I start Personal Training on Wednesday

[RoJoHen]

Well, at least, that's my first day available. Whether or not anybody signs up to train with me is another story. I expect to be pinching every penny for the first month or so until I get a steady stream of clients.

I love that I get to write my own schedule, and I love that I don't actively have to seek out clients. The gym has lots of people waiting to train, and it's my boss's job to fill up my schedule. I gave myself a pretty open availability to start, so I might be working some pretty erratic hours depending on what time clients are signing up.

But the good news: I no longer have to work late nights and weekends!

 

[BigFoot]

Good luck!

 

[Mallory]

^ What he said. I know that this is something you've wanted to do for a while now. I hope it works out exactly the way you're hoping it will.

 

[RoJoHen]

^ What he said. I know that this is something you've wanted to do for a while now. I hope it works out exactly the way you're hoping it will.

I hope this works out just slightly worse than I hope. This gym is nice, but it's kind of far away, and there are other places where I can make more money. This place is good because they don't require previous experience. So while I'm working there and gaining experience, a year or so from now I will hopefully be just annoyed enough to find a job at a better gym.

It's a whole big plan.

 

[Roger Wilco]

How does this work for you?
Do the "clients" pay you personally or is their fee of choosing you as their personal trainer included in their membership and you get paid by the gym according to how many people you train?

 

[RoJoHen]

How does this work for you?
Do the "clients" pay you personally or is their fee of choosing you as their personal trainer included in their membership and you get paid by the gym according to how many people you train?

In this particular establishment, it's the latter. My boss fills up my schedule with gym members who have purchased a personal training package. I get paid by the gym for each 30-minute session that I train.

 

[RoJoHen]

All right, I've got one whole client to train today at noon. Um...yay?

It needs to be about 2 months from now so that I have a full schedule. I have been so bored the last couple weeks without work.

 

[RoJoHen]

My one client didn't even show up.

But the good news is he didn't cancel within the required amount of time, so I still get paid for it!

 

[Kestra]

Well at least you still get money!

 

[RoJoHen]

Yeah, but it was a little disappointing. I mean, I'm technically not a personal trainer until I actually, ya know, train someone. That needs to start happening.

 

[RAMA]

This is why I prefer to freelance: I get to keep my money, and I don't have to wait for people, plus I still get paid.

RAMA

 

[RoJoHen]

I will probably start doing something like that eventually. I just wanted to get some kind of experience first.

 

[sidious618]

How did you become a personal trainer? Was there a lot of schooling involved or anything like that?

 

[RoJoHen]

Not a lot. I studied at home and then signed up for a certification exam. I went through NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine), but there are quite a few different schools. They sent me all my study materials, I studied for a while, and then I took the test. I passed, therefore I am certified.

 

[RoJoHen]

So yesterday one of the other personal trainers got fired.

I stole all of his clients.

 

[BigFoot]

^ Nice.

 

[RoJoHen]

Holy dramatic workplace, Batman!

So Anthony, the guy who fired, was supposedly fiddling with the computers, taking other peoples' clients and moving them to his schedule and then charging people even they canceled their appointments. Anthony is not allowed in the building.

Anthony showed up this morning anyway, while I was standing around waiting to work out with his old clients. The whole thing was very awkward. Two of the clients didn't show up.

The ones that did show up told me I better have a good abdominal workout for them tomorrow, and they have a full hour scheduled (who does abs for an hour?!).

Ugh, I should just be a bartender again.