hello from hollywood! - Personal Trainer Community - Forum

[ih3art2dance]

hi! i am currently living in hollywood - well actually between hollywood, thai town, los feliz and little armenia - i'm in some sort of no where in LA. anyways, moved here from TX to pursue a career in personal training. been focusing on the personal conditioning first - lost about 30lbs, still losing/toning up - recently laid off which is actually good. i now have the time to focus on working out and educating myself. so yay for me.

my primary concerns are what certification should i go for, what's the best way to get started and how to learn to teach?

thank you!

[megfit]

How exciting and scary for you! Congratulations on pursuing your dreams, though.

When I first started working towards certification, I first found a small, local company that could provide me with the 'basics' of fitness training. I did already have a health background, but you still need to learn the 'details' of working with people.

So, that's one suggestion. Of course another suggestion is to see if there are any small, local clubs that would be willing to bring you on as a trainee. They may not let you 'practice' on clients, but you could learn a great deal by shadowing trainers.

I also suggest you start reading everything you can get your hands on. Join IDEA and start reading their magazines. Go onto the sites of the top fitness organizations, ACSM, NSCA, ACE, even NASM and ISSA and IFFA. Read all you can and start absorbing it.

Then determine which of the more credible certifications you would like to work towards, first.

Meanwhile, you will eventually need to tap into who you most want to work with and what your own strengths are.

Margie

[Christina]

Hi, I don't know if this would be a possibility for you, but I completed a fitness instruction certification at UCLA. You will learn a ton plus you can choose to do an internship. (At least that was the case when I was there.) They do require that you get certified through NSCA or ACSM at the completion of the program.

Christina

[latrainer]

UCLA extension does have a pretty good program.

After certification, you will want to begin looking for a club, or training company you can get some experience with. Go to the top clubs. I would say Sports Club - LA, but I do believe you have to have a degree in Ex. Phys. or Kinesiology. Still check, I could be wrong. When I worked there that was the case.

Go for the higher end clubs where people spend money on training. Then, NETWORK like crazy. Help people like crazy.

After you get experience, and build a brand name at your club, you can decide if you want to start your own training business.

This is exactly how I started, and never turned back.