Why is this such a growing industry and a growing field?
Well, the bad news is the "good" news in terms of opportunity growth for personal trainers. In all honesty, one could say that it would be preferable that there were not such a great opportunity for personal trainers because of all the bad news!
BAD NEWS: Type II diabetes among our youth is rising at unprecedented rates (see http://www.diabetes.org/type-2-diabetes.jsp) and the cause is largely poor diet and nutrition compounded by sedentary lifestyles. 65% of Americans are fat. 30+ pounds overweight. It's not getting better year-to-year, it's getting worse.
GOOD NEWS: Personal trainers can work with parents, schools, and private organizations to combat this preventable and treatable problem. Weight management programs (like Weight Watchers®) need the complementary skills of a personal trainer.
BAD NEWS: Eight of the leading causes of premature death (see http://lapublichealth.org) death are due to poor lifestyle choices (e.g. alcohol abuse, smoking, sedentary lifestyle, poor nutrition choices, etc.)
GOOD NEWS: A personal trainer can train clients to make good and better lifestyle choices along with their choices for exercise and activity. One growing opportunity for personal trainers is overall life coaching (see www.HumanKinetics.com, "Lifestyle Fitness Coaching", by Dr. James Gavin).
BAD NEWS: 85% of people who join fitness centers quit in the first year (see www.IHRSA.org).
GOOD NEWS: With proper guidance and instruction and a well-thought out fitness plan over an extended period of time, a personal trainer can "reach" these same people and get them on the road to fitness success and out of the ditch of fitness failure.
BAD NEWS: The percentage of the overall population that will be over the age of 65 will increase by 400% in the next 20 years, and we are totally unprepared as a society to handle that number of retired people.
GOOD NEWS: Organizations like the International Council on Active Aging (see www.icaa.cc) and matured adult living communities such as those found on www.MatureLivingChoices.com promote a more active and healthy older adult, and personal trainers are finding that focusing on training the older adult is a very lucrative, needed, and appreciated focus area.
BAD NEWS: (for medical professionals!): Managed health care and the rising cost of medical malpractice insurance is significantly decreasing the net income of many medical professionals, due to "less revenue per patient per visit" (managed health care) and more operating costs (insurance).
GOOD NEWS: Many medical professionals, such as physical therapists and chiropractors, are more likely to delegate their exercise prescriptions to a personal fitness trainer so that they can see more patients per day. Because of the rise of malpractice liability, these medical professional are more likely to prefer the services of a well-educated, experienced personal trainer (like an NPTI Colorado graduate), and not a personal trainer who simply took a weekend course or an on-line course. |
