Who here works in the fitness/nutrition/health industry?

[Jeffrey Fialko]

So I've been thinking that I may want to get into a career centered around some sort of fitness training, but I'm not sure what direction to start in. I don't really know anyone who is so I don't have someone's brain to pick. So I thought I would see what anyone here is doing and how they got into it. What do you like about it? What things are hard about it? Do you freelance or work for a gym or what?

Thanks for any feedback!

[Jonathan Pettit]

I teach martial arts.  I work as a semi-full time instructor, teaching both regular family classes as well as adult-only karate classes and bootcamp style fitness classes.  I fell into this job completely by accident.  I've done martial arts all my life, and after graduating from university I found no employment.  Then my instructor offered me a part-time position and I've slowly added more and more hours.

 

Around 80% of my time is spent with children.  This is in general rewarding but can be very draining.  Dealing with problem children makes five minutes feel like five hours.  Children also often have big swings in self-confidence, often from events at school that I do not know and have no control over.  That makes it hard to know what to expect in any given class.  Also, most children are lazy, in that if you give an inch they will take a mile.  You have to walk a very fine line to keep them engaged and pushed so they progress and not alienate them and make them quit.

 

Working with adults is easier.  Most are eager to learn and are willing to work hard.  The hard part is most have some sort of problem, be it bad knees or frozen shoulders or whatnot, and most won't really do anything about it.  As in, I'll tell someone to do X to help a hip issue, and they will look attentive and say that's a good idea, and then completely forget as soon as they leave the dojo.  Indeed, many adults seem to feel they've put in their two hours working each week, so that's it, don't have to worry or do anything else.  As if two workouts will overcome a poor diet or terrible lifestyle.

 

On a personal level, I have to manage my eating schedule, as classes run from 4-9pm inclusive, with little time to eat in between.  I also clean and do various work before, so I need to eat big right before, have a few quick snacks to keep me going, and then make sure I eat a big meal after.  It's so easy to have a terrible diet this way if you don't prevent it.  Similarly, you need to make a distinction between being at a gym and working out.  You may be at a gym for x number of hours, but if you are training clients, you are not training you.  Don't confuse the two.  Make sure you treat yourself like a client and keep your own fitness schedule firm.  Again, so easy to slip here, thinking you 'did enough' because you were on your feet all day.

 

Finally, you really need to hold yourself to a very high standard.  Once I started teaching, I realize I was an example for every student.  Am I the guy who tells people to do pushups, or am I the guy doing perfect pushups right their with the students?  Can I demonstrate everything perfectly?  Can I show, not just tell?  And can I do it all night?  The more I pushed these areas, the better I became, the better my teaching became.  Basically, know your stuff, walk the walk, be the example people want to be so they will follow you naturally.

 

I've done this for three years now, lots of fun, rarely a dull day, but also lots of work.  I don't know if I'll stick with it full time or branch out.  Hope this offers some insight.