Become a Personal Trainer
What Do I Need to Do to Be a Personal Trainer?
From the FASTER syllabus: this article is taught in full in The Certified Personal Trainer route walks you from no experience to a working PT →
In short: To become a personal trainer in the UK you need a Level 2 Certificate then a Level 3 Diploma from a CIMSPA-recognised provider, somewhere to work, and — the part most courses skip — a support community for your first 90 days. The right characteristics matter as much as the certificate.
If you fancy a career in the fitness industry, this is the honest guide to becoming a personal trainer in the UK — what you actually need, and the claims some companies make that simply aren't true.
The characteristics you need first
Before any certificate, the job asks a few things of you as a person.
- A genuine desire to help people reach their goals. You don't need to be loud, but it helps if you can take a compliment — because as clients succeed, they'll credit your work over their own, and accepting that gracefully is a real skill.
- An interest in fitness. Some brilliant trainers don't even like gyms, and that's fine. At the very least, you see the benefit in people being active.
- A non-judgemental attitude. People come to you for help. You need to meet them with empathy and work from their starting point — not expect them to be a replica of you, wanting a replica of your journey.
The qualification you actually need
Beyond the right characteristics, the single most important thing is the right personal training qualification — from an accredited, recognised UK provider.
The standard route is:
- Level 2 Certificate in Personal Training (you'd normally be an experienced fitness instructor first), then
- Level 3 Diploma in Personal Training.
Together, those open the door to CIMSPA recognition — membership of the UK's register of exercise professionals. That membership is your gateway to health-club chains in the UK and, should you want to travel, to the wider world. If you're already on a register outside the UK, contact CIMSPA about transferring your membership across.
The "international course" myth
Some companies claim that because their course gets you onto CIMSPA, it's an international qualification. That's not true, and it can cause problems later. Remember: it's your membership level that transfers to other countries, not the qualification itself.
The second industry myth: the guaranteed job
As well as a qualification, you need somewhere to work — which brings us to the second big industry lie: the guaranteed job interview.
The truth is the education industry can't qualify trainers fast enough to meet the demand from health clubs. Partly that's because too many training companies don't do enough after the course to help a new trainer succeed. Some have even been incentivised to funnel every graduate toward one specific gym chain — which serves the company far more than the newly qualified PT.
What actually carries you: the first 90 days
Once you have a job, the thing that protects you is knowing you have a community behind you — not just an instructor. The first 90 days are the most vulnerable, and the trainers who last are the ones who aren't doing it alone. A good community is a mix of:
- Mentors outside the industry
- Mentors inside the industry
- Peers with more experience than you
- Peers at the same level
- Newer trainers you can help — and learn from in the process
It's exactly why we built a social platform into our eLearning site: so you can be friends with and learn from every other student, in a space that's yours.
Putting it together
Qualification. Registration. A place to work. A community. Get those four in place, and you can relax into the part that matters — growing your clients, your reputation and your income.
If you're starting from scratch, our Certified Personal Trainer route is built to take you the whole way — and to stay with you well past the certificate.
You just read one answer. The course is all of them.
The Certified Personal Trainer route walks you from no experience to a working PT: 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
Do I need a qualification to be a personal trainer in the UK?
Yes — the standard route is a Level 2 Certificate followed by a Level 3 Diploma in Personal Training from a recognised UK provider. That's what gets you CIMSPA recognition and into most clubs.
Is a personal training course 'international'?
Not because it gets you onto CIMSPA. It's your CIMSPA membership level that transfers abroad, not the qualification itself — be wary of companies claiming otherwise.
Do I need to be a gym person to be a PT?
No. You need a genuine desire to help people, an interest in fitness, and a non-judgemental attitude. Plenty of great trainers don't love gyms.
Does a course guarantee me a job?
No reputable course can guarantee a job interview — that's an industry myth. Demand for trainers is high, but what protects you is support after the course, not a promise before it.
What matters most in the first 90 days?
Community. A mix of mentors inside and outside the industry, experienced peers, and newer trainers you can help — that support is what carries most new PTs through the vulnerable early period.
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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