Am I Too Old To Be A Personal Trainer?

If you are asking yourself, Am I too old to be a personal trainer, then I have some insight and real-world experience to share with you. This past year I was asking myself the same question. I read several blog posts, watched YouTube videos, and asked friends who go to the gym.

Spoiler Alert – You Are Never Too Old To Become A Personal Trainer!

A little personal background

I’m currently in my mid 50’s. I’ve spent my life gaining and losing 20 – 70 pounds. When I turned 40, I gave myself the present to work with a personal trainer for about six months. It was amazing, but I did not stick to my new healthy habits and, over time, gained the weight back and a little more.

When I turned 49, I decided I did not want to be over 200 pounds by age 50. I started back to the gym, fixed my eating habits, and lost some weight. It was nice to be under 200 lbs again. But I hit a plateau.

That’s when I started working with another trainer. I also started counting Macros. At this point, I began to see a difference in my weight and confidence. For over a year, I worked with an excellent trainer who inspired me to become a trainer four years later.

After lots of research, here is what I found.

• The average age of a personal trainer is 39
• Not all trainers work in gyms
• Exercising a client is just part of the job
• Work hours can be kind of crazy
• Most trainers do it because they genuinely want to help you get healthy
• Real-life experience working with people outweighs your inexperience working as a personal trainer

Life Experience Is A Huge Plus

If you worked at jobs where you have had to interact with people from many backgrounds, enjoyed working with these people, and are personable, then this is what employees and future clients are looking for.

Clients want someone they can relate to. That does not mean your only clients will be around the same age as you, just that you can relate to them. In my first year, I had clients from 16 years old to 74 years old.

It’s all in how you connect with them that will keep them coming back. For instance, the 16-year-old thrived when I lifted weights with him and when doing little competitions with him. Competitions like how many sit-ups we can do and how long we can hold a plank.

Training adults at any age and finding something familiar to connect with them is pretty easy when you have a lifetime of experiences to pull from.

Your lifetime of experience is exactly what clients and employers are looking for.

Your health issues are also a plus.

Think about any health issues you have had in your lifetime. Have you lost a lot of weight? Do you have knee or shoulder issues? Maybe you know someone who has health issues, and you are very knowledgeable about them.

Having gone through health challenges that your future clients are currently going through is a great way to connect. Having been there yourself, your clients will be more at ease with you and not feel judged.

Can you help clients with the following:

• weight loss
• weight gain
• muscle gain
• movement with bad hips, knees, shoulders, etc
• Shortness of breath, chronic pain – can you empathize with them

Encouragement, Empathy, and Accountability

A lifetime of experience can help you relate to the client and be able to give them the encouragement, empathy, and accountability they need.

Most people love getting compliments or validation that they are doing the exercises correctly.

Some need you to empathize with them about how hard it is but that they are moving forward.

Most need accountability. That is a big part of someone signing up for personal training. They need someone there for them, knowing that someone depends on them to show up.

If you have the skills to compliment, encourage, empathize and still push your client to do their best, then you have what those younger than you don’t have yet.

Getting certified

Many online sites offer Personal Trainer Certifications. I can easily write about ISSA as that is where I got my certification after looking into what employers are looking for.

What I love about ISSA is how its information is set up. It’s all online, and you can work at your own pace. The exam is open book. What I love about that is the fact that we live in a world where information is at your fingertips.

When you need a reminder of where the insertion of the rhomboid major muscles is, you can google search it.

As a personal trainer, you help a client reach their fitness goals. You need to know how to have a client perform exercises safely.

The coursework you do to get your certification will teach you all about the body. You may need to know the Krebs cycle works, but you may never have to repeat that information in real life.

This is the beauty of an open-book test. You also get more than one chance to take the test. This also lets you know where you need to do more studying.

Summary

Your real-world experiences are what sets you apart from the younger crowd. If you can find a way to connect with clients from different backgrounds and give them the support and empathy they need, you will prosper as a personal trainer.

I work at three different places as a personal trainer. Not working full-time in one place is my choice. At each interview, I was hired on the spot. When I asked later if that was normal, each person said no. Part of the reason I was hired was because I was close to their target client ( I’m older) and had been through my own weight loss journey. The other part was that I’m a very personable person.

I hope you are confident that you are never too old to become a personal trainer. Your lifetime of experience is very valuable to the personal training community.