How to Become a Fitness Instructor?

Fitness is an essential element of lifestyle and a big share of the population is shifting towards it. Hence, the demand for a fitness instructor is set to see a sharp rise in the forthcoming years. Fitness Instructor is a fun and exciting career that requires engaging clients in exercise routines and weight loss programs and helps them to reach their individual goals. Instructors punch a clock for a living because the pay is great, work is varied, and rewards come quickly. Being a personal trainer isn’t your typical desk job. But it can be a rewarding way to earn a living and help a lot of people achieve their health and fitness goals.

What does a Fitness Instructor do?

As a Fitness Instructor, you are the go-to person for exercising. You know how to plan workouts that keep the participants motivated and coming back for more. Focusing on strength training, flexibility, endurance is part of your expertise. You lead a fun class that exercises every muscle group in the body while also burning fat. Also, you design classes in a way that effectiveness rivals that found in commercial gyms. You have many tools at your disposal including a wide variety of equipment and materials. Also, you must have the personality and experience to guide clients in various ways. Today, professional fitness instructors primarily focus on working with clients at commercial gyms and private clubs.

Let us look at the roles and responsibilities that a Fitness Instructor is expected to carry while working with the clients.

Responsibilities of a Fitness Instructor

The responsibilities of a fitness instructor are significant and may include teaching, giving lessons. Also, motivating and encouraging participants in an exercise program, keeping records, and more. Thorough knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and kinesiology are all important tools for a fitness instructor.

Other responsibilities of fitness instructors include advising on the suitability of physical activity for people with disabilities. Also, for those who are obese, design tests of health and physical fitness. Further, develop training programs for physical activities, teach classes in physical education. Then, supervise students’ field trips for recreational activities, involve parents in school activities. Lastly, provide organized recreational activities for young people, and encourage personal health and fitness.

Fitness instructors work with many different types of clients, from senior citizens at a nursing home to personal trainers. They ensure that every client is safely working through a fitness routine and preventing injuries. The following information will give you a basic overview of the responsibilities of a fitness instructor.

With all this said, now is the time to move to the skills which you need to master to provide good training and education about physical and mental health to your client. Let’s discuss them in detail.

Skills Required to be a Fitness Instructor

The Fitness industry is filled with individuals who are seeking to maximize their skill set to increase their ability to influence others. If you are looking at pursuing a career as an instructor of fitness programs, the following are the skills that you must master for you to have a successful career.

Emotional Intelligence

Fitness instructors develop a wide range of skills to help their clients get in shape and stay positive through the process. A sense of emotional intelligence and empathy is a must-have for good instructors. This will make you stand out from the crowd. The ability to “put yourself in someone’s shoes” is an inseparable element of fitness training. While you guide your clients on their way to a fit and healthy lifestyle, it is essential to build rapport. This will create a comfortable environment for working out and staying consistent with the process.

Communication Skills

Like we discussed Emotional Intelligence, communication is another very important soft skill. Emotional intelligence has to be shown through good communication. Without proper communication, it is not possible to make your clients work hard and see the expected results. Over the course of time, the ability to express and understand the thoughts of each other is as important as any other skill on the list.

Leadership and Motivation

It is often said, fitness is not a destination, but a journey. And since this journey requires hard work and discipline, it is vital to stay motivated and keep the client motivated as well. Because we all know, the results of workouts will not reflect overnight. It can take months and years to achieve a certain level of fitness. Motivation is the catalyst that’s going to keep both clients and you on the same page in terms of achieving fitness goals.

Knowledgeable

All the above mentioned should be supported by brilliant Technical Knowledge. It is important to know the inside outs of the workout mechanisms, nutrition, diet, exercise machines, physiology, anatomy, and other such aspects of the human body and fitness.

Indeed, you need to keep an eye on what’s happening and comprehend what’s mainstream to convey the kinds of clients’ needs (it’s critical to remain new and pertinent). On the other hand, the facts demonstrate that rehearsing and considering the fundamental, conventional, essential development patterns stay the most ideal approach to help clients tone up, improve their cardio, build muscle mass, look and feel good and better, improve PBS, or whatever else they may be focusing on!

