You’ve just been certified as a personal trainer — congratulations! You’ve chosen a fulfilling job that will make a huge impact on people’s lives.
Now you’ve got your qualification, what’s next? First, you’re going to need to sort out your personal training insurance as soon as possible, ensuring your business is protected against unexpected circumstances like legal action, theft, and damages. But what about after that? It’s time to get some equipment.
If you want to run optimal sessions, a selection of personal training equipment will make a huge difference to your clients’ experiences. Although the items you require will depend on the individual and their specific fitness goals, these are five bits of kit to help you get started.
1) Resistance bands
Resistance bands are true essentials for PTs. Why? Firstly, resistance bands are perfect for facilitating an incredible warm-up, necessary for injury prevention. From activating your deltoids before a push session, or posterior thigh before a lower body workout, these ensure your client has prepared their body for intense training.
Resistance bands are also useful for supplementing lifts and increasing strength. There are numerous ways you can use bands to build a stronger deadlift if you’re training a client in a gym, for example. As the barbell is pulled off the floor, the bands add resistance so that the movement is harder at the top of the lift compared with the bottom. This will require your client to produce more force. So, when they go back to performing a conventional rep without the band, the top range of the movement feels much easier. Using resistance bands like this is not something your client will have thought of, demonstrating your expertise.
2) Stopwatch
Keeping track of rest time is essential during sessions. Being a PT, it’s likely that you’re a good communicator and enjoy a chat. This is part of the service. However, it’s important not to overdo this, otherwise you risk wasting time socialising when you should be training. People want to be entertained, but they also want results.
This is why a stopwatch is essential. Each time a set finishes, press go and keep track of time. Of course, you could use your phone for this, but it would be a pain taking it out all the time and it doesn’t look particularly professional. Having a slick-looking stopwatch on your wrist is far more convenient and elegant, and they don’t cost much either.
3)Good trainers
A solid pair of trainers is vital for a PT. The right footwear is obviously important when it comes to exercise, but they are also part of your appearance and will help you send the right message. Trainers are your carpenter’s hammer, your plumber’s wrench, your writer’s pen. Before stepping onto the floor with a client, you must make sure you’re wearing trainers you’d be impressed by.
This same principle applies to your clothing. You wouldn’t trust a lawyer who turned up wearing a tattered suit, just like you wouldn’t trust a PT in scruffy gym clothes. Make sure what you’re wearing is clean, fits well, and is suitable for training. No jeans!
4) Foam mat
This isn’t something you’ll need every time, but it’s definitely worth having in the boot of your car just in case because not all gyms provide mats. Having one means you can create your own workout space wherever there’s a 2×2 metre area. Your client can perform any exercises that are done on the floor, such as ab crunches or bodyweight movements like press-ups. They are also useful for stretching during warm-ups or cool-downs. Make sure you add one to your trainer accessory arsenal.
5) Notebook
This is one that PTs often forget, but it can separate the good ones from the great. Taking notes in preparation for a session, and afterwards so you can conduct analysis, will make you grow so much quicker as a trainer. You’ll be able to keep track of what your client is performing well, enjoys most, and needs to work on. The notebook doesn’t have to be pen and paper — it could be digital if you find this more convenient. However, pen and paper do have a certain old-school charm, and if you want to pass over a note to your client there and then, you can do so.
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