Becoming a personal trainer while overweight is achievable and in this article we’ll break down exactly how you can reach this career goal!
Contents:
- Do Personal Trainers Have To Be Fit?
- What You Need To Become A Personal Trainer
- What Do Clients Want From You As A Personal Trainer?
- Will I Be Able to Find Work As An Plus-Sized Personal Trainer?
But if you’re all ready to get started, check out our CIMSPA-endorsed Personal Trainer Diploma and get qualified in just 4 weeks!
Do Personal Trainers Have To Be Fit?
You don’t have to be incredibly muscular and toned to become a personal trainer and achieve success. While you do need an appropriate level of fitness, your knowledge, experience, and passion are the most important things when it comes to helping clients achieve their goals.
Personal trainers come in all shapes and sizes and if one appears overweight, this doesn’t necessarily mean they’re unfit!
Height and sex play a major part in weight gain and loss, whilst other factors affecting our body types include:
- Genetics
- Medical Conditions
- Hormonal Imbalances
- Lifestyle Factors
However, you also shouldn’t be fooled into thinking every client wants a shredded personal trainer. Some people are often intimidated by the stereotypical personal trainer aesthetic and may actually gravitate towards a plus size personal trainer who resembles their own physique.
With this in mind, you can also target a niche of training overweight clients as you’ll have a better understanding of their body types, limitations and goals. Essentially, when becoming a personal trainer while overweight means you will have a greater understanding of client struggles and will be able to relate to them more.
To gain an even better understanding of training these clients, check out our article: 9 Tips for Personal Training Overweight Clients.
What You Need To Become A Personal Trainer
To become a personal trainer in the UK, there are a few things you need to guarantee success:
#1 – Accredited Qualifications
Level 2 Gym Instructor
This is a necessary entry-level qualification which allows you to work as a fitness instructor. You will be qualified to lead workout classes as well as host gym inductions. You must complete this qualification before moving onto the Level 3 Personal Trainer.
Level 3 Personal Trainer
With this qualification, you will be qualified to create training plans and deliver sessions 1-on-1. You’ll learn how to design tailored programmes, about anatomy and how the body responds to exercise, as well as learning about the business and PT industry.
Personal Trainer Diploma
However, the quickest and most affordable way to gain these qualifications is by combining the Level 2 and 3. With our PT Diploma, you can get qualified in just 4 weeks!
Whichever course you decide to pursue, you should check it is endorsed by CIMSPA who provide regulation across the UK’s sporting industry to ensure that standards remain high.
You should also look for the phrase ‘Ofqual Regulated’ as this government-run organisation works like Ofsted, setting the framework that all providers must adhere to.
Essentially, these 2 requirements mean you will be trained to the same industry standards as every other personal trainer and this will be recognised and largely expected by employers.
#2 – Experience
Clients will be more concerned with your level of experience and what you can provide for them rather than if you are a plus size personal trainer. Not only is this important for helping your clients but it also increases your employment opportunities!
As mentioned above, when looking to gain your qualifications, you should look for courses which provide you with practical experience during your studies. However, other ways you can gain experience include:
- Training relatives or friends – One of the easiest ways to gain experience after you qualify is by using friends or family as mock clients. This allows you to develop your training strategies and put your knowledge into practice with people you’re comfortable with.
- Shadowing a PT in a gym – This is where you can observe a PT in their role and learn how they train real clients successfully. You can do this by simply approaching a personal trainer in your local gym and asking to shadow them for a day while they work with clients.
- Coaching local institutions or clubs – You can volunteer to train people at sports clubs, local teams, or university societies. Even if you aren’t solely volunteering as a personal trainer and act more as a coach or assistant, you will develop valuable transferable skills which will help you deal with PT clients. It also allows you to build a network of fitness connections.
- Record Your Own Workouts to Demonstrate Effectiveness – You can utilise your social media by posting videos of your own workouts to demonstrate their effectiveness and success in getting results for both yourself and prospective clients.
For more information about how exactly you can gain this experience, check out our article: How to Get Personal Training Work Experience.
