Tips to Become a Personal Trainer in Vancouver – Fitness Training Certification Program

Updated on February 26, 2019
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Deciding on a career as a personal trainer can be extremely exciting and rewarding. But the problem is that people tend to think that it’s an easy process.

This, of course, couldn’t be any further from the truth. In fact, many PT students quickly become overwhelmed when taking a personal training and fitness certification course. Therefore, it takes both dedication and determination if you want your career to be successful.

This is why websites, such as http://hilltopacademy.ca, use creative and engaging techniques to motivate their students and provide them with the necessary skills and education to accelerate their careers.

In the following article, we’ll go over the steps involved in getting trained and becoming a personal trainer in the Vancouver area.

Training and Exams

You should expect to dedicate at least three to six months in order to complete your fitness training certification program. Then, once you’ve completed the certification program, you’ll have several choices in terms of exams, which will be dependent on what you plan on doing with your career as a personal trainer.

Some of the most common exams include:

  • The 3 hour ACE or American Council on Exercise exam
  • The 2.5 hour ACSM or American College of Sports Medicine exam
  • The 3 hour NSCA or National Strength and Conditioning Association exam
  • The BCRPA or British Columbia Recreation and Parks Association, which is a total of 4 separate exams (2 theoretical and 2 practical).

At the same time, you’ll also need to learn the preliminaries of starting and running a profitable personal training business, which includes building a website and maintaining a social media presence in order to attract new clients.

Decide on Your Career Path

After you’ve completed the exam of your choice, you’ll need to decide whether you would like to work for a gym or personal fitness company, or if you would prefer to start your own personal training business.

Initially, many people feel that they would prefer to have supervision in their career while they’re first getting started. But others finish the certification process, and they already want to start their own PT business right away.

Business Licensing and Registration

Before onboarding any new clients, it’s important to register your business as a sole proprietorship with the government.

In some cases, the city might require that you register for a business license as well. Therefore, it’s a good idea to check in with city hall to find out if a business license is required. If this is the case, you’ll be required to have copies of your certification papers, as well as having appropriate insurance for liability coverage.

If needed, check with a reputable insurance company, who will be able to explain what type of insurance policy you’ll need.

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Start Promoting Yourself

If you’ve decided to start your own personal training business, as opposed to working for a gym or fitness club, you’ll need to start promoting yourself if you want your business to be successful.

Those who work independently of a fitness club need to get significantly more creative about their marketing strategies. Using word of mouth is the most common method personal trainers use to gain new clients, however, it’s also important to promote your business across a variety of social media platforms as well.

Learn about more ways to promote your business here.

Using Social Media

Effectively using social media is another important aspect of running a successful business, and it can be used in many ways to promote your personal training business.

At first, you’re going to need to create a business page on some of the most common social media platforms. This includes platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Instagram. You don’t necessarily need to create a business page on all platforms. Just make sure to focus on the ones that are the most relevant to the clients you’re looking for.

It’s important to remember that people generally don’t like when a business pushes the “hard sell” on them. Therefore, instead of trying to sell your business to potential clients, it’s better to offer free information, as well as before and after pictures of your clients to prove that your services get results, which will get potential clients interested.

Then, use this information to direct potential clients to your business website for additional details about your business.

Create a Professional Website

As a personal trainer, it’s vital that you have your own professional-looking website.

Keep in mind that when a person is looking for a personal trainer or wants to investigate one that they’ve heard about, the first place they’ll turn to is online. So, if you don’t have a social media presence or a professional website, potential clients won’t have any way to learn about your services.

One major aspect of any business’ marketing strategy is a website that highlights their training and education, as well as their skills and experience in the industry.

Your website needs to make this information easily attainable, and it should also feature a blog page, where you can publish content that will establish you as an expert in the field of personal training and fitness.

It’s important to note that building a website isn’t as hard as it may seem. Even if you don’t have any previous experience in building websites, there are countless “drag and drop” website builders, such as Wix or WordPress, that make it extremely easy to build a website that is both professional-looking and easy for potential clients to navigate.

Becoming a Successful Personal Trainer

In the end, becoming a successful trainer and fitness expert stems from having passion and truly believing in the services that you are offering.

To you help your clients reach their fitness goals, you need to be both excited and engaged about what you’re doing. Furthermore, having a desire to see your clients succeed, as well as being properly trained and educated are the absolute most important aspects of running a successful personal training business.

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