Personal Training Courses

I'm thinking of doing a personal training course - its something I've always wanted to do. I know that there are lots of very knowledgeable peeps on here so I thought I'd ask for your opinions.
Would it be better to just do a personal training course or go through the gym instructor route and work your way up ? I work full time so I would be looking for a course that was part time or distance learning.
What's the best course of action ?

Comments

  • Depends how quickly you want to get qualified and get working, rach.

    Lots of gyms offer personal training with their instructors or offer deals to allow personal trainers to use their gyms (bit difficult to explain but I believe Esporta does this and other chains do too).

    I did all but the sports massage part of the Premier Training course. If you do all of it, the course is 12 weeks full time. Or you can split it into the modules and do those when time and money allow.

    I'm not sure how the YMCA courses work - if they were weekend attendance then that would work better for you...

    Do you buy Ultrafit magazine? They usually have several of the big education providers advertising in there.

    Sorry I can't be more helpful.
  • I did mine in Oxford, SwimBikeRun! The staff were so helpful I would recommend Premier to anyone. I did FTA part 1 first then the second several months later. Then waited for more months and did the Circuit Class and Nutrition course following each other... (health and financial issues prevented me from doing it all at once).
  • fab thanks for the advice guys. ideally i'd like to do it at evenings/weekends and then just do a bit of temping so that i can pay bills etc. v lucky in that OH says just go for it and he's happy to sipport me while i do this.
    Did you both find it easy to get work after you had completed your courses?
  • Yep rach - at Premier they had lists of current vacancies. They will help you too. Most of the large chains are always needing pt's and gym instructors - David Lloyd, LA Fitness etc. Most usually want full time but there are some part time vacancies out there too.
  • Wow, SwimBikeRun - you are one busy person! Good for you! I'm currently "resting" due to health reasons but glad you have plenty of business to keep you working!
  • Hey Rach
    I am a YMCA qualified PT...I did mine part time by taking various modules. Premier are very well respected in the industry too. However, my advice would be to check out some of the newer UK based courses too that may be more advanced and put you ahead of the game - try Institute of Australian Fitness, ACSM for eg. I've benn PTing for about 3 years now but have had to take extra qualifications (Chek, Premier PTS) to raise my game..there's more and more of us out there now...
    Good luck whatever you end up doing...it sure beats sitting in an office all day!
  • thanks guys for all the advice. I just feel the need to do something i enjoy instead of something that just pays the bills - its sapping the life right out of me ! I've seen a few adverts for australian fitness - might check them out too.
  • I did the 12 weeks at Premier too, London, qualified 8 months now and a buzzy bee!

    Quit my job and went for it, 1 of the best things I'v ever done!!

    Likewise, if you want any advice or info feel free to email me, and good luck with what ever you decide to do!
  • ok - I'm going along to the premier open day at milton keynes next week to have a bit of a chat and get some more info.
  • do any of you guys know anything about future fit training ?
  • Sorry rach, no experiencw of future fit. All I know is they advertise in Ultrafit magazine.
  • i've looked at FF courses before...once you get on thier data base they send you LOADS of emails and SMS so watch out! As long as the course is approved by REPS (Register of Exercise Professionals - check out exerciseregister.org.uk) the fitness industry's seal of approval, you should be ok
  • I've done the whole PT course with Future Fit and it's fine.

    I didn't get loads of SMS messages. The only ones I got were to remind me of the course I was about to go to.

    very good value and a decent standard of teaching.

    I'm now fully qualified and I did it alongside a full time job.I'm still working full time but have a few people that I train in the evenings and I'm about to start a couple of circuit classes.

    For some modules you need to do distance learning and some you just need to take a couple of days off here and there to fit them in.

    And they are REPS approved.
  • thanks for the reply ratbag - did they givce you good contacts to get employment when you had finished the course ?
  • Just a footnote to what's already been posted - if you want to take the gym and health club route, a REPS recognised qualification course should be fine. If you prefer to take the personal trainer route, you may be better served with something like ACSM personal trainer.

    My rationale for saying this, is most of popular training providers design their content around the needs of the fitness industry - what for example Fitness First and Esporta want from prospective personal trainers. If you want to stand alone, and in effect, sell yourself to the outside world (and most likely carve your own niche), it may be more effective to go the IAF/ACSM route.

    I'm starting out next spring, and I found it helpful to go to http://www.exerciseregister.com/ and see what people out there at the moment had in terms of quals and experience, and how that sat in terms of what I wanted to do.

    Hope you go for it!
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