 Have you ever thought about becoming a personal trainer or fitness expert? Well, I've got news for you for exactly zero dollars and in no time at all You can become a personal trainer or fitness expert Instagram account a strong plus Sound too good to be true. Well, that's because there are no true industry standards or regulations in the fitness industry You could call yourself right now a personal trainer It might surprise you that I haven't always done things this way, you know Simplicity logic reasoned and all that Let's take a journey back into my career as a personal trainer before I discovered coaching a time I like to call the dark days But first what you need to understand is that the fitness industry is kind of like the wild wild west There are no real regulations or enforced standards on the one hand That might be a good thing because guys and gals like us don't have to report to a board Composed of individuals who may or may not be informed coaches for what we do and we have the freedom to do What we feel is in the best interest of the client however On the other hand it means any yahoo can wake up and call themselves a personal trainer. That's right There is no licensing or unifying credentialing agency that necessitates a particular curriculum To call yourself a trainer While that might not be a problem to the informed consumer Most consumers Especially in the fitness industry are not very well informed and that's not entirely their fault Most of the information out there is pretty crummy Ultimately, that's what got me into the industry as a professional I remember reading certain muscle and fiction magazines and being very confused month to month One month I was supposed to take this supplement and do this exercise to make gains the next month It was totally different. I figured this can't be right I'm going to go to the source. I am going to become a professional in this material a certified personal trainer So I looked up a few certification courses and found one that was doing a weekend seminar in a few months Locally in Lubbock, Texas where I went to college After I received the materials a textbook a workbook oh and a couple of VHS tapes If you don't know what that is ask your parents. Well, I started studying I was getting ready for the seminar where they did the hands-on stuff and you had to test out on the material with a written exam Well, it turns out there wasn't enough interest in the seminar, so they canceled it But don't worry you can still take your exam and just mail it in Yep, it was that easy Order the materials study at home Mail in the exam Congratulations, you are now a certified personal trainer. I think we can all see the problem here But most people don't know this most people assume Because you have some kind of certification you have instant credibility yet You can obtain these certifications without ever having to actually coach someone This is why the starting strength coach credential is different. This is why there is such a high Failure rate for those trying to become a starting strength coach But this is also why when you are working with a starting strength coach You can be assured they have the skill set necessary to help you get stronger Commercial gyms don't really care about this What commercial gyms are interested in is their bottom line How many sessions can you sell? How many packages can you close? That's what it means to be a personal trainer in a commercial gym It's a sales job first and an exercise science profession far second The standard commercial gym business model revolves around overselling memberships with an absurdly low Utilization percentage in fact if the people that purchased these memberships actually use them There wouldn't even be any room to stand But the rates are cheap. So most people don't go through the hassle of canceling them and And even if they do many commercial gyms will simply make it a hassle to cancel I remember having to send a certified letter to cancel my month-to-month membership. That's right They wouldn't let me do it in person with my government issue ID somehow the requirements for cancelling a membership for Significantly higher than initiating one. Look, there is a solution to all of this and it's simple Be an informed consumer if you are going to hire a trainer ask about their education their background and training philosophies or Make it easy on yourself hire a starting strength coach Instead of paying monthly dues to a commercial gym That doesn't really want you to use their membership in the first place And they probably only have one or two squat racks, you know filled with people doing curls and other silliness Find a locally owned or operated strength focused black iron gym or build your own To find a starting strength coach or starting strength gym in your area. Click the link here And if there isn't one in your area, click the link here to find out more about starting strength online coaching