Introduction
Becoming a personal trainer is the ideal career move for anyone passionate about health, fitness and helping others to achieve their goals. However, with an abundance of courses out there, choosing the right one to equip you with the right knowledge, skills and qualifications can be difficult. In this article, we’ve compiled the best personal training courses in the UK, from the PFCA. Each course is specifically designed to fulfil a requirement at each stage of your personal training journey. It includes: Our level 2 & 3 personal trainer course, CPT, which will take you through the first two personal training levels, from completely unqualified to a fully qualified personal trainer; FFC 1, which looks to deepen your knowledge in fitness programme design and practice; and FFC 2, which will take you to new levels of personal training expertise, making you stand out from the crowd.
Certified Personal Trainer (CPT)
Our Certified Personal Trainer Course (CPT) is the perfect entry point for anyone looking to start their career in personal training. This 10 week, fully online course combines flexibility of online learning with a fully comprehensive and accessible curriculum which will equip you with internationally recognised Level 2 and Level 3 Personal Training Qualifications.
What CPT Teaches
This level 3 personal trainer course is not just ticking boxes for certification. Instead, we teach all of the foundational personal training concepts alongside advanced coaching skills. Here’s a breakdown of what we teach.
The Coach
The foundational module which introduces key coaching principles, helping you to understand how you can impact clients’ lives whilst looking at career opportunities in the fitness industry, as well as learning about the qualities of a good personal trainer.
Consultation & Goal Setting
You’ll learn how to design a professional onboarding process, build great coach to client relationships, and implement strategies to encourage behaviour change and goal achievement.
Nutrition
You’ll be taught the core principles of nutrition and stress management to help support clients’ physical and mental growth for better performance and quality of life.
Strength Training
You’ll then dive into the anatomy, physiology and movement assessment. You’ll learn how to master movement patterns like the hinge, pull, squat and core movements to enable you to create the best, client specific strength training programmes which are safe and effective.
Conditioning
You’ll look at energy systems and learn how to create progressive conditioning programmes for different fitness levels, from complete beginners to elite athletes.
Personal Training Business Foundations
Finally, you’ll learn strategies for setting up your coaching business, client acquisition, and client retention. The goal of the entire course is to leave you feeling confident to launching your personal training career.
Support and Guidance You’ll Receive
One of the main standout features of CPT is the extensive level of support you receive:
Live Weekly Sessions
You’ll receive over 30 hours of live tutor led coaching sessions
A Cohort Community
You’ll have the support of your peers within the cohort and a dedicated app to ensure access to course materials is always just a click away.
Direct Tutor Access
You’ll receive personal guidance from some of the most experienced coaches in the industry.
Why choose CPT as your Level 3 Personal Trainer Course?
With over 500 successful graduates from our course, CPT provides weekly sessions, a fully supportive community and direct tutor access to ensure that you complete the course not just with a qualification, but with the knowledge, skills and experience to get you started as a new personal trainer. Accredited by CIMSPA, it guarantees recognition by gyms worldwide and eligibility for insurance. If you’re looking for a career change to personal training, then CPT is the one for you.
FFC (Functional Fitness Coach) 1 & 2
FFC (Functional Fitness Coaching Certification) will take you from a New Coach to Pro Coach. The programme blends the scientific principles of movement with the most advanced coaching techniques to maximise your impact for your clients. FFC 2 is a progression from FFC 1, building on its foundations, whilst educating a deeper level of personal training expertise.
Continued personal training education is incredibly important for the modern day coach in order to stay ahead of the curve, and the FFC courses are the way to get there.
What Makes the FFC Courses Stand Out From Others?
Unlike most personal training courses which teach basic programme design, FFC focuses around functional fitness. We take this approach so that we can emphasise the principles and execution of a broad range of movement patterns, and teach programme design based on the full spectrum of fitness; from mobility and movement, to strength and aerobic endurance. The purpose of FFC is to get you up to speed in the ever changing landscape of fitness and ahead of the curve.
The courses themselves have a practical focus, where real world application is emphasised. This ensures that you’re not just learning the theory behind movements and coaching, but also understanding and mastering effective implementation.
Who Should Take FFC?
The FFC course is open to anyone who is passionate about fitness. This could be personal trainers looking to level up and better serve their clients or specialise in functional fitness. It could be physiotherapists wanting to get a better understanding of the body’s movement and capabilities, or simply fitness enthusiasts who want to deepen their knowledge for their own development.
Please note that to practice the techniques covered in the course, you will need professional liability insurance. For this, you will require a level 3 personal trainer qualification, such as CPT.
Once you complete FFC, you will receive a Functional Fitness Coach Level 1 Certificate, which sets you apart from other personal trainers as a specialist in functional fitnesss. You’ll also be able to use FFC Certified branding to use on social media or website to display your level of expertise and specialism.
Once you have completed FFC, you will be eligible to start FFC 2.
Conclusion
Choosing the right personal training course provider is key for starting your career as a personal trainer. At the PFCA, we emphasise not just ticking the boxes to get you qualified, but instead equipping you with the knowledge and skills to build a successful career in the industry. With our course pipeline starting at CPT to first get you qualified, and then further education courses such as GROW, FFC and FFC 2, we have developed the best personal training course system to give you the tools you need for success to thrive in this competitive market.