REAL WORLD PT
KATE DEMAYO SELF-EMPLOYED PT NSW
A SNAPSHOT OF HOW TODAY ’ S PERSONAL TRAINERS ARE WORKING , LIVING AND SHAPING THEIR CAREERS
What ’ s your business called ?
Extra Mile PT , catherinedemayo . ptenhance . com
How long have you been a PT ?
For 14 years , since 2004 .
Are you full time or part time ? I ’ m currently full time . As well as being a PT franchisee at a local gym , I also train outdoor clients and teach some group fitness classes .
What made you decide to become a trainer ?
A few factors coincided to lead me to make a career change in my early 40s , from journalism to personal training . I was getting a little tired of working primarily in an office , and was casting around for some ideas for future careers . Although I have always been active , I was never particularly sporty or athletic , so I hadn ’ t really considered personal training . I decided to become a trainer when I joined a gym at around this time and found that many of the trainers I encountered were not very well attuned to women in my age group .
Do you specialise ?
While my clients and class members represent a wide range of ages and abilities , I do have a particular focus on older adults , people with injuries and chronic health conditions and people with disabilities . I think that my own age ( I turned 60 this year ) does help me to establish rapport with middle aged and older people .
Do you have a signature style of training ?
I use whatever tools are available and appropriate to the client , which can be anything – fixed machines , Swiss balls , cable machines and free weights all have their roles to play . In the gym , there is an enormous variety of equipment , but at the other end of the scale , I teach group fitness in a community hall where my equipment consists of resistance bands , dumbbells and a lot of floor space !
How many hours do you train clients for each week ?
I typically spend about 30 hours a week training clients and delivering classes .
How many hours do you spend working on your business ?
I spend about 4 to 5 hours a week on administration , marketing and promotion , and at least 2 to 3 hours a week on continuing education . I really try to ‘ work smarter , not harder ’ by using a couple of excellent online resources to manage my client database and access exercise libraries .
20 | NETWORK SPRING 2018