those who teach classes. are trainers

[sullie7173]

So lately I have been contemplating the possibility of looking into teaching group fitness or possibly becoming a personal trainer. It would be an on the side position for me as I know its not something you do for the money but because you enjoy it. My full time job is as an occupational therapist so I have a pretty good science background. I have played sports/ worked out since I was a kid and over the past few years have made fitness and nutrition more of how I live my life. I love working with others and helping them reach a goal. Is this enough to pursue this area. Anybody able to share their experience of getting started?

[sockerheel]

Start with a certification. Where do you want to work? What certs do they prefer? I have mine from ACE (acefitness.com). I took a weekend workshop and studied for the test for about 2 months. I also had a ton of on-the-job training from a great PT Manager.

Let me know if you have any questions.

[sitnspin]

I just opened my own spin studio and have certifications from ACE (personal training and group fitness), Madd Dog Athletics (spinning, star II instructor), Fittour (group fitness and indoor cycling) and a few others.

I started with fittour years ago because it was cheap and easy.

[sullie7173]

Thanks for the replies... I think that I would go with AFAA certification as it is the most widely accepted around here... i guess i need to decide which one I would want to do first... I run groups all day long for my full time job but love the one to one piece, again still making decisions but great to hear from others and i may have more questions soon

[sullie7173]

I would want to do bootcamp and muscle conditioning type format. When I worked in pediatric this is very similar to the types of treatment plans and goals that I worked on with the kids and loved developing the exercise plans with them though a lot of what I looked at was core and upper body strength. I feel like a lot of what I did then could be used in bootcamp like training but would obviously need some refinement