Personal trainer
Encourage people to reach their personal fitness goals and achieve their full potential.
About the job
What it's like
Are you passionate about exercise and excited by the opportunity to help others reach their fitness goals?
As a personal trainer, you'll encourage and motivate people to improve their health, fitness and confidence. First, you'll take time to understand each client's goals and capabilities. You'll then coach them through their fitness journey – providing encouragement, adjusting targets and celebrating achievements along the way.
Personal trainers have a good understanding of exercise, nutrition and how the body works. You should also adopt a responsible attitude to health and safety.
Many people work as full-time personal trainers. Although, some fitness instructors do personal training as a second job.
As a personal trainer, you could work for a gym or become self-employed. This may involve renting space in a gym, setting up your own facilities or visiting clients at their homes.
There's also a growing demand for online personal training. As an online trainer, you'll use apps and video calls to design programmes, track progress and communicate with clients virtually.
Your tasks might include:
talking to clients to find out about their levels of health and fitness
setting fitness goals and planning programmes to reach them
teaching clients to follow their programmes safely and effectively
giving clients advice on health, diet and lifestyle
helping clients with their workouts and showing them how to use equipment
recording clients' progress – you'll do this by measuring heart rate and body fat levels
Explore more information about this job
Here are some useful links to learn more about this career:
Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA) – explore careers in the sport and physical activity sector
Which Personal Trainer Course (WPTC) – compare personal training courses across the United Kingdom and find one that's perfect for you
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Top skills
Skills are things you're good at. Whether you know what yours are or not, everyone has them!
It's useful to learn which ones are important in a job so you know the areas you need to brush up on. It can also help you work out if you're suited to a career.
Meta skills
Here are some of the meta skills you'll need to do this job.
- motivating others
- mentoring
- coaching
- time management
- self esteem
- developing a plan
- empathising
- verbal communication
- resilience
- positive attitude
Your skills are important
Our unique skillsets are what make us stand out from the crowd. Learn about each skill in depth and discover what employers look for in your applications and interviews.
Getting in
Explore each section to find more information about getting into this career.
Colleges and universities will list subjects you'll need for entry to a course. Some useful subjects include:
Science
Food Health and Wellbeing
PE (Physical education)
Skills for Work: Sport and Recreation
There are a couple of routes you can take to become a personal trainer.
Complete core gym qualifications
You'll need a Level 3 Personal Trainer qualification. Endorsed by the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA), this allows you to train clients on a one-to-one basis.
To access this course, you must have already completed a Level 2 Certificate in Fitness Instructing. This qualification allows you to start working on the gym floor, where you'll build valuable experience.
There are several paths you can take to achieve your Level 2 and Level 3 certificates. Most people do them through a private training provider but some college courses, such as a HNC or HND in Sport or Fitness, include them as part of their curriculum.
Use the My World of Work course search to find Level 2 and Level 3 courses, HNCs and HNDs.
University
A degree isn’t required for this job, but you could improve your knowledge by studying subjects such as Sports Science or Sports Therapy.
Work
Have you spent time in a career with a strong focus on fitness? If so, you're in a good position to move into a personal trainer role.
For example, many people with a background in professional sports or the armed forces switch careers to become a personal trainer.
Once you gain your Level 2 Certificate in Fitness Instructing and Level 3 Personal Trainer qualification, your experience in sport or exercise will boost your career prospects.
Use the My World of Work job search to find vacancies.
You may want to become a member of the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA) as a Personal Trainer Practitioner.
Gaining additional qualifications can help you specialise and stand out from the crowd. For example, you could study nutrition, strength and conditioning or GP exercise referral.
Volunteering is a great way to develop skills and experience in the industry. Search for fitness or sports-based opportunities on Volunteer Scotland.
All personal trainers need public liability insurance and professional indemnity insurance.
Most gyms expect you to have some experience before you start working. You can gain this by shadowing qualified personal trainers, offering free sessions to friends and family or by working as a fitness instructor.
You may also need a First Aid certificate, which includes cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
Find the right course for you
Browse courses in Scotland related to 'Personal trainer'
