becoming a fitness instructor

lama_pdx

Hello,

I couldn't find a thread on this subject already. I thought I'd see whether anyone out there has experience or advice they'd like to share with me as I train to become a fitness instructor!

I work in a law centre and am very happy in my day job. At the same time publicly funded legal work is hardly a growth industry right now! I'm currently employed at 30 hours a week and there is a chance those hours will decrease. So looking to get another string to my bow.

I spend all my free time at my local gym and that's basically my social life. I love taking exercise classes and have become moderately strong for an asthmatic middle-aged woman. My only experience in teaching exercise was back about ten years ago when I taught beginning ballet classes for teens and adults--that seemed to go well.

I've just signed up to a local college for the Level Two Certificate in Fitness Instructing, Exercise to Music, which will I think be a good starting point. My sense is that it's the journeyman's qualification (along with the first aid/CPR/DBS) and I'm thinking I could then start working and get further qualifications as I go along. (Pilates, etc.)

The thing is, I don't actually know anyone who's a fitness instructor! I thought of talking to the instructors at my leisure centre but since they're in a professional role I wonder if they would really feel like they could be frank with me-- like would they really tell me, "Yeah, this job stinks, don't do it."? lol

tl;dr: Should I be a fitness instructor?

paddyrg

I'd get a couple of qualifications under your belt to start with - it's easy to damage people by incorrect training, so you'd need to be qualified and insured as a minimum. After that, try offering a free class at some or other kind of group, see if you actually like the reality of it.

Problem is if the gym is your whole world, you're turning fun into work environment - may spoil your enjoyment somewhat

Kayalana99

paddyrg wrote: »

Problem is if the gym is your whole world, you're turning fun into work environment - may spoil your enjoyment somewhat

I disagree - turning a hobby into a job is never a bad thing! If you enjoy it why not earn money doing it?

My sister is a FI and she adores her job..wish I could give more info but I'm not her!

lama_pdx

Yes, I agree. Once I get the basic qualifications/DBS/ins, I'll see if they need reserve teachers at the local leisure centres so I can get started teaching. If it goes well I'll get a Zumba qualification and then a pilates cert.