Become a Personal Trainer
A New Career as a Personal Trainer
From the FASTER syllabus: this article is taught in full in The Certified Personal Trainer route →
In short: To become a UK personal trainer you need a Level 3 qualification recognised by CIMSPA through an awarding body like Focus Awards, after which you can work employed, hybrid, on rent or fully self-employed and earn from roughly £20 to £150+ an hour.
Personal training is a career that's both rewarding and challenging. You help people reach their fitness goals and improve their health, and you can make a real difference to their lives. Here's what's actually involved in getting started, finding work and building an income.
What you need to get started
You'll need a certification from an accredited programme, along with a solid understanding of anatomy, physiology, nutrition and exercise science. Just as important is knowing how to motivate clients and keep them on track. A few years of experience in the industry helps, but it isn't essential to begin.
Qualifications and certifications
In the UK you need a personal training qualification recognised by CIMSPA, the professional development body for the sport and physical activity sector. CIMSPA registers everyone in the leisure industry, from fitness instructors to any professional working in the business.
When you look at "how to become a personal trainer" courses, make sure the qualification is one CIMSPA recognises — which means an official awarding body such as Focus Awards has recognised it. Complete it and you're a Level 3 personal training practitioner.
These courses take up to 12 weeks, or around two months if you push hard. The FASTER courses are accredited through Focus Awards and studied online, supported by a tutor who works with you one-to-one — so you're not waiting for a group assessment or being slowed down by the pace of a class.
The support around you
Personal trainers do better with resources and community behind them. FASTER has built a catalogue of exercises and a community of trainers to help you stay on track. As part of the course you learn to market yourself and build a financial plan to sustain your career and lifestyle. Whatever direction you take, the community is there to help. Our graduates have opened their own studios and gyms and moved into rehab, sports performance and nutrition.
How to find work
The first step is getting certified. After that, networking is one of the best ways in — reach out to local gyms, fitness centres and wellness businesses to let them know you're available. You can also find openings on gym websites and job boards like leisure opportunities and leisure jobs.
Within health clubs there are a few common models:
- Fully employed. Clubs such as David Lloyd and Nuffield Health employ trainers and pay a higher rate for PT hours than gym-floor hours. Some exclusive London clubs like Equinox and Third Space run this model.
- Hybrid. Clubs such as PureGym and The Gym Group let you be employed on the gym floor while paying roughly the equivalent of a month's rent for your PT. You take PT revenue without a split, but you carry the tax, insurance and other burdens of self-employment.
- Full rent. Private PT studios and some chains like Fitness First offer self-employed opportunities on a rent basis.
You could also go fully self-employed, working in places such as:
- Clients' homes
- Your own home
- Parks
- Church halls
- Dance studios
- CrossFit gyms
Whichever route you take, you'll need to build a service that stands out.
How to market yourself
- Build a website covering your services, qualifications and contact details.
- Use social media. Set up accounts on the main platforms and post regularly about your services and offers.
- Network. Attend local events, join professional organisations and connect with other trainers.
- Offer free classes or seminars to get your name out.
- Promote yourself with flyers and business cards in your local area, and reach out to nearby gyms.
The business accelerator included in our PT packages covers how to build content and a social media presence using simple writing and story-structure techniques, and how to use AI to speed up content creation. You also get access to Bob Esquerre of EFGI, who has worked with nearly every major chain and PT product worldwide and can help you plan your marketing.
How much you can earn
Earnings depend on your experience, your area and the services you offer — generally £20 to £150+ per hour. You can add income through nutrition guidance, group classes and online training. Services trainers commonly offer include:
- In-person and online training sessions
- Customised workout plans
- Nutritional guidance
- Strength and conditioning
- Flexibility and mobility work
- Sport-specific training
- Rehabilitation and injury prevention
- Body composition analysis and progress tracking
- Mindset and motivation coaching
- Corporate wellness and outdoor sessions
Insurance
Make sure you're properly protected. Depending on what you offer and where, you may need public liability insurance (for injury or property claims), professional indemnity insurance (for negligence or advice claims) and personal accident insurance (if you're injured while working). Speak to an insurance provider to get the right cover for your business.
You just read one answer. The course is all of them.
The Certified Personal Trainer route: every answer marked by a real tutor, with free return access for life. The price is on the page, payment plans at checkout, no sales calls.
What every FASTER student gets
Built around you, not around the course
- A real person marks every answerEvery answer is read and marked by a tutor, with written feedback.
- Marked as you goEach teaching point is marked as you answer it, not at the end of the module.
- Dictate instead of typeA microphone on every written answer: say your answer and it types it for you (Chrome, Edge and Safari).
- Listen to the lessonsVoice-overs on the lessons, and the audio to download.
- Built for the way your brain worksShort lessons, one point at a time, marked as you go, with the choice to listen, read, print or speak your answers.
- Streaks that never punish youYou set how many days a week you want to study. Miss a day and your streak pauses; it is never lost.
- Accessible to WCAG AA, with an AAA optionEvery page measured against the WCAG accessibility standard: no faults at level A or AA, with a skip link, screen-reader labels and pages that hold together zoomed to 400%. A high-contrast option takes it to AAA.
- Keep it plainOne switch turns off the extras, the streaks, the badges, the celebrations and the movement, so the site stays plain and calm. Switch them back on whenever you like.
- Bigger text and wider spacingTwo steps of bigger text, and more room between lines, words and letters, on every page.
- Calmer motionOne switch stops animations and videos that play on their own. It is on already if your phone or computer asks for reduced motion.
- A personal video lessonWhen an answer needs real explaining, your marker records a video that lands in your course.
- A note before you sendBefore you send, the page tells you if your answer copies the lesson word for word, so you can put it in your own words.
