What Makes a Good Personal Trainer

Learning how to become a personal trainer is one thing, but how do we cultivate the skills needed to become successful and stay there?

This list will tell you the 10 habits that highly successful personal trainers use that will help you improve your personal training skills and aspire to live your dream career.

1. They Regularly Set Goals

Setting goals and meeting them is an essential habit when it comes to being a successful Personal Trainer. We’re not talking about goals like getting a thousand clients before the end of the year, that’s too much pressure. The kind of goals that successful personal trainers set for themselves are realistic and measurable. From small, daily goals to bigger, long-term goals, they always make a habit of working to achieve them.

2. They Have a Growth Mindset

Challenges and setbacks are to be expected for any Personal Trainer, at any point in their career. It’s how they approach them that sets successful trainers apart and it has a lot to do with their mindsets and attitudes. By viewing challenges and setbacks as opportunities to grow and improve, they can respond to them with a positive attitude, instead of beating themselves up.

3. They Are Caring and Compassionate

Being able to see things from their clients’ perspectives and gain an understanding of their background and how it affects their outlook can give a Personal Trainer a huge advantage over other trainers.

Empathy and compassion are important traits for Personal Trainers to possess. Clients more readily respond to a trainer who shows a high level of understanding of their unique situation and attempts to build an exercise program around it. This is also an easy way to keep clients for the long term. Make an effort to build a close relationship with them, and genuinely care about them.

4. They Make Time for Themselves

Even though they are busy creating programs for their clients, successful personal trainers still make time for themselves and their own workouts. By making time for self-care, they keep a healthy balance between personal health and fitness. This builds their credibility as a fitness professional and sets a motivating example for their clients.

5. They Measure and Track Client Results

The purpose of any Personal Trainer is to provide clients with a quality service. If the client is satisfied with their results, they are more likely to continue and even refer family and friends. To achieve this, they make a habit of measuring and tracking client results to better understand their strengths, limitations and what they can help them improve.

6. They Practice What They Preach

A Personal Trainer is a source of motivation and expertise for their clients and a successful one makes it a habit to practice what they preach. They need to be someone to rely on and always have the answers to help guide clients along their fitness journey. They live by the same advice they give to their clients, and this only helps to build trust between them.

7. They Are Always Learning

Staying qualified and up to date with education helps to stay at the forefront of personal training in Australia. At AIPT, we offer a range of fitness and Personal Trainer courses that will help you achieve your career goals. To find out more, take a look at our Complete Personal Training & Business Course.

8. They Are Great Motivators

One of the most important traits of a Personal Trainer is the ability to motivate their clients to go above and beyond. The best Personal Trainers know exactly how to motivate their clients, and they pick up on it quickly.

Some people are motivated by their own desire to look good. Others want to look good for their partner or get fitter so they can play with their children. Then there are those who want to compete in fitness-related competitions and events. Regardless of the source of motivation, a good Personal Trainer will be able to tap into that and use it to get the most out of their clients.

9. They Are Passionate About Health & Fitness

Having a deep passion for your work is an important aspect of showing up every day, regardless of what you do. For Personal Trainers, it’s important to love what you’re doing in order to help motivate your clients.

When you are genuinely passionate about what you do, it will shine through in your interactions with clients. They’ll feel your desire to help people and may often be more motivated to work harder to achieve their own goals.

10. They Are Flexible

Every client wants to get something different out of their personal training sessions, so it is important for a Personal Trainer to understand the specifics of what each client is hoping to achieve. By taking a unique approach to each client, a PT can more readily help them achieve their goals. After all, that’s half the reason most of us become Personal Trainers – to help people get real results.

If you resonate with these traits and want to turn your passion into your career, contact us today at 1300 616 180 and speak with one of our friendly Careers Advisors about the next steps towards your rewarding career!