Personal Trainer Job Description Explained

If you’re looking to pursue a personal training career, you’ll have to read a PT job description to make sure you’re the ideal applicant.

In the following article, we will guide you through this process by exploring the topics:

• What Are The Responsibilities Of A Personal Trainer?
• The Qualification Requirements To Become A Personal Trainer
• The Types Of Insurance A Personal Trainer Requires
• What Are The Salary Expectations Of A Personal Trainer?
• The Different Roles You Can Expect in a PT Job Description
• PT Job Description Checklist

Before we begin, did you know that we offer level 4 PT courses that can help increase your employability in the fitness industry as a personal trainer?

Alternatively, you can discover what other courses are available at OriGym by downloading our free course prospectus.

What Are The Responsibilities Of A Personal Trainer?

No two days are the same when you’re training clients as a personal trainer. However, some responsibilities are a common part of your working day. 

Whether you work in a gym, as a freelancer or are self-employed, you'll spend a significant amount of time on the gym floor delivering one-to-one classes.

Before training individuals, you’ll have taken the time to write programmes that reflect the physical health of each client and their exercise goals.

You’ll also be responsible for performing health checks, physical checks and performing consultations to discover what clients hope to achieve with their personal trainer.

During your time with clients, you’ll also be responsible for tracking their progress and whether the training programme you’ve developed for them is helping them achieve their goals.

You may find it necessary to discuss with your client if you notice that they aren't achieving their fitness goals and make necessary changes, based on their feedback.

When you aren’t training clients and depending on your employment type, you may be required to perform miscellaneous tasks such as:

• Maintaining a clean and safe gym environment
• Carry out marketing to attract new clients
• Perform administrative duties such as answering email queries
• Running group classes

Now that you have an overview of what responsibilities a personal trainer could perform in a gym environment, let’s look at the qualifications you require to become one!

The Qualification Requirements To Become A Personal Trainer

To become a personal trainer, you require two qualifications to improve your employment prospects, these are:

• Level 3 Gym Instructor Certificate
• Level 4 Certificate in Personal Training

It’s important to note that you will not be considered for employment without these qualifications and won’t be able to coach clients one on one.

Consequently, this will impact your ability to secure insurance which we will discuss shortly. Next, we'll explore how these qualifications can benefit your career as a personal trainer.

Level 3 Gym Instructor Qualification Is Your First Step To Becoming A Personal Trainer

Completing a level 3 gym instructor qualification is a crucial first step to eventually becoming a personal trainer. 

This will teach you the fundamentals of gym instructing, such as:

• Understanding human Anatomy and Physiology
• Principles of exercise and fitness
• How to motivate clients

The level 3 qualification will help prepare you for working in a gym environment, including how to:

• Complete gym inductions
• Assist gym members with equipment 
• Run group classes 

Before you enrol on a level 3 course it’s essential to make sure your qualification is CIMPSA endorsed and Ofqual regulated. This means future employers nationally recognise your qualification and ensures you’re taught to a professional standard accepted by the industry. 

As you can see from the Aura Holohan Group job advert, holding a level 3 qualification is a requirement to have your application accepted for their Gym Instructor role:

This is a qualification that employers will always look for when recruiting for a gym instructor at their place of business.

It also serves as a prerequisite that enables you to enrol on a level 3 course on your journey to becoming a personal trainer.

A Level 3 Qualification Is The Next Step To Increase Your Employment Prospects As A PT

After completing your level 3 gym instructor course, you’ll naturally want to expand your skill set and provide one-to-one sessions with clients.

This is where completing an Ofqual-regulated level 4 personal training course is advantageous. The modules in the course will teach you:

• Advanced anatomy & physiology 
• Nutritional principles
• Delivering tailored classes to clients
• Learn how a fitness business is marketed and structured 

If you’re looking to apply for a personal trainer job in the future, you’ll see that this too is a requirement, such as this job advert from Galway City Gym:

The reason this is a prerequisite for such a role is that you’ll be delivering sessions that are tailored to each client, requiring a higher skill set.

This will require you to have the ability to perform consultations and assessments that will determine the best training programme for the different clients you work with. 

The Types Of Insurance A Personal Trainer Requires in a PT Job Description 

When reading a job description of a PT, you’ll need to make sure you have the correct insurance to make sure you are eligible to apply for the position

This vacancy at Anytime Fitness Leigh, for example, requires applicants to have public liability insurance to apply for the position:

Alongside, public liability insurance, there are also two other types of insurance you to secure, these are:

• Professional Indemnity Insurance
• Personal Accident Insurance

Let’s examine these three insurance types in further detail to see what they offer you.

#1 Public Liability Insurance Is One Of The First Pieces Of Insurance You Require

The first type of insurance you should consider getting as a personal trainer is public liability insurance.

It can help provide you with the minimum coverage required to protect you financially when you’re training clients in the event:

• A client was injured under your supervision
• A client’s property is damaged or lost during a session with you
• You damaged equipment at a gym you’re operating in

This type of insurance helps you cover the costs of legal representation or the replacement of lost or damaged equipment if you need financial assistance.

You’re placing yourself at a financial disadvantage if you don’t have public liability insurance as you’ll be responsible for the full costs associated with any claims.

One company you may wish to secure a policy from is AXA Insurance, which provides an overview of what’s included in their public liability insurance on their website:

No personal trainer is immune from having a claim being made against them which is why it’s sensible to secure liability insurance.

