Recently, I’ve taken up personal training. I started helping out friends, family, and even have done house calls to those who responded to my Craigslist ad. Health and fitness has always been a large part of my life. Over the years, I’ve built up quite a bit of experience at the gym that I feel that could be valuable to others who are trying to become fit. Fitness is something that is a constant in my life, so if there was a subject to pass my knowledge of onto others, it’d be fitness.
Before starting, I had no official experience or certifications when it came to personal training. But I didn’t want to let that from stopping me try something new. The reason behind starting this new side hustle was to pass on my vast knowledge of the proper way to exercise and eat, to give myself a new challenge and something to make me nervous about, and to earn a little cash on the side. All fine reasons in my opinion. So, I put out my first ad and got my first customer not shortly after. It was a strange feeling because I honestly wasn’t sure if anyone would respond to the ad. Nevertheless, I needed a plan to give to my new customer. And that was a new challenge for me. I was nervous, doubtful, and a little annoyed to be honest. Now it was time to go to work.
The first thing I do when assessing a new client, I look at where they are currently at and what their goals are. If their goals are to lose weight, then I’d focus more on diet and cardio. If their goals are to gain mass, I’d focus on weight training. If their focus is on longevity, flexibility, and mobility, then I’d focus on compound movements and stretching. Depending on what the clients’ goals are all depend on how you treat their plan. If the client is unsure and wants just overall fitness, then I’ll balance all three of these different fitness aspects.
After assessing the clients’ goals, then it’s time to come up with a program. At the core of each program, it should be similar from client to client. The core of each program will be similar. Where they differ depends on what the goals are. But for my clients, I have specific exercises that I know work and benefit someone no matter what their intentions are. So, that will be the core of my program. Then I will add on different specialized exercises tailored to the clients’ needs.
For one of my clients, we are working out at his home gym. This provides limitations on what we can do since we aren’t working with a fully stocked gym. This may require us to get creative at times to maximize the output with the equipment on hand. That’s all part of the fun. But in cases like this, I will still try to keep the core of the workout the same and find ways to use the equipment we have to do so. If all else fails, I have a library of body weight exercises that will mimic what I would normally do with weights.
That’s essentially it. If you feel confident in your abilities in the gym to change your own body for the better, try giving personal training a try. It’s a way to challenge yourself, perhaps get you out of your comfort zone, and make some side cash while doing so. I felt a little awkward starting out with my first client, but this is all part of the process. Of course it should feel awkward. Starting anything new and doing something for the first time should feel awkward. Don’t try and fight it. Instead, accept it, move on, and get started on how you plan on progressing. Learning and growing isn’t easy and not always fun. But after it’s all said and done, we are better for it. Good luck!
Dabbl 