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Oneshoo Blog: Why I'm Training to be a PT

Why I'm training to be a PT

Emma, at the age of 30, is currently training to be a PT. What inspired her to choose this new career, and how is she facing the challenge? Find out in her blog post.

So before I start, there are a few things you should know about me. I am not naturally slim, I wasn’t particularly sporty at school and other than once holding the longest headstand in a high school PE class my athletic achievements are limited. I ran the Manchester 10k 2 years ago and have milked that for pretty much all its worth.

I always thought of personal training as something for those who were just naturally gifted in being slim and sporty. The people in school who made Adidas popper pants look good, unlike mine which were about a foot too long.

So the question is, why at the age of 30 did I think it was a good idea to enroll on a Train Fitness PT course? I’m glad you asked.

The back story

I have been in a job for almost 10 years that I love, I went to university in Canterbury to spread my wings after college and studied a film degree. It was ace. In my current role as an Operations Manager what I studied to be and what I’ve become career wise have never matched up. Straight after University I fell into a receptionist position and grafted my way up the organisation to the Manager role I’m in now.

I remember growing up everyone always assumed I’d end up doing something creative, arty and performance related. I wasn’t good at facts and figures but doodling, chatting and making people laugh was my cup of tea. If you knew what my job entailed on a daily basis you’d see that it really couldn’t be further from what everyone had envisioned.

Why now?

In the last few years, I lost my grandparents and gained a beautiful nephew and niece who I’m in awe of. I guess all of this taught me the all-important lesson that life is too short, hard going at times and completely what you make of it. So rather than why now? I figured, why not?

My PT Course

I am on a weekend learner course with Train Fitness studying for my level 3 diploma in personal training which started in February this year and runs for 18 weeks. The course is a combination of online learning material and Saturday sessions with a tutor, these are a variety of theory, practical, exams and assessments.

The course definitely isn’t for the faint-hearted but is probably the best option for someone who’s in full-time work and can’t afford to give that up. Distance learning I’ve been told by others is very difficult, the volume of information to take in online is intense and often hard to put into context without a tutor to talk you through it.

If you’re in a position to take the course full time then I’d say go for it, your only difficulty here is going to be learning all the information in a much shorter space of time.

Whichever option you decide on, please don’t underestimate just how much revision and learning you’ll need to do in your own time. The walls of my office are covered in post-it notes and diagrams, my social life is non-existent, Friday nights are no more and one day weekends are really short.

So, what’s the plan?

I have been very lucky to have been mentored throughout this process to becoming a PT by a trainer in Manchester city centre with oodles of experience. I’ve also been training out of the gym Pro-Balance Health which is where I’ll be training clients once I’m fully qualified in 7 weeks’ time.

To begin I am planning to PT alongside my full-time job and later down the line, who knows?

I’ve also got two additional courses with Train Fitness including a Kettle Bells qualification and Pre and Post Natal training which I’ll be starting once I’ve completed the diploma.

There’s lots to keep on top of, my social media, website and blog. I’m not sure I fully thought things through when I decided to build my own website and social media accounts dedicated to my journey at the same time as starting the course. A rookie error.

My advice

If you’re thinking of training to be a PT and you’re not sure whether you should take the leap, what’s my advice?

Give it a whizz, what’s the worst that could happen?

Seriously, that is my actual advice. I’m not going to tell you it’s easy or cheap but if you really feel you could positively influence someone else’s fitness by training them – do it! Remember this isn’t about how you train yourself, this is how you’ll put someone else’s goals first.

Follow Emma on her social media channels below:

Instagram @weights_wine

I just want to say a massive thank you to Oneshoo for asking me to write a blog for their website, find out more about them here.

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