RN as Personal Trainer

zero. · Nov 26, 2012

I'm curious if anyone here have tried or have any idea about pursuing this kind of career path? As well as career in rehabilitation clinics? It may not be our specialty but nurses still have a good background when it comes to musculoskeletal system i believe. What are your thoughts?

There's a lot of nursing grads/RN's who are currently fitness instructors/marketing professionals for several upscale fitness centers like Fitness First, Slimmers World, etc.

My friend who is also an RN got lucky enough be a fitness instructor in Singapore. :)

If you're into this thing then you can always pursue it. Do what makes you happy.

akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P · Nov 27, 2012

While nurses are good at assessing the musculoskeletal system in general terms, typically the do not have the requisite knowledge to be able to adapt to an individual clients daily needs. In this case, I'm not referring to their ADLs, medical needs, or the like. I'm referring more to the ideas that every client has a different daily need for their exercise. If you have a passion for personal training, absolutely, by all means, go do it! Just make sure that along the way, you obtain the requisite knowledge of exercise physiology. That will drive a lot of what you do.

I'm not necessarily saying that you should become an expert in sports medicine, it would take a nurse probably more than a year of relatively intense study to be able to function in a competent manner for sports medicine. Personal training is a different beast. Somebody trained well in sports medicine would be able to do personal training without very much difficulty.

One of the biggest things to look at is the "daily adjusted Progressive resistance Exercise" program. Once you understand that program, adjusting to each clients needs on a daily basis becomes a relatively easy thing to do. If you already have some experience in fitness prior to becoming an RN, do a little extra work and obtain a little bit of extra knowledge in the area of exercise physiology, biomechanics, and the DAPRE Program. I think after that, you will find yourself in an excellent visit should you be able to instruct clients in how to improve their fitness level, and health, on a whole different level than people that are "just" fitness instructors.

Good luck to you!