam. Others offer an online exam option.

If you’re going for an NCCA certification, the exam will be proctored. If you go another route, you may find nonproctored and even open-book exam options.

During the exam, you can expect multiple-choice questions on various topics. You’ll need to complete the exam within a certain time frame and meet minimum scoring requirements, both of which will depend on the exact exam you’re taking.

When do you need to take your personal trainer certification exam?

Many PT certification programs only give you a certain amount of time to take the personal trainer exam after you begin studying. Oftentimes, the time limit is somewhere between 120 and 180 days, but timeframes can vary from one program to the next, so be sure to check your program details.

5. Choose a career path

There are two types of professional personal trainers: those who work as gym trainers and those who run their own private trainer side business. To decide which type of job is right for you in the long term, weigh up the pros and cons of each.

Pros and Cons of Freelance vs. Staff Personal Trainer Jobs

Ultimately, staff jobs are more suited to people who are looking for a stable and laid-back side gig. Running your own personal training business, on the other hand, is best if you want more freedom and higher earnings and you don’t mind dealing with business-oriented tasks, like marketing, administration, accounting, and client management.

Even if it’s your goal to have your own freelance personal training business, it’s probably a good idea to start working as a staff trainer at a gym first.

Unless you did vocational training or had a mentor that provided you with practical experience in personal training, you’ll want to strengthen those hands-on skills before meeting with clients one-on-one. A fitness facility will give you the opportunity to do that. You can also learn a lot from the senior personal trainers there.

Now that you’re qualified as a personal trainer, it’s time to start making money. Where you’ll find your first gig depends on which career path you chose.

Apply for gym trainer jobs

Before applying to personal training jobs, put together a resume. It should include the following details:

• Your name and contact info
• Summary of your career goals
• Professional experience (it’s okay if you don’t have fitness or training experience yet)
• Education
• Personal training certification
• CPR/AED and first aid certifications
• Relevant industry memberships
• Skills
• Languages

The first place to look for jobs as a personal gym trainer is the organization that issued your certification. ISSA, for instance, has a job guarantee. With more than 6,000 partner gyms, you’re likely to find plenty of job openings this way.

Next, talk to the owner of your gym and see if they’re hiring personal trainers. If you’ve been going there long enough, you might already have the connections to help you land your first gig.

You can also look online. Check out the websites of other local gyms and see if they have any openings. Alternatively, use job sites like Indeed to search for personal trainer jobs.

When the job interviews start rolling in, take time to research the facility first. It’s not just about finding someone who is hiring personal trainers. You want to make sure that the environment is one you want to work in and that the clientele is a good match for your skills and expertise.

Start your own business as a freelance personal trainer

Many fitness enthusiasts are attracted to the role of personal trainer because of the option to work independently. If you decide that being a freelance personal trainer is what you want to do, then your main focus after certification should be getting your business up and running. Here are Fleur’s top tips for getting started.

Build an online presence

Being searchable online is incredibly important in the fitness industry. To start, you’ll need to build a website, set up accounts on social media, and get listed on Google Business.

A good way to promote your personal training services is to create fitness-related content, such as uploading fitness videos to TikTok or YouTube. Creating an online presence is especially important if you decide to start an online personal training business.

Use SEO strategies to show up in local search results

If you’re working freelance as a personal trainer, it’s not enough to just create a website for your services. As Fleur put it, “A website is nothing and does nothing unless people get to see it.” He says search engine optimization (SEO) and localization are key to getting noticed and hired as a personal trainer.

“Including the names of the exact areas that you service on your website and making sure it’s optimized for the search engines is key to getting your website to work for you,” Fleur added. You should also be targeting locals, since someone living in another state or town may not be a feasible client, unless you’re doing virtual personal training.

Create an online space with member perks

Fleur has achieved impressive success with his personal training business, but good results don’t happen by chance. So, what’s the secret?

We asked Fleur, based on his knowledge and experience in the industry, what he would do if he had to start his personal training business all over again from scratch. He said that a key part of his strategy would be to develop a solid infrastructure for capturing email addresses (i.e., “leads”) and “create an online community that provides a benefit to the members.”

If you can get people to keep coming back to your site, then you’ll have a loyal client base, which is great for business. A trick for getting people hooked is adding an element of personalization. “Design the community so that they stay and don’t easily go elsewhere. This involves providing a solution to allow the client to enter information and keep track of their progress,” Fleur added.

Once prospective clients start reaching out, you’ll need to make time for free consultation calls or sessions. While the freelance personal training life can be worthwhile, it will take longer to get moving, and it requires some upfront investment.

Becoming a personal trainer requires a lot of hard work. If you’re interested in this side hustle, you should be prepared to do some more work once you’ve landed your first gig. These strategies will help you get more jobs, better clients, and higher pay over time.

Maintain your own personal fitness

As a personal trainer, you not only have to be not only an inspirational force in your clients’ lives but also an aspirational one. In other words, you can’t just talk the talk—you also need to walk the walk.

