Dr Amir Emadian – Personal Trainer

It’s coming to that time of the year where we’re all losing some of that motivation with our New Year’s health and fitness resolutions. So it’s apt that we present Dr Amir Emadian who works as a personal trainer at his own private gym. Dr Amir Emadian  applies evidence-based tailored nutritional strategies combined with his knowledge gained from his PhD in Nutrition to ensure you have the best tools to achieve your health and fitness goals

Summary – click if you want to jump to any particular question!

1. My first question has to be about how you’ve amassed so many qualifications! How did you decide to do them and is that the normal amount someone would have in your field?
2. What’s the biggest aspect you found different between reading about the job to actually doing it?
3. What do you find most challenging in your job?
4. Your job is often seen as one where you need to have a very outgoing personality to be successful, is that true?
5. How do you measure success as a personal trainer?
6. With so much information available on the internet it sounds like people can get what they need from their own bedroom. However, time and time again dieticians, trainers and people involved in health and fitness are routinely listed as jobs least likely to fall in demand. Why do you think that is?
7. What advice would you give someone who is interested in following a similar career path?
8. What professional associations or journals should someone interested in following this career keep up to date with?
9. And finally, with the majority of New Year’s resolutions relating to health and fitness, what tips would you give to someone to stick with their resolutions?
10. Final Four
11. Further info incl. Linkedin

1) My first question has to be about how you’ve amassed so many qualifications! How did you decide to do them and is that the normal amount someone would have in your field?

In all honesty a lot of the qualifications I’ve managed to accumulate has mainly been down to the fact that I was torn between which areas to initially go towards. My BSc Biomedical Science was mainly because my interest at that time was to move into a medical degree but during that year I got exposed to nutrition modules and that’s when I realised nutrition is more the area I wanted to pursue a career in.

I then decided to pursue a MSc Nutrition and it was around that time I got my Level 2 and Level 3 Fitness Instructor and Personal Trainer qualifications. It was from those two avenues which led me to start my PhD. Around the same time, I worked in a commercial gym as a personal trainer and it was a really eye-opening experience of how I could incorporate both my training and nutrition knowledge to help someone achieve their goals. My PhD was on Type 2 diabetes prevention and management, so looking at physical activity, sedentary time and also dietary intake.

Normally when it comes to becoming a personal trainer a level 3 qualification will be the minimum requirement that most people would have before they can work as a personal trainer. From a nutrition standpoint – since this not a protected title in the UK (unlike other countries) anyone can technically call themselves a nutritionist though most will possess a biology related degree.

2) What’s the biggest aspect you found different between reading about the job to actually doing it?

The most important difference is the human aspect. Looking at the UK population and what they should be doing (on a basic level) I see that they’re not doing it, that’s where the whole behavioural science aspect comes into it. To change someone’s behaviour because you don’t understand why they do the things they do, the habits they have, the psychology behind their choices and why they have the activity levels that they have is something you won’t get from textbooks as everyone is unique. You can find the best exercise program that you think is going to help them but if it’s not completely tailored to where they are as a person, where they are in their careers, in their family life and in their general mental well-being it’s very hard to get them to follow and implement that programme.

3) What do you find most challenging in your job?

Hmm, probably the individual that is to the client. Every single case will be completely new and it requires you to constantly be changing how you approach a client. I might come across a client that has a particular injury, a certain health condition or a specific dietary requirement all of which require me to do my research and better adapt my approach.

Just because you have the educational background doesn’t mean you’re aware of everything – there’s always things that are constantly changing; new strategies, new exercise, reading the new science of nutrition. I think it’s important to stay up-to-date so when you come across someone with a specific need, you’re in a better position to help them. So I’d say always growing and keeping yourself up to date is definitely a challenging aspects of the job.

4) Your job is often seen as one where you need to have a very outgoing personality to be successful, is that true?

Having an outgoing personality definitely will help especially if you work in a commercial gym. When I worked in a commercial gym, I would usually see the more experienced personal trainers just go and talk to people. Walking up to someone in a gym and starting conversation might be alien to quite a few people admittedly it’s not the most comfortable thing unless you’re an outgoing person.