#3 – Passion for Health & Fitness
Above everything, you need to have a high level of passion and motivation to find success in the fitness industry. Even if you feel you are an overweight personal trainer, clients won’t be as concerned about this if your knowledge, passion, and love of fitness shines through!
Being able to motivate clients when they aren’t feeling positive in themselves or their training is one of the most important personal trainer skills to have. If clients experience a plateau with training, they will rely on your passion to inspire them to continue.
What Do Clients Want From You As An Overweight Personal Trainer?
Whether you’re a stereotypical shredded or plus sized persona trainer, all clients want and expect the same things from you:
#1 – Bespoke Workout Programme & Results
Your main job as a personal trainer is to create tailored workout programmes and plans to get clients specific results, regardless of whether you’re an overweight PT or not.
These programmes will be designed based on the clients’ fitness goals, which may include:
- Strength training
- Weight loss
- Overall health improvement
This is where you will take the skills and knowledge you’ve gained through your qualifications and experience to help them achieve success which brings us to an example below.
As you can see from the Instagram account of @energee_coaching, she posts not only her own fitness journey and results but those of her clients to show viewers of her page what she can do for them:
Whether you consider yourself an overweight personal trainer, if you can get results like those above for your clients, this is what will matter to them the most!
Find out how you can start your own profiles to show off your journey or client results with our article: How to Start a Fitness Instagram.
#2 – Motivation & Encouragement
When training, it’s likely clients will have sessions or periods of time when they are losing motivation with reaching their goals or may feel disheartened if they’re not achieving them quickly enough.
This is where your skills and personality are crucial to keep clients engaged with their training. Clients will care much more about how you can lift them up and keep them positive than if you are a plus sized personal trainer.
To see how you can do this successfully, check out our article: 9 Ways to Motivate Your Personal Training Clients.
#3 – Support
Similar to the point above, clients will seek support from you when they need it. Rapport building as a personal trainer is important for improving your relationship with clients and providing them with positive sessions to keep them motivated to achieving their goals.
As a personal trainer, it’s important to be sensitive to your client’s emotions. Simple questions such as ‘how are you feeling today?’ or ‘how has your day been?’ are easy ways to get an idea of their mental state and will help you understand how the session will go.
This will also help with providing support and how you can encourage clients, also highlighting how important personal trainer communication skills are.
These skills and the support you can offer clients is vital to finding success as a personal trainer regardless of your size, especially when it comes to getting clients the results they want!
Will I Be Able to Find Work As A Plus-Sized Personal Trainer?
Personal trainers come in all shapes and sizes, meaning there are plenty of plus sized PTs who are becoming increasingly popular with clients, both in contracted positions and as self-employed business owners.
As a result of apps such as Instagram and TikTok, these pts are becoming more popular with clients seeking trainers who have a similar body type to their own, who can help in their weight-loss journeys.
An example of this is Morit Summers who is a successful personal trainer with a focus on helping clients improve their health and fitness without worrying about the numbers on a scale.
She has carved out a niche for herself around those who wish to get healthier without obsessing over weight loss and fad diets:
As you can see, Morit has amassed a very impressive follower count, highlighting how in demand plus size personal trainers are!
Morit uses her social media to inspire others who may be overweight to live healthier lives. This is shown by the reels and pictures she posts, proving to her followers how she is certainly capable of helping them with their own fitness journeys.
Morit showcases her body type as a way to be relatable, showing others of a similar size that she understands exactly how they feel.
This was also something done similar by Sarah Taylor who amassed a large following on TikTok and found herself able to connect with clients as a result of her own struggles:
Working in the fitness industry also means there are a range of options for you to provide your services to clients. This can be by being employed by a gym, working freelance, being a virtual trainer, or even starting your own business!
Want to follow in the footsteps of trainers like Morit and carve out your own niche in the industry? You can do this by checking out our article: How to Find Your Personal Trainer Niche.
Ready to Start Your Career as a Personal Trainer?
Here at OriGym, we specialise in providing the best fitness education and support for our students. You can get qualified in as little as 4 weeks with our Personal Trainer Diploma.
To find out more about our award-winning health and fitness courses, download our course prospectus.