Becoming a Personal Trainer

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RichRich087

Draftee
Jul 14, 2016
15
0
AFL Club
Melbourne
Hello All,
my name is Richard and I want to be a personal trainer! I was just wondering if anybody could tell me what is the best online course/college to complete my cert III and cert IV? Any other general advice on being a personal trainer would be appreciated!:)
 
sorry for not explaining my question well. I am aware of the fact that to be a personal trainer you have to do your cert 3 and 4. I was wondering which college online is the best to complete it in? Any other general advice would be fantastic too!
 
generally, the longer the course the better it is and the more have you to learn then the longer the course you'll want to do

not to scare you off but if you're not in it to make an actual living out of it then you'll be one of the thousands each year who pay their thousands of dollars for these courses only to make less then thousands once they're out in the real world
 

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hi cptkirk
thanks for the response. I am aware of the fact that its a though industry but still want to give it a shot. I just finished a my degree in finance and economics and could have a job lined up in deutsche bank if I wanted. While I don't mind working in a bank I do feel if i committed to personal training like I did to my internship in deutsche bank that i could make it. I just feel its a job i would do passionately everyday.

from what I have read you have to complete your cert 3 and 4 to get into the industry. Once complete you keep up scaling. These two courses can be completed online so I am very intrigued to know which college has the best name in Australia.

A follow on question would be what gyms are the best to start of at?

Thanks for any help.
 
cert 3/4 is the base entry yeah then it's really up to you how hard and far you'll go

to be honest none of the colleges have a great name over here as they simply pump out 1000's of potential pt's per yr - let me know what one's your considering though

similarly there's no gym to start at as they can be ran many different ways in regards to pt's (private, contractors etc) so it will depend on what you want to do when you get there
 
My advice is not to do it online, it takes a billion years. You have to video yourself doing things, send it away , wait 3 weeks for it to get marked etc.

Kirky is right, all of them basically suck. None of them teach enough. TAFE is the best of them.

find a good mentor, learn off them and do the AIF course. If you've finished finance your obviously reasonably smart. I'd suggest getting stuck into your own reading and research to bring you up to speed on things if you want to make a fist of being a PT. If you want a good book list to learn from I'm happy to help. There are tons of second hand book sales websites you can get a pretty good library for a bargain these days.

In my experience the thing that is the most difficult is the marketing - something that doesn't come naturally to most people who get into this industry for the love of exercise.

As Kirky said, this industry is not all beer and skittles. It's early mornings, late nights, lots of cancellations and fluctuating pay.
 
My 2c - whichever one has you qualified in the shortest space of time for the least amount of $$$
At the end of the day it's just a piece of paper, and the content of all the RTO's is miles off what is current in Exercise Science/Physiology anyway.
I will second what BrockBlitz says about the marketing being the hardest aspect - it's certainly not something that comes naturally to me, and all but forced me to go back to school/uni to do something where people would be more likely seek me out or I could get a salary (myo/osteo) rather than an industry where you more or less have to chase after clients (at least at the start of your PT career)
 
Aeglos said:
My 2c - whichever one has you qualified in the shortest space of time for the least amount of $$$
At the end of the day it's just a piece of paper, and the content of all the RTO's is miles off what is current in Exercise Science/Physiology anyway.
I will second what BrockBlitz says about the marketing being the hardest aspect - it's certainly not something that comes naturally to me, and all but forced me to go back to school/uni to do something where people would be more likely seek me out or I could get a salary (myo/osteo) rather than an industry where you more or less have to chase after clients (at least at the start of your PT career)
Click to expand...

What you do now ? you referenced Stu McGill and assumed you must be in the industry or a training geek.
 
BrockBlitz said:
What you do now ? you referenced Stu McGill and assumed you must be in the industry or a training geek.
Click to expand...

Right now I'm trying to weasel my way into Osteopathy via a myotherapy bachelor.
I did my Cert III/IV in 2011 then after 12-18 months decided the typical "I'm hear to lose weight" client wasn't my type of thing. Travelled for about 12 months then came back and worked for a fitness equipment company to save some money before going back to study
 
do a university course at a place like monash. i would never use someone from some of the so-called organisations that advertise a lot.
 
Sui Ni said:
do a university course at a place like monash. i would never use someone from some of the so-called organisations that advertise a lot.
Click to expand...

Arguments against
- it takes about 4x as long to get a bsc of ex science as it does cert 4
- it also costs about 4x as much
- that's (potentially) 3 years practical experience head start the short course bloke has
- most people don't care if you got your cert out of a cereal box as long as you can provide them results
- all 3 guys in my year at HS that did ex science said it didn't prepare them for the majority of clients they ended up getting working as a PT(overweight, elderly, seriously detrained)

I think someone mentioned it earlier - find yourself a mentor to learn off and just pick whatever course
 
Aeglos said:
Arguments against
- it takes about 4x as long to get a bsc of ex science as it does cert 4
- it also costs about 4x as much
- that's (potentially) 3 years practical experience head start the short course bloke has
- most people don't care if you got your cert out of a cereal box as long as you can provide them results
- all 3 guys in my year at HS that did ex science said it didn't prepare them for the majority of clients they ended up getting working as a PT(overweight, elderly, seriously detrained)

I think someone mentioned it earlier - find yourself a mentor to learn off and just pick whatever course
Click to expand...
yes, but if i put myself in the hands of someone i want that someone to have the best training possible.

some of the promoted quickie quals i am distrustful of.
 

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Sui Ni said:
yes, but if i put myself in the hands of someone i want that someone to have the best training possible.

some of the promoted quickie quals i am distrustful of.
Click to expand...

Not everyone is as diligent as you though
 
Deliverance said:
An ex sc degree is way more than you'll ever need to be a PT. Like taking a gun to a knife fight.
Click to expand...

They're becoming more prevalent though.
Definitely an oversupply currently for exercise science types
Now with Sage (amongst others) offering the Diploma of Fitness presumably there is a middle ground between the 2 (Cert 4 & Ex science bsc)
 
The problem is none of the courses, including university teach you how to move properly. It's all out of a book theory. And basic crap like is his back straight while squatting ? Yes ? Ok perfect moving on.

Teach someone basic physics and anatomy and they can figure out the rest.
 
BrockBlitz said:
The problem is none of the courses, including university teach you how to move properly. It's all out of a book theory. And basic crap like is his back straight while squatting ? Yes ? Ok perfect moving on.

Teach someone basic physics and anatomy and they can figure out the rest.
Click to expand...

That's effectively how I taught myself once I realised my Cert 4 meant nothing ie first client that wasn't as fit/active as the other students in my class and couldn't perform some basic movement patterns
 
cptkirk said:
There's one that doesn't I'm sure or maybe it's for registration purposes - another crock of s**t as well
Click to expand...

I think you're right
Iirc it had something to do with it missing the business/marketing component that meant it didn't automatically qualify for a Cert 4
Prior to 2011(ish) ex science definitely got Cert 4 automatically, may have changed since

*edit*
In addition - SAGE was having problems earlier in the year regarding places not recognising their Fitness Diploma, not sure if that's what we are getting confused with cptkirk
 
Last edited:
The extension of this is the Masters or Strength and conditioning (I got accepted on Friday, pumped). You automatically get your ASCA level 2 accreditation from it.

I know people who have their masters who have never coached anyone before finishing it. It's a rotten system.
 
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