cadre

I'm looking at part time jobs to help me pay the bills and I've been thinking about getting certified to be a personal trainer.

A little background on me, I've always been a gym goer but I am by no means a "gym rat." I'm fit but not bulky and I'm at 17% body fat now. I plan to be at 15% by the end of the summer. I also have experience dealing with injuries and am currently taking a bio course on human movement. I've also taken courses in nutrition (actually thought about switching careers for a while). I have a lot of the basic knowledge a trainer needs. I know I need more knowledge and am happy to do more reading and all of that in order to get it while I get certified.

My main concern is, since I am not bulky or especially skinny, will I have trouble attracting clients? I know that male clients tend to prefer muscular men as trainers but what do females prefer?

What certifications should I stay away from? I know that there are a lot of certs out there and that different companies prefer different ones but are there any that are just not worth the trouble? Any that are generally considered the best? (if this works out I'll probably get more certifications over time).

Am I correct in assuming that work would be more stable with a commercial gym than a small gym or working on my own? I realize that commercial gyms tend to pay less but I already have one unstable job and I don't need a second.

I'm happy to get opinions on this from both trainers and non trainers by the way. Thanks!

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