5 Reason’s Why You’re Not In The Fitness Industry
By Sean McGarrity · 21 May 2026
(And How The Best Personal Trainer Course Can help)
Everyday we hear reason’s stopping people from taking a leap of faith doing a personal trainer course, getting into the industry and changing their lives forever....
Now we are NOT saying that taking a personal training course works like a magic bullet.
Of course it doesn’t.
There isn’t any course on earth that guarantees you get a job.
OR success.
Including going to university and getting a degree.
Not a single university will make a crazy claim that a degree will guarantee a job. It guarantees education. What you do with it will determine if you get a job or not.
At the end of the day: That’s down to you.
Even the best education can be wasted if it’s not put to use, because you procrastinate, or just can’t be bothered.
BUT. (And this is a really big “but”)
You do need a personal trainer course under your belt before you can work in the industry.
AND you need one that is more than just a fitness certification, you need a course which gives you a fitness education.
If you don’t know why that’s true right now then you should definitely read on, it will all come clear towards the end.
So lets look at some of the reasons we know of that might be stopping you.
So lets look at some of the reasons we know of that might be stopping you from studying a Personal trainer course with us and also some reasons that if you don’t get right you probably shouldn’t even think about this as a career choice.
Because (most of the time) these excuses are the only thing holding people back from exploring what could be a very rewarding career in something they are passionate about.
Here we have the top 5, that we come across on a daily basis, maybe you can relate to one or all of these 5 but for sure we have some things here that will get you thinking.
1) TIME – “I can’t take 6 weeks off work”
This one I get, its scary.
If you have a job, you might want to stick at it while you study so you may want to try and get time off. Sometimes it happens sometimes it wont.
Sometimes just taking that leap of faith and quitting your job is too scary to think about. Or maybe you have a mortgage, dependants, or outgoings that just simply won’t allow a dip in income for any short period of time.
But that doesn’t mean your journey ends there:
We have a 12 week part-time personal trainer course which is the same accreditation, qualification and content covered as the 6 weeks course. It’s the highest standard available in Ireland today having won the award for Best in Fitness Education at the Irish Fitness Industry Awards and it still is the best today.
It’s also recognised internationally and in fact Elites reputation is kinda world famous since we've sent coaches to Australia, canada and everywhere in between.
Don’t let anyone tell you any different please there is enough confusion in this industry without providers lying to you about how many “Certs” you get with their course or their “cert” being “Better” its simply not.
SO what differs?
The EDUCATION you get on course is completely different.
Because we are so well known by gym owners and employers our course is the preferred standard today because our course is so practical and up to date.
Employers know they are going to get highly qualified trainers who know more than just dancing on steps and a module on “sports specific training” that has been reduced to a single handout which is one report I have heard.
Ridiculous.
OR
A few two hour lectures on “strength & conditioning” which is what the whole GODDAMN COURSE should be about if you are to stand any chance in the industry today.
Don’t worry we wrote our syllabus ourselves and re-evaluate it every year so we have you covered there.
NO time wasted on Step aerobics the whole course Is based around solid training modalities.
Here’s what Mike Robertson (World Renowned Coach) of IFAST had to say about us on his visit.
Sean McGarrity and Jason Kane brought me over to speak for Elite back in October of 2014.
What immediately stood out with me was the wealth of knowledge that Sean, Jay and his staff possessed. These guys are serious about their continuing education and it shows.
They asked great questions, and were focused on getting better.
If you have the opportunity to learn from Sean, Jay and their staff, I would jump at the chance.
They are true professionals, and I can guarantee they’ll make you a better trainer or coach.”
– Mike Robertson MS, CSCS, USAW President, Robertson Training SystemsCo-Owner, Indianapolis Fitness and Sports Training
TIME “I need to get into the industry and start making money quickly and I’m not sure how to do it”
How does 6 weeks full time sound? Quick?
Bloody should do because it’s the fastest way you can get qualified today in Ireland and still have the same internationally recognised certification from REPS Ireland. Did I mention also won best in fitness education award against every college and academy you care to mention too so just bear that in mind if anyone says its not enough 😛
It is however intense and the content is way beyond a mere PT course so we do interview calls to choose the best candidates as our courses are definitely NOT for everyone.
“6 weeks way to short you couldn’t possibly get a valid cert from that?”
Tell that to the students who have walked out of our doors for the last 16 years and went onto run highly successful training facilities of their own and then who have sent us people who they wanted trained up so they could add them to their staff.
Not just in Ireland either, Netherlands Australia, Switzerland, Boston, Belgium. You name it we have dudes from all over with us here.
Its not only fast it’s way more in depth than anything else out there.
Think about this for a second. A course HAS to adhere to some standards to achieve REPS Ireland Accreditation right?
Of course it does and this cert ticks all boxes and does it faster and in more depth than anyone else does.
If it didn’t I couldn’t even mention REPS Ireland accreditation in the same sentence as my course.
SO in the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger “don’t listen to the naysayers”
Why don’t the others do it then?
They don’t have the facility we do for one.
