In the last decade or so, there has been a boom in career opportunities in the fitness industry. If your goal is to become a fitness trainer, then read along this guide to learn about the required educational qualifications, certification courses and other important tips to become a certified fitness trainer in India.
Growing career opportunities in the fitness industry
There has been a rapid rise in career opportunities in the fitness industry. More and more people are becoming aware of the importance of fitness and leading a healthy lifestyle and this has certainly increased the number of career opportunities in the fitness industry. Traditional career opportunities (such as fitness trainers and nutritionists) continue to grow.
At the same time, there has been a rapid rise in the invention of new career opportunities like food safety experts, food technicians and other new kinds of fitness job opportunities.
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Who is a fitness trainer and what does he do?
Let us start this guide by understanding who is a fitness trainer and what does his work involve. In simple terms, a fitness trainer is a fitness enthusiast who loves sharing his or her knowledge and gained experience with inspiring fitness enthusiasts.
Fitness trainers, often called personal trainers, specialize in the assessment of an individual’s fitness level and the design and supervision of exercise programs tailored to individual fitness goals.
A fitness trainer has the necessary skills and the required knowledge in the field of fitness and nutrition. He or she is someone who knows all about fitness and is ready to grow his or her skills in this very arena.
As a fitness trainer, you would create workout plans and healthy diet plans for the clients; thereby making them aware of different concepts of fitness. You would help them in understanding the importance of fitness and how they can lead a healthy lifestyle. At the same time, it would be necessary to make sure that your facts about fitness are thorough and clear.
You would also be required to clear the prevalent myths about fitness. For example, it is still very common to believe that a thin body means the person is fit and healthy. Your responsibility would be to explain the basic aspects of fitness to your clients and help them overcome body image myths, eating myths and other fitness-based myths.
Your work would also require you to keep motivating your clients. It is very common to get lost and feel demotivated when you are not able to achieve your fitness goals. That’s where the role of a fitness trainer comes into play. Your duty as a fitness trainer would be to motivate your clients to keep working hard even if they are not able to achieve their fitness goals in the current time period.
Who can become a fitness trainer?
The best thing is that any person who has a profound passion for fitness can become a certified fitness trainer. The only requirements are that you should have a deep understanding of various concepts of fitness, a proper certification and a knowledge of how to create workout routines and diet plans for your clients.
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Is becoming a fitness trainer a profitable career choice?
Definitely. Becoming a fitness trainer is certainly a profitable career choice for fitness enthusiasts. For example, you can start your private fitness training business where you can take up clients, train them and help them in achieving their fitness goals. You can promote your fitness business with the help of social media and other methods of marketing. Once you start delivering quality results to your clients, your business would grow.
In case you don’t want to go with the first option, you can join a fitness studio or gym. There is a growing demand for fitness trainers in almost all industries. From private offices to schools, there is a demand for fitness trainers. Overall, it can be concluded that becoming a fitness trainer is definitely a profitable career option in the current time.
How to become a fitness trainer in India?
Online fitness trainer certification
To become a certified fitness trainer in India, you will need a proper certification. This certification should provide you with the necessary knowledge and skills. At the same time, the certification course should equip you with the business side of becoming a fitness trainer. In other words, you should be able to learn how to create workout routines for your clients, how to plan out their diets and how to help them in achieving their fitness goals.
Diploma in nutrition and fitness
To help aspiring fitness enthusiasts start their journeys as fitness trainers, INFS provides Diploma in nutrition and fitness course. This course is a one-of-a-kind diploma course. It is a culmination of research and evidence-based curriculum as well as practical knowledge to provide you with the highest quality of education in the field of nutrition and fitness.
The best thing is that the course can be taken by anyone (as it is an online course). Through virtual classrooms conducted by expert faculty, the students have access to the multimodal learning platform. With the help of animated videos, textbooks, assessment workbooks, quizzes, Q n A sessions, the students get a profound knowledge of the required skills to become a successful fitness trainer. Whether you are someone looking to work for a fitness enterprise or you want to start your own business as a fitness trainer, this diploma will provide you with a wide range of employability and entrepreneurship skills. This course will help you develop good communication skills, client assessment, motivational strategies and client management to help you become a successful fitness and nutrition trainer in India.
You can check out the Diploma in nutrition and fitness course here.
Necessary skills to become a fitness trainer
It would be helpful to acquire the below-mentioned skills to become a successful fitness trainer.
Deep knowledge of fitness and nutrition
As a fitness trainer, you should have a deep knowledge of fitness and nutrition. Knowing about the different aspects of fitness would help you in creating a proper workout routine for your clients. Also, you would be able to answer your clients’ questions without any problem. You can continue to widen your knowledge as far as fitness is concerned and this would help you in becoming an advanced fitness trainer.
Good communication skills
It would be helpful to have good communication skills. Your job would require you to interact with different people. From beginners to advanced students, you would be dealing with fitness enthusiasts of different levels. Good communication skills would help you in explaining your point of view properly and clearly to your clients. Moreover, good communication skills are necessary to gain new clients (and also to maintain the current clients).
Healthy lifestyle
This goes without saying. It is crucial for you to lead a healthy lifestyle to sustain your career as a fitness trainer. The very first thing that your prospective client would notice is whether you lead a healthy lifestyle or not. Therefore, make sure that your own lifestyle is healthy so that you can motivate your clients and students to achieve their fitness goals.
Be clear when it comes to giving feedback
Your clients depend upon you for honest and clear feedback. Always give honest feedback to your clients so that they can genuinely achieve their fitness goals. Never deceive them as fitness is related to their bodies and misguiding them can lead to health issues. As a fitness coach, you should be concerned about the safety of your clients and should therefore pay attention to their workout regime properly.
Motivation
You would constantly need to motivate your clients. It is necessary that you act as a motivating factor in your client’s life. Your responsibility would be to motivate the client so that he/she can continue the fitness regime and eventually achieve the desired fitness goals.
Conclusion
Being a fitness trainer is definitely a great career option. You can follow your passion for fitness and at the same time help hundreds of people. Follow the necessary steps and try to develop the required qualities and skills of a fitness trainer. Continue to expand your knowledge and you would definitely achieve your dream of becoming a fitness trainer.
Author: Sakshi Bhatia
