The New York Times reported that in spite of the economic doom and gloom, personal trainer is one of the fastest-growing North American occupations. Once perceived as the domain of bodybuilders and gym devotees, personal training is drawing the educated and uneducated; the young and the old; men and women; the recently graduated and laid-off; and the long retired.
From 2001 to 2011, the number of personal trainers grew by 44 percent, to 231,500, while the overall number of workers fell by one percent, according to the U.S. Labor Department. While there are no similar statistics in Canada, I’m sure it’s trending a similar pattern.
I know so many boomers who have never exercised before during their youth. Now, in their middle age, whether they are working or not, they’ve hired personal trainers either in the fitness clubs they belong to or in the gyms located in their own buildings where they live. Personal trainers themselves have blossomed into a profession with more mature trainers transforming a passion for fitness into a new career.
There are trainers who hate desk jobs and began taking on this profession after being let go from a management position. “I’m pretty fit for 51 years old, and I knew I could do something with that,” said one trainer. There are others who recently became personal trainers after having been retired for 25 years. These more mature trainers mostly work with clients over age 60. Boomers and seniors often need somebody who’s more mature and whom they can trust to keep them motivated. Younger trainers might sometimes look too intimidating for boomer trainees.
With an aging population in North America, and a 35.7 percent and 24 percent obesity rate in the U.S. and Canada respectively, potential customers for personal trainers will continue to grow – that is, assuming we all care about our health and want to do something proactively to manage our weight!
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