Yes you read that right these "educators who run PT courses dont actually own a gym or have any clients to speak of or even hire a single coach on theri team full time yet thesy say they can teach you to do something they dont.
You may need to read that ^^ again carefully
We are full time fitness business owners. Which means we own an actual gym not just for the academy but where we train our clients in our members only facility.
What im trying to say is: The course runs out of OUR gym not some gym we hire for a couple of hours.
This is our live facility and we run a very healthy business out of it. does 7 figures in fact. and i dont say that to impress you or blow smoke up me bum. but to impress upon you that when it comes to creating fitness business and a team of coaches who operate a very healthy business. we know how to do that and so are the ONLY ones qualified to show you.
That’s how we are able to show you how you can succeed with yours.
Now what if we could show you how to make money form the business of fitness in 26 hours per week or less and still make a very healthy income? Would you be interested?
Of course you would, the problem is you probably haven’t been shown a plan you BELIEVE in that could work for you. Damn sure we can help you there.
That is why we show our students how to do that in our Business strategy development class, it takes a look at your future business and tackles each element form marketing, to sales to fulfilment, and delivers you a solid plan so that once you leave you have something you can implement right away that will deliver you the income you need to be comfortable in your new path.
Now imagine you had the confidence to deliver personal training that gets results and you had the confidence in a business plan that you understand that delivers income, is that something you would be interested in?
2) MONEY – “I don’t have the money” Or "It's Too Expensive"
We understand it’s a big investment so all we require is a deposit of €500 and then we can come up a payment plan that suits your needs and circumstances – within reason of course!
“Other courses are cheaper”
Like every single other industry out there you get what you pay for.
Cheap courses equals cheap trainer. I am sure you have all heard the saying buy cheap and you buy twice”
Know what its true.
So you just went and bought a bog standard certification course because all you need is a cert right?
Regardless of what you call yourself, if you’re just a rep counter with a bog standard cert, you’ll not last very long in this industry. As a successful professional, you need to be way more than that.
That why you need more than just a fitness certification you need a fitness education.
And guess what. That costs money, and has to be learned from people who walk that path.
3) Trust – people just don’t know who to trust out there. & "What if I fail?"
“Why should I go with you?”
That one is simple for us to answer. So here’s what we want for you:
We want our students to think differently……. and realise what they could achieve if they weren’t afraid to fail.
We stand by our quality over quantity ethos; we are constantly looking for improvement in all our courses. We inspire positive change, and deliver education that empowers people.
We do that by delivering the most comprehensive education available today in the fitness industry.
We know this because we have crafted this from building one of the most successful fitness business in Dublin today which is also the site you will be learning in.
Imagine the difference in learning from people who actually do this every day; they market. sell and run their own fitness business.
Imagine the difference it could make to your future business too.
4) Will I get a Job?
Certification does not equal qualification; some students have not thought exactly what they want to do once they do the course. We want all our students to have a why?
There’s no point even thinking of taking this any further if you just woke up one day scratched yourself and said
“you know what I reckon I would make a great trainer, sure I’m in great shape and im gonn aopen up an instagram account and once peopel see my abs theyre gonna be throwing money at me, Buuuurp”
If thats ^^ you,
Do us a favour; Go haunt someone else.
We DON’T want to hear from you.
We want our students to have gone through a serious thought process and deeply understand why they want to get into the industry.
If you cant answer this question:
“Why should I personal train with you.”
You’re going to have real trouble getting people to understand what you're all about and what makes you different to all the other trainers out there.
If they cant see what make you different, they will only have price to compare you on, and that’s not a great start for your business.
What we mean is:
What do you stand for as a trainer, what is your purpose cause or belief.
WHY Do you want to help people
And WHY the fitness industry?
What experience tells us is that trainers with this strong “why” not only will that trainer have more of a passion for what they do, they come across as authentic.
With authenticity they gain more trust from their clients and in turn those clients become loyal and in being loyal those clients will turn down a cheaper product to continue doing business with you because you “speak” to them on a much deeper level.
5. "I need to think about it"
Seriously if this is you then you need to realise when your looking at an opportunity to make something of your self then the time to do that is now.
You have to realise;
The only thing standing in front of you and a fulfilling career that your passionate about, (and one you get to help people on a daily basis) is that bullshit excuse you keep telling yourself.
Every single person who I have ever spoken to who postponed a course, when they actually got round to studying, I always asked them;
“so what was it that held you back from doing it?”
The answer they are always quick to tell me again is some blah blah blah. Then I ask.
“looking back to the thing that held you back initially. Was it really that important?"
The answer is always a resounding NO.
I think its part of some peoples built in psychology to actually delay a change which could be amazing for us in the fear that we may not live up to our own expectations.
So do something now your future self will thank you for.
Be decisive.
Go with your gut feeling.
Especially if it’s something you have been thinking about for a long time.
For the rest of you guys who are maybe struggling with a little bit of doubt…
Or if have more questions that you would love to have answered, maybe you have an idea about getting started?
and want to bounce that idea off someone who has been exactly where you are right now and who can advise you on what to do next then…
We want to hear from you.
