Any personal trainers here?

L

LuckeeLaydee

Cathlete
I am considering taking the course to certify to become a personal trainer. I know this is something I would love to do to supplement my income on a part-time basis. But here are my concerns.

#1. I am 48 years old.
#2. I have almost exclusively worked out at home with free weights, Cathe, Pilates, Yoga, running, biking. Not many hours in a gym.
#3. I occasionally have back problems (not unusual at 48!)

I feel I am in very good shape for my age. I would like to work with older people that want to get into fitness. I wouldn't mind teaching classes but would probably prefer one to one. Am I being unrealistic to think that I could do this taking the concerns I have listed into consideration? How does one get started? Would it take me years working out in a gym before I could do this?
THanks for any and all input. I know we have a couple of personal trainers here and lots of people with good knowledge regarding this.
Paula
 
Paula, I'd recommend doing a search for "personal trainers" and "income" or something on the advanced search option here. I know I got a ton of great advice just by reading prior posts!!HTH
 
Paula...another option to consider is getting a degree in Sports Management. This can be a two year program at most community colleges now and you have the option of going for the four year degree too. This is what my son is going to do because he wants to coach/work at the college level with athletics.

I have checked into this program extensively and the job opportunities are plentiful from personal trainer (certified), to working in fitness clubs, coaching, teaching P.E. (need certification of course) some people start with this program and go on to working in rehab in hospital's,...the option's are endless. And we all know the fitness industry is just booming and will continue to do so.

But this might interest you if you want to do more managerial type of work besides being a PT.

And I don't want to hear you say to me..."I'm too old to go to school!!!!" I am in my mid forties, have a B.S. in one area and I'm back in college now (taking my first class this spring) working on a new degree now. We have probably 20 years to work yet...so you might just as well do something you enjoy and if that requires more education, then so be it! I've had to reinvent myself because the job market where I live is nonexistent for what my previous education/work experience is suited too. If I'm going to work again I want to make the same income level I was at...not work for $5 an hour at Target.

Goodluck to you!
 
Paula - I had never been to a gym before and was worried about how they would accept a personal trainer with no gym experience. Luckily, the manager that hired me believed it would be really easy to familiarize myself with the machines as long as I knew correct form with free weights. He even allowed me to work out at the gym for one week ON THE CLOCK so that I could learn how to use them. Surpringly, it didn't take long for me to figure them out.

Good luck!
 
Hi Paula,
Good luck with your research. I have been interested in becoming a Personal Trainer for years now and can't seem to commit to PT as a career alone. It occured to me one day that I equally enjoy healthy cooking and Fitness. So, I have been looking into a career that would involve both Fitness Personal Chefing and Personal Training. Don't know yet how this would actually work yet, but I know that you can't have balanced fitness without balanced nutrition. It seems that people have as much trouble in their kitchens as they do in the gym. Good luck. deb
 
Paula,

I don't have any specific advice since my personal trainer/aerobics instructor training days were a while ago, but in the words of Picasso "Youth has no age." Don't even think you're to old to go for your dreams, and best wishes.:)
 
Very interesting.
After doing only skin care in the past 30 years I became a PT too, mainly to extend my services. My clints were always bugging me in the past decade to "train together", since they know that I was always very active and fitness and nutrition were my hobbies. Now that I'm a trainer I can "train" with some of my already existing long time clints. It is a wonderful addition to my practice.
I only have a AAAI certificate, it's not fancy but good enough to buy insurance and my ladies don't care at all. I have a very good deal going on in a brand new gym in my town, so it's a perfect set up.
It is not a problem at all that you are not so young.
:) I'm 48 too. My clients are also my age give or take 10 years. These ladies ( and yes, a few guys) are much more comfortable with me than with a young chick, let alone a young guy. They know that I care a lot more about their hanging triceps than somebody very young, who may think "why bother at this point"... :) So age can be a definite adventage, specially if you want to taylor to people around your age. And God knows how many "older" women are out there who can afford to pay you, want a change and care about their bodies, but get intimidated when they see the barbies at the gyms. Best of luck to you. Mari
 
Hi Mari,
I am inspired by your post. Just wondering...is insurance expensive? You gave some very good pro's about training woman especially those our age. What if any cons have you experienced as a trainer?

