How to become a personal trainer: Louis' story

Meet Louis, 23, from Sussex, to find out more about life as a personal trainer. Part of our Bitesize world of work series.

Louis:

Hi, I'm Louis. I'm 23. I'm a personal trainer and nutrition coach. My job is to keep people fit and healthy helping them understand how to eat healthy food. I do that here at the gym or go to their homes. When I was 14 or 15, I was playing a lot of rugby and I injured my collarbone. In breaking my collarbone, I found it really hard to get back into playing rugby. I lost all my confidence. So my mum hired me a personal trainer who's now one of my best friends and through that we were training outside and I built up a lot of confidence in getting fitter. When it came to winter, we had to train in the gym and I fell in love with seeing how other personal trainers were motivating people to achieve amazing things. It was incredible. And I realised as soon as I could that is the avenue I wanted to pursue.

After I finish my A-levels, I called up a company and I booked onto the personal trainers course for the year following. So in that time I needed to save up some money to be able to pay for that course. So I got a job labouring and I also got a job as a receptionist at the gym where I work now. After that, I saw this new style of training taking over England. I went out to Canada. I couldn't earn any money working in this gym so I painted their walls for them and they taught me more about this new style of training. When I came back from Canada I put my training into practice. And that's when I realise how important nutrition was. And nutrition then became a big part of what I do.

Louis' colleague:

Louis is just absolutely amazing. We love him to bits and he is a real big asset to the gym. He's dynamic. He's very knowledgeable. He knows his stuff for sure.\

Louis:

What I love about my job is the opportunity to help people with their training and nutrition And I've just launched another business alongside my personal training, which helps people understand how nutrition can help them. What I really hope is that I can build a consultancy. So we can help even more people and have a real effect on the general health of the population.

I love helping people to live long, healthy and happy lives.

Louis' job is to help people stay healthy in two ways - by teaching them how to exercise safely and by helping them to eat healthy food
Louis learnt about the fitness industry when he was 14 - his mum hired him a person trainer after he broke his collarbone playing rugby
He decided this was the career for him and spent time gaining work experience so he could start his professional training
Day-to-day, Louis meets clients at his local gym and is working to complete a course that will make him a certified nutritionist - this is someone who helps people understand how food impacts health.

Louis' career path

What to expect if you want to become a personal trainer

Personal trainer salary: £14,000 to £22,000 per year
Personal trainer working hours: 32 to 34 hours per week

What qualifications do you need to be a personal trainer?

Typical route: Whichever route you take to become a personal trainer, you'll usually first need to get work experience in fitness as a coach or gym instructor. You can then study towards a level 3 fitness instructor qualification recognised by The Register of Exercise Professionals (REPs). If you’re interested in nutrition like Louis, you’ll need a degree or postgraduate qualification approved by the Association for Nutrition.

This information is a guide (sources: LMI for All, National Careers Service)

For careers advice in all parts of the UK visit: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales

How to become a personal trainer: Louis' story

Louis' career path

What to expect if you want to become a personal trainer

What qualifications do you need to be a personal trainer?

Outside activities can help put you a step ahead

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