Last Updated on October 12, 2022 by Justin Su
Learn how to become a personal trainer online and make money online.
In the last 10 to 15 years fitness and health market have seen quite progressive growth. It provides an opportunity to generate income. Anyone can become a personal trainer with some basic knowledge and skills.
Not everyone has time to go gym daily, nowadays people want to get things done as soon as possible to save time. Going gym might waste their time but having a personal trainer will help them to maintain their health without wasting extra time.
More and more people are getting health conscious and it increases the opportunity for new jobs. Fitness trainers do nowadays get clients easily. But no doubt this market will become competitive with time.
If you are a bit health-conscious and eager to start making money as a personal trainer then this article is for you. In this article, we are going to know how to become a personal trainer, how much it cost to become a personal trainer, how to get a personal trainer certificate, how to find a job/client as a personal trainer, and much more to cover.
How Much Does a Personal Trainer Make Per Month?
You will get surprised to know what is Personal Trainer’s Salary.
On average top salary or income of a Personal Trainer in the USA is $41,000 to $45,000 per year or $19 to $23 per hour. And lowest income generated by Personal Trainer is $10,000 per year to $15,000 per year.
As per some reports, Online Personal Trainers are making more money than Gym Personal Trainers.
How To Become A Personal Trainer?
Becoming a personal trainer is not that hard if you know where to start and how to start. Below I am going to explain step-by-step how you can start.
Gain Communication Skills
As an online trainer, you have to talk with many clients and they might be from anywhere. So first you have to be good at English. And you must be able to talk with them properly and convince them to hire you.
The better communication skill you have the more clients you will get. So it is important to learn communication skills.
If you think you are not good at communication then don’t worry there are some online courses that can help you to improve your communication skill within a few weeks.
Decide Your Class/Topic
As a personal trainer, you have to choose whom, where, and how you want to train your client. Sometimes clients ask you to visit their homes to train because they think it is best to get exercise done.
You may not like to visit clients’ homes so you have to stick with that and learn how to teach exercise online.
There are many different types of exercises you can teach and this is where you have to choose which exercise you have to teach to whom.
Basically choose the exercise you want to teach, whom you want to train, your time, location, and the number of clients you want to handle each day.
Become A Certified Personal Trainer
Now it’s time to find the best personal trainer certification program. Most of the certification programs are paid but there are some free personal trainer certification programs as well.
Most of these certification courses will cost you around $200 to $500 and it will take 2 to 4 months to complete.
Following are some of the known and recommended Certification Programs.
NCCA (National Commission for Certifying Agencies)
NCCA was formed in 1977 in cooperation with the federal government, formed with the name National Commission for Health Certifying Agencies (NCHCA) later changed to NCCA in 1989.
They do run a certification program every year twice or thrice. For 2020 this program is closed new registration will start soon for March 2023.
The certification program is absolutely free and it has more value than any other personal certification course. Click here to visit their official website.
AceFitness
AceFitness is a California-based company that offers certification programs and courses that will surely help you to gain knowledge as Personal Trainer.
The ACE certification exam will cost you around $100 for the first time. You must be at least 18 years old at the time of registration.
You have to provide a government-issued photo ID with your signature. Also, you must have completed at least high school. Click here to visit their official website and know more about their basic requirements.
NASM
NASM or National Academy of Sports Medicine has been in the field for more than 35 years helped more than 1 million people get certificates.
They are available in more than 100 countries and have more than 10,000 gyms and health club partnerships. The exam, certificate, and courses will combine and cost you around $700. Which makes it the costliest way to get a personal trainer certificate.
But it also provides a guide to finding a job so it is worth joining them. They have job boards where you can find available jobs.
Other Personal Trainer Certificate programs
How To Find A Job As A Personal Trainer?
There are many methods to make money for Personal Trainer. Job is not the only method to make money hence here we will check out the list of ways to make money as a personal trainer.
