Let’s face it: desk jobs can get a little samey after a while. There’s only so many times you can turn up to the office, fill out a spreadsheet and go home thinking you’ve done a great day’s work.

Desk jobs have a way of making you feel as if you’re not really connecting with the wider world in meaningful ways and having an impact. And when it comes to personal health, they’re certainly bad news. Sitting as been described as the new smoking and many people are unwilling to sacrifice their health just to get a little bit more money.

It would wrong to say that making the move from desk job to fitness professional is easy. Like other careers, making money in the fitness sector requires hard work and experience. But if you want a more active life, then it’s something that’s well worth exploring.

Start Off Part-Time

Many of the people who make personal training a full-time career start off by doing it part-time, alongside their regular day job. Instead of using their time on the weekends and in the evenings to do their own workouts, they train clients and start to boost their customer base.

The great thing about fitness clients is that many are long-term and can be very lucrative, unlike many other businesses where clients aren’t short term. For this reason, just one new client a month can really add up, especially if you manage to build up a relationship with them and keep them over the long term.

Of course, going part-time is a bit of a “chicken and egg” situation. Working only part-time will limit the time you can spend attracting new clients. This, in turn, will disincentive you from leaving your current job and making the jump to fitness pro.

Though systems like PT Distinction help to reduce risk, sometimes you just have to take the plunge and hope that everything will work out – which for many trainers is precisely what happens.

Be Clear On How You’ll Generate Income

The income of personal trainers can vary a lot, especially if you’re reliant on just a few clients. Losing a couple of customers can leave you $400 out-of-pocket a week – no small amount. As such, it’s important to try to diversify as much as possible into many different activities to maintain your income stream.

One great way to supplement your income is to set up your own boot camps. Here you can add a part-time class to your schedule, boosting the money you make in a week while reducing the risk (because you’ll have more clients in each session). Be sure to make the boot – camp sessions interesting and enjoyable so that your customers return time and time again.

Take Every Client Opportunity You Get

Many personal trainers have the idea that they can just go out and find their own clients. The problem with this, however, is that they soon find out how difficult it is to actually find and connect with clients. It’s a massive, time-consuming process and can often lead to disaster.

So what can be done about it? It’s usually a good idea for trainers just starting out to take opportunities where clients are provided. Usually, this means going to work in a gym for a few hours a day and leveraging their marketing to boost your client base.

It should be noted that the pay is usually a lot lower: about half of what you might expect to get from your own private clients. But it’s something that helps turn hours where you’d ordinarily be idle into time in which you’re making money.

Working for an hourly rate is a good way to build funds to start your own business, do your own marketing and learn how the market works.

Educate Yourself

Being a fitness pro is about more than just shouting in client’s ears while they try to do press-ups. It’s about figuring out how to help them achieve their goals as quickly as possible. After all, that’s why they want your services.

The top fitness professionals spend a lot of time educating themselves. They want to find out the very latest in fields like nutrition and exercise science that will help them up their game. Not only that, but they also develop an understanding of injuries and diseases and how this might affect client training routines.

Continuing education is by far the best way to take a fitness career to the next level and make the transition from desk job to fitness pro a success.

This post has been contributed by Ryan Gatt, it may contain affiliate links.