The Personal Training Diploma is an industry standard qualification awarded to graduates of a recognised personal trainer course. Like the Certificate in Personal Training, the Personal Training Diploma and Diploma in Personal Training is qualification recognised by the Register of Exercise Professionals (REPs), whereby graduates are awarded Level 3 Personal Trainer status, allowing them to personal train clients both inside and outside a gym-based environment.
Who is the Personal Training Diploma aimed at?
The Personal Training Diploma course is aimed at two types of student; current fitness professionals (i.e. fitness instructors or gym instructors etc.) looking to advance their career and earning potential within the health and fitness industry and goal driven, sociable people outside the health and fitness sector who have a passion for fitness and who think they can develop a career out of helping others reach their health and fitness goals.
Personal Training Diploma course content
For those students how have already amassed a course in fitness instructing or gym instructing the Personal Training Diploma will allow them to gain extra qualification credits to become a personal trainer. For those students embarking on their first fitness-based training course, the Personal Trainer Diploma will allow them to develop a clear understanding of how best to train a client.
Course content for both students will include key components like:
- Advanced anatomy and physiology
- Free weights and resistance based exercise
- Cardiovascular exercise
- Fitness assessment and fitness testing
- Exercise programme development
- Periodisation and its role in exercise prescription
- Exercise prescription for special populations
- Nutrition and food science
- Business skills
- Advertising and self-promotion
What kind of Personal Training Diploma courses are available?
Typically Personal Training Diploma courses run for 3 to 12 weeks. Some training providers, including the European Institute of Fitness (EIF) run intense residential personal trainer courses which allow students to study full time at the EIF training HQ at Lilleshall National Sports and Conferencing Centre in Shropshire. Other personal training course providers offer locations around the country allowing local students to pick an easily accessible centre to travel to each day.
Qualified fitness instructors and gym instructors can usually be able to gain a 'top up' personal training qualification by attending short intensive courses aimed at professionals with a prior knowledge of anatomy, physiology, exercise and fitness programmes. These short courses can run full time for 3 weeks or sometimes up to 12 weeks depending on course content and extra short course enrollment.
Students without a fitness instructor qualification usually gain this during their full personal trainer course. The fitness instructor elements of a Personal Training Diploma allow non-fitness professionals to develop a basic understanding of anatomy and physiology, exercise prescription and exercise-based adaption before gaining knowledge of more advanced forms of exercise including suspension training, fitness testing and periodisation.
After graduating with a Personal Training Diploma
Graduates holding a Personal Training Qualification are able to embark on a career as either a gym-based personal trainer or a self-employed personal trainer. Each career offers its benefits. For example, trainers who enjoy working with numerous people in any given day may prefer working in their local health club or gym. Whereas more independently-minded personal trainers may prefer the freedom to set their own working hours and work with a handful of people each week.
Other graduates may take a view that they wish to amass more training by add strings to their personal training bow by enrolling on additional courses in kettlebell training, Physical Activity for Children courses, Exercise to Music, BodyPump or any number of courses available within the field of exercise and fitness.
Whichever career path a Personal Training Diploma graduate takes will allow them to meet new people, develop their knowledge of fitness and exercise as well as give them a sense of job satisfaction as their help their clients meet the fitness goals.
Visit our training course directory and find out more details about enrolling on to a personal trainer courses available with leading fitness course providers.