Just off topic a bit: You said that you worked in skin care for many years. I have recently developed Melasma on my face. I am a hispanic woman with freckles and the "other" brown spots are driving my nuts! What is your suggestion for this? Hope you don't mind my asking your advice on this.

Thanks~deb
 
First , don't let age be a factor...
I was certified with aafa but let it expire and never used it anyway.... the course had quite a variety of people trying to get cert. as a pt.

There was a fifty year old woman who did work in a gym for a short while and decided to become a pt.
There was a fourty something year old man who had failed his pt course with another course and now was trying aafa.
I was like you in that I had never worked in a gym before but worked out at home.
There were folks who were working at gyms without cert and wanted to get cert.
All kinds of people - all ages - all different reasons and different experiences.
Having a bad back - you might be one of those pts that specializes in choregraphing a workout for someone with a bad back...

I would say go for it...but before you spend oodles of money on who to go with - I am sure it was already suggested that you should call several local gyms to find out who they prefer...I would suggest you work in a gym for a while and then you can branch out.

Good luck.
 
Hi Deb

There are many pros about training "older' women. First of all, it is very rewarding. My very first lady (overweight, just diagnosed with diabetes, and not active at all) is now down 24lb, and from barely being able to do a wall push up at first now she can do a few on her toes. That is a huge difference and I'm extremely proud of her, and tell her that too all the time, since it's her who does the job, I just order her around ;-) When I finish with her -- or with anybody else -- I really feel that I added something to their lifes and made a difference. That s a wondeful, but also a very humbling feeling.

So far there are barely any cons. I truly enjoy every minute of it, though it is a lot harder than I thought it would be. There is a big difference between an experienced exerciser and a trainer. When you are a trainer you have to put yourself into the other person shoes. What may be a breeze for you can be very, very hard for somebody else and even your own strenght can be intimidating for many older women not to mention guys. So you also have to be a shrink to succesfully work together with "older" folks. It is very important to be positive and encouraging all the time and point out how much they have improved and how strong they are becoming.
Maybe a con is that at this age almost everybody has some health issues, including my arthritis of the hip :-( -- the engine is running, but the wheels are falling off... So I have a very clear feed back communication with everybody, what hurts and when, what is a good hurt and what is a bad hurt. So again, it is a lot of work, you can't do it half a**ed, but at the end of the day it is extremely rewarding.
Insurance is 300 dollars for a year and I'm covered for 1 million. That's not bad at all.

About the skin, any hormonal changes lately? There are many topical lightening agents that could help with discoloration -- AHA, C serum, Kojac acid, as a matter of fact practically all acids, and RX Hydroquinone. Treatments can be very good, from laser to all sort of peels. Sunscreen use is very important! Hope this helps, Mari
 
Mari,
Thank you so much for your input. I wonder also, do your talk to your clients much about diet or cooking habits? Has it been your experience that your clients need much help with this? I am hoping to add Personal Fitness Chef to my Personal Trainer title. I wonder how much this would be needed.

Thanks so much for the skin info. Do I need to go to a dermatologist for these topicals? I am definitely Perimenopausal and have also developed vitiligo ( loss of pigment) mostly around my cuticles/joints/ corners of my mouth. Very weird. My Mom also has developed vitiligo....although it started in her late 50's and mine much earlier.:( I understand there is little to nothing that can be done for this.

Well, again I appreciate your help. I envy you and hope to find myself with some great clients someday. deb
 
Yes, we do talk about nutrition, but these are mainly tips and advices. My few diabetics are under medical care and they also see a nutritionist too. But it's always good to talk about it!
About the skin: if I were you I would not use any heavy duty Rx just now, but would buy some very good quality make up and just try to cover the problems as good as possible. But definitely see your doctor about it. :)
 
Hi Paula,
I'm not a personal trainer, but I just wanted to tell you about a friend of mine that I met through the beachbody message boards. His screenname is xraymanD_C_S. He's 58 years old, survived a heart attack 5 years ago and is just starting a career as a personal trainer. You can go to the beachbody message boards,click on P90X photo gallery and click on "xrayman's and absmom P90X photo gallery" to check him out, he's a great inspiration.
 
ha ha, I remember those two from back when I was into P90X.......they are totally buff........it looks like all they do is work out....or post on message boards!!!;-)
 
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