Fitness, Personal Training, Workout
Question:
I am male, 62, and pretty fit (marathon and ultra-race runner) and wondered what the prospects are if I trained as a personal trainer? I would aim for the 50 plus market as my USP. I am fully employed at the moment and probably will be for the next 3-4 years but I am trying to plan for my future both in financial terms and to find fulfilment after I retire!
Answer:
Diane Rennison of Motivate PT, one of the UK’s leading personal training companies offering a truly personalised ‘to your door’ service, answers the question.
There are a lack of good quality personal trainers that specialise in the over 50s age group and although more people are becoming qualified in this area there is still much demand. With an aging population in the UK this is a market sector that is not only growing but is likely to see a significant increase in the future.
Most people who become qualified as a personal trainer (at any age) do so because of both a passion for fitness and for helping others to change their lives. There are two options once you are qualified. You can work in a gym as a personal trainer or you can go and visit clients in their own homes.
Most personal trainer positions within gyms are self-employed and involve the trainer paying the gym a ‘rent’ in return for having access to the gym’s clients. With this option you need to ensure that you’re capable of bringing in enough income from your gym clients to cover your monthly gym rent and then turn a profit. Key things to assess here are how many other personal trainers the gym has working the gym floor and how many members does the gym have. If you’re keen to specialise in the over 50s market you want to ensure there are sufficient members of this demographic.
The other option is to become a mobile trainer and travel to client’s homes and local parks. You can get started by setting up a website or delivering flyers in your local area to gauge interest. Specialising in a sector such as ‘over-50s’ will certainly give you a distinct marketing edge over general fitness trainers. However, many personal trainers struggle to market themselves effectively and often find they’re unable to attract enough clients to make a proper living. An alternative is to freelance for a mobile personal training company that do all the marketing and provide all the clients for you – paying you a fixed hourly rate for each session you perform.
Which option you choose will depend upon your personal circumstances. You may want to think about whether you prefer to be in one place where clients come to you, or whether you want to get out of the gym and go to meet clients yourself.
Many people who become qualified as a personal trainer later in life often begin on a part-time basis so they can start building a client base gradually, whilst potentially still working in their main job in order to maintain income levels whilst they transition careers. To give you a very general idea, most full-time personal trainers in the UK earn around £25k a year but depending upon which part of the country you are in this can be more. Personal trainers in London and the South East for example generally earn more. Whether this is sufficient to maintain your retirement lifestyle is again a personal choice but many personal trainers are less motivated by money and more about following a lifestyle career that they are passionate about.
As a final point remember that personal trainers are generally expected to work fairly anti-social hours as most clients want to train very early in the morning (before the day begins) or late evenings (after they finish work) and also weekends. Successful personal trainers need to therefore be prepared to work irregular hours whilst maintaining high levels of punctuality, reliability and client focus. Good personal trainers with the right attributes can not only earn a very good part-time or full-time living they can also have a very rewarding lifestyle career helping others to change their lives for the better.
Richard Bew founder of Buddy Active changed career in his fifties to become a personal trainer, he offers this advice.
I think you are never too old to inspire fitness and educate clients to participate in exercise and have a healthy diet. I am in my mid-fifties, with a background in music and artist management. Last year I decided that my life needed a kick up the backside and became a personal trainer and triathlon coach.
I have built my PT business over the last year, aiming at a +50 client base, as well as remaining an artist manager. I’ve come to realise that no matter how well you do in life financially. Without good health, you are not necessarily going to be in a position to enjoy the fruits of your work and relationships in the future, especially, when you have more leisure time to enjoy.
I believe the over 50s do enjoy being coached by individuals that can empathise and share their life and work experiences. It helps them to be motivated by people of a similar age to achieve the goals they have set themselves. As I have found it’s not easy to establish a successful PT business, it takes time, marketing and above all word of mouth. But the upside is out there, over 50s generally are becoming more health conscious, the dangers of inactivity are well documented. Government and society should look very closely at helping older personal trainers be part of the solution to get this country healthier with all its related benefits.
