A career in health and fitness as a Fitness Instructor
If you are interested in staying fit and helping people get fit then maybe you should consider pursuing a career as a Fitness Instructor. As a Personal Trainer you will have the responsibility of helping people take active measures to reach their health and fitness goals. Already qualified and looking for a new challenge? Find Personal Trainer jobs on Job Mail today!
What does a Fitness Instructor do?
The Fitness Instructor’s role in the gym is not just helping you with your health and fitness, it actually goes beyond that. As a professional in this industry, your role includes:
- Greeting and welcoming clients to the gym
- Helping clients with the proper use of equipment in order to ensure that they use the gym equipment with the right form and do not injure themselves while working out
- Keeping the gym as neat and tidy as possible – working out in a dirty gym can be very dangerous from a health perspective – and ensuring that all equipment are safe to use.
If you, for example, have a client who is looking to build muscle mass you have to be able to give that client sufficient information to allow him or her to build muscle mass in the most effective way. You must also construct a workout regime that is tailor made for each of your clients’ individual needs.
As a Fitness Trainer you will also need to able to motivate your clients. Motivation is often taken for granted when it comes to sports jobs of this nature. However, one of the most important reasons that people fail to take consistent care of their fitness levels and health is a lack of motivation.
People go to the gym intermittently and fail to follow a strict eating regime. As a result of this, people often fall into unhealthy living habits and have great difficulty getting out of these unhealthy routines.
As a Personal Trainer one of the most important things you have to be able to do to do your job successfully is to motivate people to stick to a strict and beneficial routine.
Training and Qualifications needed
There are quite a few qualifications you can pursue in order to get a job as a Fitness Instructor. Organisations, such as the Trifocus Fitness Academy, offer a Personal Training certification. This certification is offered online, via correspondence and through classroom learning, allowing you to choose the learning experience that best matches your needs.
The great thing about this certification is that it is recognised by a number institutions. Gyms such as Virgin Active and Planet Fitness will only allow you to work as a Fitness Trainer if you have the minimum of a National Certificate in Fitness.
This Certificate also opens the doors for international opportunities and sports jobs around the world as it is an internationally recognised certification.
As a second qualification option you could consider pursuing courses such the Personal Trainer course, the Exercise Specialist course, the Sports Condition course or the National Diploma in Fitness. These are but a few courses available in learning institutions such as the Health and Fitness Professionals Academy. These qualifications will help you take steps towards being an accredited Fitness Trainer.
After completing any of these qualifications you will be able to start looking for great opportunities around South Africa.
Skills and Characteristics of a Fitness Instructor
The truth is, having qualifications alone will not guarantee you any good Personal Trainer jobs. You have to have the right skills for the job and the right character to succeed in this environment. First of all, you have to be a good communicator.
The bulk of your job will involve communication. In order to succeed as a Fitness Instructor you have to understand how to communicate with your client in the most effective way possible.
Health and fitness jobs of this nature require that you be able to motivate your clients while helping them workout. If your clients are not well motivated they will not enjoy their workouts and will not consistently seek out your services. Fortunately, this is a skill you can learn.
There are numerous videos and workshops out there that teach you how to motivate people in a better way. If you want to find good positions, you can do yourself a huge favour by learning how to motivate and persuade people in the most effective way possible.
A quick note on Work Environment
If you like being in the gym all day then the work environment of a Fitness Instructor is the ideal environment for you. As a Trainer you will spend most of your working day in the gym.
On average, the Personal Trainer salary comes in at around R121 000 per year. However, with this profession, once you establish a name for yourself you can start working for yourself – getting your own clients and having more control of your income.
Ready to take on a challenging career in sports jobs? Register your CV on Job Mail today and start applying for Personal Trainer jobs that best match your wants and needs.