If you haven’t done so, create a custom fitness and wellness program for yourself. If you’re working at a gym, use the same equipment and spaces you would use to train your clients.

This will give you the personal experience and insights needed to better help your clients. It’ll also help improve your own well-being so that you’ll be at peak performance every day.

Know your limitations

When training clients to use certain fitness tools and equipment, stick to what you know. “A big mistake made by the majority of trainers is thinking that being a personal trainer makes them good at working with all kinds of exercise equipment,” Fleur told us.

Fleur uses the kettlebell as a good example since it “has one of the highest learning curves,” and you need a certification if you plan to go beyond the basics. Otherwise, you risk causing pain and discomfort to both your clients and yourself. Just remember what most people are really paying you for: your knowledge and expertise.

Gain new skills and specialties

There are plenty of benefits to pursuing further professional development. This could be recertifying, getting a more advanced certification, or broadening your skill set.

For instance, let’s say you’re struggling with the sales aspect of being an independent personal trainer. You want to bring more clients into your fitness studio, but you just haven’t found the right approach. Taking online sales and marketing courses would be useful.

Many of the programs mentioned earlier offer certificate options in other specialties. You could pursue something more advanced and open your business up to a new, higher-paying clientele. Diversifying your side hustle keeps things interesting for you while also making you attractive to a broader range of clients.

Fleur says he’s continually pursuing new certifications because “there is always something to learn,” from improving communication or breaking down exercises in layman terms to mastering new techniques. “It also allows me to keep the training of the few personal clients I take on fresh and exciting.” he added. “There is nothing that makes a client give up sooner than a stale program with repetitive work.”

Personalize your services

You should be able to develop a unique exercise program that works best for each client’s problem areas and goals. A one-size-fits-all approach can lead to frustration and demotivation.

Being able to offer your clients more than just workouts will make you a trusted and valuable partner in their fitness journey, too. Having knowledge in other areas like nutrition and the latest wellness trends will allow you to provide more holistic advice and assistance.

Build good relationships with your clients

Word-of-mouth marketing is a useful tool for personal trainers. Whether you work at a gym or manage your own studio, those personal referrals and positive client reviews can bring in a ton of new and loyal business. But to get to that point, you need to build good relationships with your existing clients.

To start, your clients should feel as though your priority is enhancing their personal health and fitness, not making money off them. This is where those personal skills like patience, empathy, and problem-solving come into play.

It’s also crucial that you give your clients your full, undivided attention while on the job. Fleur told us that being on your phone, sitting down, or standing with your hands in your pockets are all big no-nos and could even get you fired after repeat offenses. The trainer’s attention “should be devoted to the client from start to end of the session they paid for,” he added.

Keep your certifications active

To remain certified as a personal trainer, you need to get recertified every couple of years. This includes not just your personal training certification but also CPR, AED, and first aid certifications.

To get recertified in personal training, you’ll need to acquire a certain number of credits in continuing education before the recertification period. You can get these credits by taking courses, attending workshops, taking tests, and so on.

Not everyone will cut it as a personal trainer. You need a great deal of fitness knowledge and the willingness to devote time to getting certified. That said, it has plenty of upsides, including a very optimistic job outlook.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 10-year projected growth rate for personal trainers is 14%, nearly five-times higher than other professions. 1 The reason for the big boom in the fitness industry is pretty simple.

On average, American adults now spend 7.7 hours in a sedentary position every day, and this leads to a host of issues and ailments. Many people are ready to get serious about their health, and they’re turning to personal trainers who can help them.

As for whether becoming a personal trainer is right for you, that’s something you’ll have to figure out on your own. Below are some of the key pros and cons to consider.

How much do personal trainers make?

According to Indeed, the average personal trainer makes $26.94 per hour in the United States, with a typical salary range of $14.39–$50.52 hourly. 2 ISSA claims that you can make $100 per hour or more doing group personal training, but this is likely a salary you have to work up to.

Average salary data is likely based on personal trainers who work for gyms and other fitness facilities. But not all gyms pay their trainers the same rate. Location will also impact how much you earn, and you can expect to make more money if you’re living in a big city or an affluent area where personal training is in high demand.

Freelance personal trainers likely aren’t well represented in Indeed’s estimates either. If you look at the websites of freelance trainers, you’ll notice that many of them charge more, especially if they provide specialized, one-on-one training.

Alternatives to being a personal trainer

Personal training isn’t the right fit for everyone. If you’re passionate about health and wellness and love helping others, here are some other side hustles to consider:

• Yoga instructor
• Blogger
• YouTuber
• Life coach

All these roles involve sharing knowledge with others, much like personal training. If you pursue content creation roles like starting your own fitness blog or video channel, you may be able to reach a wider audience and get the benefit of working online from home. Most importantly, with jobs like these that involve helping other people, you’ll get satisfaction from the work you do.