Part-Time Personal Trainer: How to Coach Alongside Your Job

You can work as a part-time personal trainer and keep your current job. You need the same Level 3 personal trainer qualification as a full-time coach. Most part-time coaches run sessions early in the morning, in the evening, and at weekends. This guide shows how one PFCA graduate fits 10 coaching hours around a three-day job and two children.

Can you be a personal trainer part time?

Yes. Personal training suits part-time work because clients want sessions outside office hours. Early mornings, evenings and Saturdays are the busy times. Those are the same hours you have free if you work a day job.

You also choose how many clients you take. You can start with two or three sessions a week and add more when you are ready.

How does Abi fit coaching around her job?

Abi coaches about 10 hours a week and works three days a week in a project management job. She is in her 40s and has two children. (She also features in our guide to becoming a personal trainer at 40.) She runs small group personal training in Berkhamsted.

Her week looks like this:

• A couple of early morning sessions
• Mid-morning sessions on her days away from the office
• Evening sessions
• One session on a Saturday
• One track night each Wednesday

She built the week on purpose.

"I'm very much trying to fit the PT world around my current life. I don't want to take on too much, and then it will be too much for me."

The track night shows what is possible in one evening. She set it up at a local athletics track as interest in fitness racing grew.

"I get probably 40 to 50 people on a Wednesday night there."

Why keep the day job at all?

Keeping your job gives you a steady income while your coaching grows. It also takes the pressure off. You can choose clients you enjoy, and you can say no.

Abi's two jobs fit together. Her office role is about getting more people active across a region. Her coaching lets her do it face to face.

"My job is very much more strategic. I'm not the doing part of that. I wanted to be more of the doer."

Most guides treat part-time coaching as a step on the way to full time. It can be that. It can also be the plan. Abi has not said she wants to leave her job, and her coaching week is full of people she wants to work with.

What qualification does a part-time personal trainer need?

You need a Level 3 personal trainer qualification. Part-time hours do not change the rules. Gyms and insurers ask for the same thing from every coach. Look for a course that is CIMSPA accredited.

Abi was clear about the kind of course she wanted.

"There are so many personal training qualifications that you can just do online, probably over a couple of weekends. There's no interaction. With the PFCA, it's about dealing with human beings and people's lives."

She also valued the business teaching.

"The course is great in terms of teaching you how you build memberships and what your charging point should be."

How do you study when you already work?

You study in the evenings and at weekends. The PFCA Level 3 personal trainer course runs for 11 weeks. There is one live Zoom session each Monday, from 6.30pm to 9.30pm. Each session is recorded, so a missed Monday can be caught up.

Most students add four to five hours of study across the week. That is about 40 minutes a day.

Read can I do a personal trainer course while working full time for more on how the hours work.

How to set up as a part-time personal trainer

1. Count your free hours. Write down the hours you can coach each week without wearing yourself out.
2. Pick who you want to help. Abi chose women with busy lives, because she is one.
3. Qualify. Get your Level 3 personal trainer qualification and your insurance.
4. Choose where you will coach. A gym, a hired space, a park or a track.
5. Start with one or two regular sessions. Add more once those are steady.
6. Set a limit. Decide your maximum hours now, before you are busy.

Who makes a good part-time coach?

People who like people. That was Abi's first piece of advice.

"If you're a people person, and you really want to help people, then go for it. Your personality and how you are with people will always attract your tribe."

Her clients come for more than the exercise. She wants them to build strength for the long term, and to feel fine about a missed session.

"I want to educate people around longevity, and not just six week transformations. How to build strength for life."

Common questions

How many hours does a part-time personal trainer work? It is your choice. Abi coaches about 10 hours a week. Some coaches start with two or three.

Can I coach part time straight after qualifying? Yes. Many new coaches start with a few hours around their job.

Do I need to know everything before I start? No. Abi worried about this, then changed her mind. "Very quickly I realised that is never going to be the case. It's constantly a learning journey."

Should I be employed by a gym or self-employed? Both can work part time. Read employed vs self-employed personal training to compare them.

Do I need insurance if I only coach a few hours? Yes. Read why personal trainers need insurance.

Your next step

Watch Abi's full story on YouTube.

Then see how the Level 3 personal trainer course works. You can check the weekly timetable against your own diary.