- The skeleton and muscle labsTap any bone on the skeleton, and see the muscles light up on the model.
- Print the notesPrint the lessons and go old school.
- Case studies on your phoneBuilt into the site, saved as you go, there on your laptop when you sit down.
- Pin it to your home screenNo App Store and no Google Play. It is just there.
- No resit feesWork sent back is a chance to add more, with no resit fee.
- Return access for lifeQualify once and come back to the content whenever you need it.
- PT Manager from day onePT Manager is yours to learn on from the day you sign up. Using it with real clients comes once you hold your Level 3 and are listed on the FASTER Trainer Register.
- The FASTER Trainer RegisterA free listing on the Register once you qualify.
- Your certificates in one placeEvery course and its certificate on one page.
- Ask JohnThe Ask John button on every page, and his WhatsApp.
And PT Manager, free
51 tools to run your business, with no monthly fee and no cut of your money
PT Manager is yours to learn on from the day you sign up. Using it with real clients comes once you hold your Level 3 and are listed on the FASTER Trainer Register.
See all 51 tools
Set-up
- Import clients Bring a whole client list across in one go.
- My quotes Daily lines your clients see — yours, not stock.
- Programme templates The programme shapes you reuse — a session or twelve weeks. Pick one for a client, get your own copy.
- Exercise library Every exercise with FASTER coaching detail.
- Money Products, payments and who owes what.
- Send from your own email Connect your own email service so invites arrive from you, on your domain.
- My brand & client view What your clients see when they walk in — views, header, accent, logo.
- Your enrolment pack What every new client gets the moment you enrol them — your forms, ours, or a mix.
- Products and services What you sell — blocks, packages, memberships and one-offs, with their prices.
- Insurance Your policy on record — provider and expiry. Client features unlock while it is valid.
- My menu Switch any tool on or off — for your menu, your home and your whole account.
- Your website A free website on your own web address, filled from PT Manager. Or just the client sign-in door on your domain.
- Your public page Your verified Trainer Register listing, linking out to your own site and socials.
Business day to day
- Clients Your client list — invite, open a client, manage their space.
- Clubs Group your clients — a board they share, a programme or a monthly price if you want one.
- Challenges A dated push everyone logs against — for everyone you train, or for one club.
- Calendar Sessions, classes, capacity and bookings.
- Reminders The dates your business can't let lapse — insurance and first aid, nagged ahead of time.
- Nudges Who needs a nudge today — opportunities, one tap each.
- Who needs chasing Every conversation about money, in the order to work through them.
- What needs doing Your own list, in your own words — the jobs you keep meaning to get to.
- Till Sell at the desk — cash, card or on their phone — and download the sales sheet.
- What you are making What is coming in every month, what was paid in the last 30 days, and what sells.
Templates and systems
- Forms & interviews PAR-Q, consent, consultations and your own forms.
- Coaching room The coaching tools shelf — wheels, journeys and resources in one place.
- Radar wheels Build a life or performance wheel a client fills in — see change over time.
- Nutrition by FASTER Nutrition sheets and habits without meal-plan pretence.
- Pathways Automated coaching journeys you assign to clients.
- Programmes Start a programme — a session, a month, 12 weeks or a season — and find the ones you have built.
- Games & drills planner Build game-based sessions and drills.
- Sport screens Pick a sport — the shots to film, the analyser, and a ready-made radar of the qualities that matter.
- Movement screen → radar Read joint angles off the analyser — they auto-score and fill a radar wheel.
- Assessment builder Build and run client assessments and re-tests.
- Tag analytics Every tag across your clips, grouped and exportable.
Client
- AI prompts Your reusable prompt library for coaching copy.
- Before & after Side-by-side progress comparisons.
Trainer tools
- Exercise generator Fresh exercise ideas from constraints you set.
- FASTER dice & wheel Spin-and-roll session variety for groups and games.
- Movement demonstrator A 3D model of the FASTER movement patterns — body or skeleton view, prime movers lit up, live joint angles.
- Client video analysis Your media library — client folders and your own. Pick a clip to analyse.
- Movement by FASTER (HMAC) Human movement analysis charts — see how a client moves.
- Live analysis Mount your phone and coach live — skeleton, reps, angles and depth in real time.
- Tell a group One thing, to the right people — and you see exactly who it reaches first.
Media centre
- Video builder Reels, stories and client report videos, in your own branding.
- Image builder Branded posts and cards for your socials, at the right size.
- Shot list builder Every shot with its size, angle, lens, location, people, kit and sound; sorted into shooting order, ticked off on the day, printed or sent as a sheet.
- Storyboard builder Plan a video shot by shot: what the camera sees, what is said, the move and the cut.
- Script writer Write what you will say, with the word count and how long it takes to say.
- Teleprompter Read your script off the screen at your speed, and film yourself behind it.
- Video and image organiser Everything you have made and every source you can pull from.
- Ad builder Make your own ads, coached as you go, in your branding. As many as you like, no fee, no cap.
Frequently asked
What qualification do I need to be a personal trainer in the UK?
A personal training qualification recognised by CIMSPA, delivered through an official awarding body such as Focus Awards, making you a Level 3 personal training practitioner.
How long does the course take?
Up to 12 weeks, or around two months if you push hard, studied online with 1-to-1 tutor support.
What employment options are there?
Fully employed, hybrid (employed on the gym floor and renting for PT), full rent, or fully self-employed working in homes, parks, halls and studios.
How much can a personal trainer earn?
Generally £20 to £150+ per hour depending on experience, area and services, with extras like nutrition, group classes and online training adding more.
What insurance do I need?
Typically public liability, professional indemnity and personal accident cover, confirmed with an insurance provider.
Reading this for your own training? Every trainer on the FASTER register has been assessed by us — search by town or speciality, free.
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