With all the past and current technical knowledge of fitness, it is important to stay updated with innovations and improvisations happening around the world.  You should always search for proficient advancement to improve what they do. As the adage goes, “knowledge is power.”

Patience

Life is a journey and patience is one of the most important lessons that one can learn from it. Success doesn’t happen overnight; it takes patience and dedication and sometimes you need to get knocked down a few times before you can achieve that success. There are many examples of different individuals at various stages in their lives and career who have achieved great success by following the virtue of patience.  Hence, it is important to stay patient and also keep the client-patient about the results.

Ways of becoming a Fitness Instructor

If you’re aiming to become a fitness instructor, it’s great to know where and how to start! Whether you want to become a personal trainer, group class instructor, or fitness training professional, there are a few ways to start the career. Here are some tips on the best ways to become a fitness instructor that will help you begin your fitness journey.

Acquire the necessary skills

First and foremost, you have to acquire the skills to work in any industry. If you wish to be a fitness instructor, the first thing is learning about anatomy, exercises, nutrition, diet, workout plans, supplements, etc. Once you master these skills, only then you should take the next step. Because your clients would rely on your knowledge while putting their fitness goals and body on the line. Thus, it is important to know all the technicalities before you guide anyone else.  

Take a Certification Course

Taking a certification course is a great way to test your technical skills and get a chance to learn from experts in the field. Getting validation for your skills and knowledge can help you a lot while you are seeking a job. This helps in winning the trust of the client/employer. Anyone who is a fitness enthusiast and is taking his or her fitness seriously will go for a certified trainer. And thus, you should always look to earn a credential.

Practical Experience

There are many reasons why it is believed that it is important for fitness trainers to have practical experience. First of all, it teaches them how to interact with clients, and be motivated for them. Motivation can make or break a workout session. If you are unable to motivate the client, he or she won’t go hard during the workout. And this would result in a failure to achieve the goals. Also, being a fitness expert, you must be acquainted with many exercises which need to be done personally and also via spectrums of modern technology.

Preparation Guide for Vskills Certified Fitness Trainer

Vskills certification is designed for professionals and graduates who want to excel in these areas. And , earning Vskills Fitness Trainer Certification will help candidates to stand out in today’s competitive job market by showcasing their advanced skills. This certification will also help job seekers to find employment in gyms, health clubs, schools, MNCs.

Vskills being India’s largest certification providers gives candidates access to top exams as well as provides after exam benefits. This includes:

• The certifications will have a Government verification tag.
• The Certification is valid for life.
• Candidates will get lifelong e-learning access.
• Access to free Practice Tests.
• Candidates will get tagged as ‘Vskills Certified’ On Monsterindia.com and ‘Vskills Certified’ On Shine Shine.com.

Review Exam Objectives

Before starting preparing, the first task should be to get all the exam-related details that include the important contents and its resources. This will help candidates to easily start preparing for the exam and to understand things more accurately. For the Certified Fitness Trainer exam the topics include:

• Human Anatomy
• Kinesiology & Biomechanics
• Injuries Prevention and First Aid
• Nutrition
• Fitness Assessment
• Training
• Gym Schedule
• Yoga
• Aerobics
• Computers Basics
• Inernet
• Communication Skills
• Etiquette, manners and grooming
• Positive attitude and behavior
• Stress Management

Evaluate yourself with Practice Test

After completing the topics for the Certified Fitness Trainer exam, candidates should start assessing using practice tests. Using practice tests will help them for better preparation. By assessing yourself with these tests candidates will know about their weak and strong areas. So, prepare well for the certifiction and get yourself Certified Tag.

Prepare for Job Interview

If you are into fitness training and looking to enhance your knowledge for upcoming job, then you must checkout these interview questions to prepare for the job interview. Checkout now !

Out of all the discussed ways, certification is a step that will require a bit of guidance and research. One can do the other two by himself, but you need to take a recognized certification. So, let us talk about a certification provided by India’s largest certification body – Vskills!