A Quick Guide to a Career as a Personal Trainer

The use of "personal trainers" (physical fitness "coaches" for individuals) was once limited to wealthy celebrities, models and athletes. The availability of personal trainers was caused by by basic economic factors:

There were very few people working as personal trainers.

Since there were few available trainers, they could demand (and get) high fees.

The people who could afford a personal trainer was therefore limited to those who could afford the high fee. However (as expected), high profit potential drew more people into the field of personal training and the supply of personal trainers greatly increased.

How to select a personal trainer
(or How to get hired if you are a personal trainer)
The personal trainer is essentially "selling" their physical fitness knowledge. Personal trainers may be hired for a specific fitness related goal.

For example, consider three clients - all needing the services of a "personal trainer":

Someone who wants to run a marathon hires a personal trainer to achieve the goal of completing the marathon under a certain time.

Another client wants to lose weight for their wedding and hires a personal trainer for the eight weeks before the event.

A college football player invited to the NFL combine hires a personal trainer to improve their 40 yard dash time.

It is possible that the same personal trainer could work with each client, but it is extremely unlikely:

Client 1 needs a personal trainer who has "marathon training" experience.

Client 2 needs a personal trainer with general fitness and nutrition knowledge.

Client 3 needs a personal trainer accustomed to working with elite athletes.

Also the amount of personal trainer "contact time" will vary:

Client 1 may only need a list of run lengths and goal times.

Client 2 may only need a motivation to keep their commitment to workout.

Client 3 may need intense hours of instruction on specific athletic movements.

Three different clients, three different needs, probably three different personal trainers and definitely three different "price structures."