How To Become A Bodybuilding Coach
Are you a fitness enthusiast with the aspiration of becoming a bodybuilding coach? Here’s what skills and certifications you need to achieve your goal.
The old saying goes “if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” For some professions, that may only be partially true.
If you’re a fitness enthusiast who’s long dreamed of turning your passion into a business or career, that’s within your grasp – but it will also involve a lot of work.
With demand for personal trainers and bodybuilding coaches on the rise, now is a great time for you to start leveraging your fitness experience into a paying gig.
But there are a few steps you’ll have to take before you’re ready to take on the role of bodybuilding coach.
Tips To Start Your Bodybuilding Coach Career
Here is what you should do to become a successful bodybuilding coach:
1. Establish Yourself As A Bodybuilder
The good news about this first step: you’re probably well on your way.
A vital part of becoming a bodybuilding coach will be establishing yourself in the community. Get involved at your gym, take part in competitions, and cultivate working relationships with other bodybuilders and trainers.
The networking you do now will pay huge dividends later on.
This is also a good time to assess whether this is truly the path for you. A passion for bodybuilding is a great start, but you’ll also need to be self-motivated, analytical, organized, and ambitious.
Being a coach also involves being a good role model and instructor to others, which will require a positive and persistent attitude.
2. Become A Personal Trainer
Most bodybuilding coaches choose to become a certified personal trainer (CPT) first, and then focus specifically on bodybuilding. Why is this important? In one word: certification.
A personal training certification can be obtained in as little as a month and will help establish your credibility and authenticity with those you’re looking to coach.
Common choices for personal trainer certifications include ISSA, NASM, and ACE.
Each of these certifications has its own requirements for completion and offer various seminars, workshops, and educational courses.
Typically, a CPT certification only requires a high school diploma and some AED / CRP certification.
3. Get A Bodybuilding Certification
Next, it’s time to focus specifically on bodybuilding, and that means another certification.
There are several options for strength and conditioning certification available, each with its own criteria.
In most cases, you’ll need a bachelor’s degree (or be pursuing one) and AED / CPR certification. While a CPT certification isn’t required in all cases, it’s mandatory for many of them.
As before, you’ll be able to study at your own pace, and will have to take an exam (likely online) to gain your certification.
4. Get Trained In Anatomy And Physiology
This is not so much a discrete step on the road to your bodybuilding coach career, so much as ongoing education and training, you’ll likely be undertaking for years to come.
If you’re into bodybuilding, no doubt you already have a grasp of basic anatomy – after all, it’s the study of the human body and how its parts work in relation to each other.
But if you’re going to teach others, you’ll need a more comprehensive education on the subject.
This will likely be a major part of your bodybuilding certification, but you can also pursue other avenues of learning, like online courses, websites, or even YouTube videos from reputable sources.
5. Learn About Nutrition
Nutrition is another one of those areas where, if you’re already a bodybuilder, you probably know a great deal. You couldn’t have really gotten started without it!
But just as with anatomy and physiology, you will likely need an ongoing education in nutrition and how it relates to the human body.
In particular, you’ll want to learn about performance enhancers, especially SARMs (selective androgen receptor modulators) which offer performance enhancement without the dangerous side effects of anabolic steroids.
You should learn about which SARMs are most popular and effective, as well as any possible side effects and safety concerns.
6. Take A Business Course
Now comes the part that doesn’t have anything directly to do with bodybuilding at all: learning how to truly craft your passion into an actual business.
First, think about a niche or specialty – something that appeals to you specifically. Having a niche will not only help you focus your marketing efforts, but will also narrow the kind of clientele you attract (that’s a good thing).
Take some courses on business, either online or as part of your college education. If you can study at your own pace and accrue knowledge while you also pursue your bodybuilding certifications, so much the better.
You’ll need to set up all the basics of a self-owned business: a name, website, phone, liability insurance, any required equipment, and possibly a venue for the same.
Learn to market yourself. Not everyone relishes the idea of self-promotion, but it’s the cornerstone of any successful business. Get some business cards and brochures. Have a social media presence.
Get your start by offering free consultations and attract customers through word of mouth. Here’s where all that networking you did earlier will really start to pay off!
