I am often questioned about working in the industry - how to get started, what is it like and what courses to do.

The conversations inevitably move to the qualities of a good Personal Trainer and how to successfully build a client base, which is the motivation behind this blog post.

Over the years I’ve had the pleasure of meeting a vast number of Personal Trainers with varied levels of success in the industry.

I’ve still much to learn myself but my blog intentions are to illustrate the key attributes I believe it takes to become a good personal trainer. My view has been sculpted from what I have seen from other trainers and experienced first hand from a decade of working in and employing others within the fitness industry.

My top 3, in reverse order:

3) Physical Condition. If trainers are going to earn the trust and respect of their clients, they must be willing to do what they are asking clients to do. Fundamentally trainers should put in the effort, time and research required to get in a good physical condition before they start teaching others.

2) Knowledge. Knowledge is power and it trumps point 3, as even if a trainer is not in the best shape of their life, a good trainer is still able to coach clients into better health, fitness and shape.

1) Ability to motivate and inspire.  When I first started in the industry, I thought it was all about being fit myself. I later learnt that I needed much more education and not just in fitness. However, my real discovery is that the fittest trainers do not necessarily make the best trainers and nor do the most knowledgeable ones.

The most successful trainers I have seen are the ones who know how to motivate and inspire their clients.

The reality is that clients do not come to us Personal Trainers because of the size of our biceps or our ability to run a marathon. Nor in most cases are clients really interested in body biomechanics or the structure of a carbohydrate.

The reason clients come to Personal Trainers because is because they need help.

They want to look better, feel better, sleep better, work better and have better health – they want results.

Clients come to Personal Trainers to be motivated and inspired so they can change their lives.

I am not suggesting for a minute that knowledge and fitness experience do not matter because they are essential for becoming a Personal Trainer. However Personal Training is not about the trainer, it’s about the client and helping them to achieve great things.

So for anyone thinking about becoming a Personal Trainer, I have this advice – If you have good communication skills and a desire to help other people change their life, you’ll do well in this industry. Personal Training success is measured on what you do for others, not what you do to yourself.