Become a personal trainer: yes or no?

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I was chatting online with an aspie personal trainer, and noticed that she modified her approach to fit her needs.

Got me to wondering, it's not the kind of employment one normally associates with us.

What comes to your mind when you think about this career choice? Would you consider doing it? Have you done it?

If not, what about it do you think doesn't fit?

I rarely do personal training, but I teach group fitness to seniors and Aquafitness. It was very hard at first. Im not good at “selling “ myself or providing spontaneous (seeming) encouragement. Teaching seniors, especially chair exercise classes, lets me move at a pace which is comfortable for me. And the older participants seem much more accepting of mistakes and co-ordination failures!

Thankyou. The senior sector certainly seems a good one. And all facets of aged care seems to being a growth area with regards employment. My only concern would be the medical issues associated with aging.

Yeah, the medical issues can make it more difficult. Ive had a couple of participants with mild dementia. One class had an eighty year old blind man, a person in a wheelchair and one of the people with dementia. Quite a mixed group and a challenging mix of training styles needed. A couple of recovered heart attack patients. There is continuous training required for the instructor. But it can be very satisfying. My previous work life had nothing to do with fitness.

My nightmare would be someone having a heart attack.

First Aquafitness class I taught we had to call 911. Thought one of the men was having a heart attack. Thankfully it turned out to be his gallbladder. Scary!

I guess even in apparent peak health. I was walking past a gym/dojo last year and noticed an ambulance parked out front just as the med staff were stretchering someone out.

I tried personal training for a while. I was too good at teaching and clients always ended up doing the exercises I gave by themselves or with a girlfriend/boyfriend. I couldn't figure out how to make people need me without lying to them like a lot of others do. It might have just been the particular gym, though. I am better at teaching kids when they have no choice or they sign up for semesters so I have a chance to get to know them. If you are better able to engage with people right away, or if you could find a training situation that works for how you interact with people, that would be great.

Thanks Starcats. I can relate to so much of that.

I’m studying right now for my personal training exam.

I’m too invested to quit now...lol.

Good side hustle, but not a lot of benefits. With all the apps and technology people do a lot by themselves.

Most people can’t get in peak condition on their own.

I’ve done work out videos for awhile. Until I got a trainer I didn’t succeed no matter who often I ate well or worked out though.

That's probably one way where training the elderly would be a good speciality. Less likely to be autonomous.