I would say that when I first worked in a commercial gym it was alien to me – and that’s even though I’d consider myself to be an outgoing person! Being able to randomly approach someone and be able to talk to them in a friendly manner without feeling like you’re moving in on their personal space while exercising, how to initiate an interaction with someone and start a conversation, get to know them to be able to give us some tips in their training does all take getting used to.

There’s a running joke about trainers becoming their clients’ therapists (which I don’t recommend you become!) but in all honesty you see them 2-3 times a week which is actually quite a long time. As a result it does go without saying that if you don’t have interpersonal skills, you’ll find it harder to build a rapport with someone. That being said a lot of these things are skills you develop over time, and as you practice and do it more and more, you’ll become much better at interacting with people in this manner.

5) How do you measure success as a personal trainer?

Usually in commercial gym a lot of personal trainers will tell you that they measure success based on how many personal training sessions you complete that week and unfortunately it almost becomes a numbers game. You’re no longer a personal trainer but you’re more of a salesman, it’s even possible to find courses that teach sales techniques to help trainers achieve this goal.

I think that kind of numbers game takes away the reason why most people even become personal trainers. Success should be measured in how your client has progressed. That doesn’t necessarily mean for example that she’s lost the most weight but it should be looked into how far from where they started to where they are now. Success should be measured by seeing how your client has transformed be it a strength increase, better mental health or if they’re generally feeling better about themselves / their self-esteem. The main thing has to be is how much has a client improved during the time that they’ve been working with you because essentially your job is a self-improvement task.

6) With so much information available on the internet it sounds like people can get what they need from their own bedroom. However, time and time again dieticians, trainers and people involved in health and fitness are routinely listed as jobs least likely to fall in demand. Why do you think that is?

The internet does have a lot of information about training and dieting but I think the problem we have here is there is too much misinformation. This industry has become very confusing to navigate around and know what’s really true and what’s just something that’s being used to sell a product. People will sell you some kind of service that you don’t really need and I think that’s a huge problem in this industry. Professionals in this area can help them navigate through the misinformation and help someone find the right tools for them and their specific goals.

7) What advice would you give someone who is interested in following a similar career path?

Be unique! Getting a Level 3 Personal Training qualification is becoming easier to obtain with some places providing you with a 6-week fast track programme. You’ll be entering a very saturated market and it’ll be up to you distinguish yourself from other people.

The main thing is to have something which is going to make you stand out, whether that’s obtaining a higher-level qualification or focusing on a specialism – find something that you want to showcase. In addition, the importance of an online presence and social media is important. Develop a following and start building your content, make it informative so people gravitate towards you whenever they have a question. When you do set up your own business or work in a commercial gym, you’ll be ready to take on clients as you have access to the people who are already interested in the kind of knowledge and skills you can offer.

At the end of the day this is still a profession where you have to make an income. In that regards I’d also advise learn how to grow your business. Most personal trainers that are employed by a gym will be self-employed and I think managing your own business well is also a big part of how successful you can be.

8) What professional associations or journals should someone interested in following this career keep up to date with?

The first place you have to be involved with is REPS (Register of Exercise Professionals) and that’s where you’d be registered on your level 2 and eventually your level 3 personal training qualification. In terms of nutrition and nutritional bodies the best places would the British Dietetic Association, The Nutrition Society and the British Nutrition Foundation These all contain a lot of content and importantly use science backed evidence for their research conclusions. It’s very easy to get swept up into other areas but these professional bodies should form the base of your understandings and what you’d want to implement.

9) And finally, with the majority of New Year’s resolutions relating to health and fitness, what tips would you give to someone to stick with their resolutions?

You’re definitely right that most people’s New Year’s resolutions surround health and fitness goals.  The problem I’ve found is by the end of February and beginning of March most people fall off the wagon and revert back to where they were. The one crucial advice I’d give is to stay consistent. Consistency will always beat jumping from one extreme to another. Going all out and making drastic changes is very rarely going to be sustainable, so consistency is the number one point to make.

Aiming for 6 gym visits per week when you’ve never been in the last 6 months is not something that’s really going to work long term. Instead start small but consistent e.g. one small changes to improve your diet or a small increase in the amount of mins spent in the gym. This is more likely to lead to long-term behaviour changes for the better and ultimately lead to an overall improvement in your health. Small but consistent always win.

10) Final Four

More info about Dr Amir Emadian

You can find more about Dr Amir Emadian including his published scientific journals by visiting Claremont Health Studios.