Certification Sites
The agency or website that offers certification programs is also supporting its users in finding jobs. As most of them are partnered with many gyms and physical groups, it is easy for them to list available vacancies on their website.
For example, NASM has a job board where you can apply for available vacancies but for that, you have to get a certificate from their platform.
GlassDoor
All of us know about this job marketplace and rating platform. Currently, there are more than 2800 jobs available for Personal Trainers.
Some of these jobs include work from home or you can call it an online personal trainer job. The salary range between $15 to $30 per hour. The highest paid salary is around $75 per hour.
The demand for Women Personal Trainer is high and their salary is a bit high as well. Click here to visit UpWork and search for available jobs.
UpWork
UpWork is a place where professional freelancers search for jobs or projects to complete. It is one of the best places to make money as a freelancer.
UpWork is a place where you will find more jobs under the Digital category for example writing, graphic designing, developing, etc. Currently, there are more than 50 available jobs under the Personal Trainer section.
UpWork is the best place to become a personal trainer online.
On average you require to work 30 hours a week and will get paid $20 per hour.
JobStreet
JobStreet was founded in 1997 in Malaysia it is one of the best and highest employment marketplaces. It has a team of 800 team members.
Currently, there are more than 8000 jobs listed on JobStreet. Most of them are office-based or location-based jobs and some of the jobs are also remote jobs.
Join Gyms
Commercial gyms like Gold Gym, Planet Fitness, and XSport are some known gyms that hire experienced & interns as personal trainers.
You can also find some local gyms that can show you certificates to get a job quickly. The internet is the best place to find jobs in the gym.
Community and Wellness Centres
In cities, hospitals and community centers do hire personal trainers to help patients or people to recover from illness. This is not new that fitness clubs have personal trainers available.
Become Independent Online Personal Trainer
If you don’t want to work for someone then you can try to become an independent trainer. There are various ways to make money as an independent personal trainer. But it is a bit hard and time-consuming.
Become Instagram Model
Instagram is widely used for marketing and you will find there are many models on Instagram and even some new models are making a good amount of money.
Most women who become models on Instagram get fast success. But we all know it takes time to get followers on Instagram.
You can post photos and videos related to health and fitness to build your followers and later you can charge them for becoming a personal trainer.
Start YouTube Channel
You can start your YouTube channel and make videos on fitness and health for example the best exercise to do in summer. Check out this article on how to make money on Youtube.
Starting a Youtube channel is also not an easy task, you need to spend lots of time and require patience to become a successful Youtuber.
At the moment, YouTube Shorts are the best way to reach more users. If you are planning to go on YouTube then use YouTube Shorts to build your audience.
Affiliate Links
Whether you are using Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, or any other platform to reach clients or customers you can use affiliate links to earn extra money.
Your followers might be looking to buy something and they may buy using your link.
Frequently Asked Question
Let’s check out the top frequently asked questions by users.
How much does it cost to become a personal trainer?
There are two ways to become a personal trainer, Free and Paid ways. The free method will allow you to get a free certificate and find jobs but it will be less effective while paid method or certification will bring more jobs and certificates.
How long does it take to become a personal trainer?
Usually, it takes around 3 to 5 months. It depends on the course you have chosen to go with.
What is the best personal trainer course?
Udemy is the best place to find any type of course. The following are the best-known online courses.
How much does a personal trainer cost in India?
It doesn’t matter where you are from, the cost of the certificate and course will be the same. It will cost you around $500 to $700 to become a personal trainer cost.
How to become a personal trainer for free?
You can become a personal trainer for free but it will be not an effective paid method. You can choose a free certification program and free courses as mentioned above.
What is the best personal trainer certification?
Above we have mentioned more than 8 certification programs that you can use to become an online personal trainer.
How to become a personal trainer online?
You have to choose which type of personal trainer you want to become like a nutritionist, physical or etc. Then get a certificate and search for a job.
Personal trainer salary?
The salary of personal trainers is vary from country to country. On average you can earn $25 per hour or $40,000 annually.