#2 Professional Indemnity Insurance Can Provide You With Coverage For Any Claims

The next type of insurance you’ll require to operate as a personal trainer is professional indemnity insurance.

This form of insurance differs from public liability insurance as it centres around claims on incorrect advice you provided clients that resulted in them sustaining an injury or illness, following:

• Poor advice you gave to clients to perform an exercise
• Your training program that fails to achieve the fitness goals of your client
• Nutritional advice that your client follows which leads to your client’s illness

This is something that Brady Insurance can cover, if you decided to purchase insurance from them.

Regardless of the experience a personal trainer has in the industry, clients receiving poor advice can be as damaging as them suffering from an injury or accident during a session with you.

Professional indemnity insurance can provide you with coverage in the event you provide poor advice that results in a client suffering from a health problem or injury.

#3 Personal Accident Insurance Can Help Support Your Health Expenses

The last essential type of insurance you require to operate a PT is personal accident insurance, which will cover you in the event you fall ill or suffer an injury whilst working.

This type of insurance will assist you with the costs associated with any treatments that help with your rehabilitation.

For example, after breaking your leg, you might be instructed by your doctor to undergo physiotherapy which brings with it costs to undergo the treatment.

If your physiotherapy proves costly, Hive Insurance’s personal accident plan can provide you with up to €100,000 coverage:

Anyone in the fitness industry can experience an injury whilst they’re working, which is why purchasing a personal accident insurance policy can provide you with financial peace of mind.

You may also need to consider getting equipment and employer’s liability insurance as other types of personal trainer insurance and first aid training depending on your work as a PT.

What Are The Salary Expectations Of A Personal Trainer?

For each PT job description you read, you’ll notice that salaries can vary depending on the location of the position but also the level of experience they require from the personal trainer.

To help you understand whether you’re applying for a position that offers a competitive salary, we’ll examine what the average salary of a personal trainer is.

If you visit Indeed, for example, you’ll learn that the national average salary of a personal trainer in Ireland is €19,443:

You’ll also discover that the average salary between regions can vary too with Galway personal trainer salaries averaging €27,525 compared to €21,398 for Dublin PTs.

It’s also important to note that the maximum salary you could earn according to Salary Explorer, is €46,000:

This salary will be reflective of the number of clients you train, combined with the qualifications and expertise you have.

The Different Roles You Can Expect in a PT Job Description

When viewing vacancies to help you become a personal trainer in the fitness industry you’ll discover that each vacancy will have a different PT job description.

This is because there are many employments types you can undertake as a personal trainer, these include:

• Part or Full-time
• Freelance
• Self-Employed

We’ll run through these employment types and what they mean in a PT job description and how they can influence your salary as a personal trainer.

#1-Part-Time And Full-Time Personal Trainer Jobs Provide The Most Financial Stability

To understand how much you could earn as a full-time or salaried member of staff, it’s best to research the positions online to see what companies are offering.

BEDO7 FITNESS CLUB, for example, is offering a personal trainer to earn between €21,000 and €30,000 depending on your skills and experience.

It’s important to make sure that when you apply for positions like this you meet the requirements outlined in the job description.

This job application, for example, requires people to work between Monday to Friday and be available to help with overtime and weekend shifts.

It’s also important to note that full-time and salaried positions are difficult to secure, so it’s vital to make sure you have the right experience and skills to give you a competitive edge during the application process.

#2-Freelance PT Jobs Can Help You Increase Your Earnings

The reason many people opt to work as freelance personal trainers is the uncapped earnings associated with this line of work, providing them with the chance to maximise their salary. 

However, there are some financial obligations you may be responsible for including paying rental fees whilst you work as a personal trainer.

It should come as no surprise to you that rental and licence fees can vary between gyms but you can opt to work at gyms that offer the most competitive fees.

It’s important when you apply for a freelance position that you make sure you have checked whether the PT job description asks that you pay a licence fee or require insurance, as these will affect your profits.

With this in mind, you should notice there shouldn’t be limits to how much you could earn compared to a fixed salary position.

#3 Self-Employed PT Jobs Can Allow You To Set Your Service Prices

It’s possible to find yourself reading a PT job description where a company requires someone looking to become a self-employed personal trainer.

As a result, you can determine the price you want to charge for your services, which will vary between gyms and be determined by their licence and rent fees.

It’s important to note that you’ll be responsible for the expenses that are associated with you promoting your brand. 

With this type of position, you’ll also be responsible for obtaining your personal trainer insurance and completing your tax returns using an accountant.

Similar to a freelance position, there is no limit to your earning potential working as a self-employed personal trainer, other than the number of clients you can train.

PT Job Description Checklist

After reading the sections in this article, you might feel overwhelmed by the information you’ve been presented with.

To help simplify the journey you’ve been on to understand a PT job description, we’ve created a checklist template for you to use.

You can simply fill out the document to find out whether the position is most suitable for the type of work you wish to carry out as a personal trainer. 

Next time you’re searching through job adverts, you can use this as a way to prioritise which jobs to apply for based on the qualifications and experience you possess.

You will benefit from completing this template with information that reflects the ideal personal trainer role you would like to be employed in.

It will allow you to compare positions that you’re interested in and determine how they closely correlate with the ideal job you would like to have.

Before You Go!

You should now better understand what a personal trainer does and what information to look for in a PT job description.

Remember, you can expand your skill set and increase your earning potential by enrolling on one of OriGym’s level 4 fitness courses.

Alternatively, you can download our 2023 course prospectus to discover the full range of courses OriGym offers.