HFI Training’s personal trainer courses will qualify you to work in the UK and then you can look to be recognised all over the world.

Personal Trainer Courses and Qualifications

Most of the world recognises the UK as having an excellent standard of personal trainer courses leading to second-to-none qualifications. In the UK we have a reputation for consistency, quality and the best balance of theoretical knowledge and practical skills. So, whether you are in Deptford, Dublin or Dubai come and get qualified with the best. For the USA and Canada look to the ACSM instead. To be truly 'international', you can combine the best of the UK and the USA with the International Personal Trainer.

Our ultimate package (Level 4 International Elite Personal Trainer) takes you from zero to being a personal trainer that knows their stuff but also can easily sell their services as a PT, recruit and retain clients.

The Elite Personal Trainer includes the best of the UK qualifications up to level 4, the ACSM Certified Personal Trainer and Personal Training Sales and Retention Skills you need to get your business off the ground and flying.

HFI are in partnership with ACSM in the USA but also Try Freedom Intuitive Eating Therapy who are experts in treatment for those clients who have been physically and psychologically damaged by diet culture. In our Intuitive Eating for Personal Trainers course, we will show you how to screen for this kind of damage so you can refer them out to a specialist Intuitive Eating Counsellor and how you can work effectively with clients to ensure they don't go on to develop problems with food in the future.

In the UK fitness industry all reputable training companies use a recognised ‘Awarding Body’ to certify their learners. At HFI, our awarding body is Focus Awards as they are CIMSPA-approved and that is what matters for recognition in the UK.

How To Get Started as a Personal Trainer

If you are new to the industry you might want to just come with us and start learning with pay-as-you-go-option. You can start slowly with one theory unit at gym instructor level at a time and get a great theoretical knowledge base to get you thinking in the right way before you make the jump into actually taking the full PT qualification.

How to Become a Personal Trainer

If you just want to take the opportunity to go all in to the ‘Level 3 Diploma in Fitness Instructing and Personal Training’. This 'combined' Personal Training Diploma covers both the gym instructor and personal trainer certificates. If you are already Fitness instructor qualified you only need to do the Level 3 Personal Training Certificate.

How to Run a Personal Training Business

Once you are Level 3 Personal Trainer qualified you are able to work on a self-employed basis and you may want to then become more specialised so you can work with a broader range of clients, like Older Adults (Level 3) or Pre and Post-Natal (Level 3). Or, if you want to get to Level 4 then you need the Level 3 Diploma in Exercise Referral first and then you can go on to the Level 4 Certificate in Obesity and Diabetes. Alternatively, you can focus more on the academic side of personal training and look to what the USA is doing and go for the 'big one', the ACSM Certified Personal Trainer (the USA Gold Standard). With this you will really stand out.

University Graduate Personal Trainer

If you are a university graduate, please get in touch because there might well be a way of getting you personal trainer qualified without having to take the full 'taught' Level 3 PT Diploma course. Following this, you may are also eligible to take the ACSM EP-C (Certified Exercise Physiologist) which is a stand-alone ‘exercise physiology qualification' or can add incredible value to your degree and your level 3 personal training credentials.

Maintaining Personal Trainer Qualification

Once you register with CIMSPA (the fitness industry governing body) you will need to maintain your ‘Continuing Professional Development’ (CPD) credits. All our courses carry CPD so have a look here when the time comes.