Gyms and spas are hiring health trainers like never before. Dola Mitra reports :

………………………………………….

Richa Gupta wanted to be a doctor. But, she admits frankly, “Unfortunately, I realised after my HS exams that I neither had the academic record to get into medical college nor the money.” Interestingly, however, Gupta’s dreams of what she calls “helping people get well” were not completely shattered. She says she “settled for the next best thing” and became what is known as a health trainer.

“A health trainer,” explains Preetom Mukherjee-Roy, fitness consultant at Solace Gym in Calcutta’s Sunny Park, “is a health professional who though largely non-medical must also have acquired some basic practical medical knowledge.” In fact, Mukherjee-Roy likens a health trainer to what he terms a “mini doctor”.

Though the chief focus of activity for a health trainer is imparting “wellness”, including helping people achieve their fitness goals through non-medical treatment (including aerobics and yoga), he or she is also supposed to be able to administer basic paramedic-level aid. This includes things like being able to administer injections to diabetics and check blood pressure.

The good news for many like Gupta, who are unable to pursue their dreams of a career in medicine, is that becoming a fitness trainer is proving to be a lucrative alternative now. Experts point out that with well-being being the buzzword, the demand for professionals who will impart wellness is on the rise.

Says Dr C.M. Pradyumna, director of medicine at the Vedic Village Spa in Calcutta, “Compared to about six to seven years ago, today almost every individual of any age who lives in cities across India is health-conscious. People want to mentally and physically counter the stress of modern life by staying healthy. And in order to stay healthy, you need to learn how to do so. That is, you have to know what kind of exercise is ideal to fight city stress and what kind of diet you should follow so that your body is able to resist the ill-effects of erratic lifestyles. In order to learn that, you need someone to teach you. And that is the job of a health trainer.”

Be healthy, live long

Emphasising the importance of the health trainer, Mukherjee-Roy jokes, “In the ideal situation, there would be one health trainer to every urban dweller.”

………………………………………….

Not surprisingly, health centres — including gyms and spas — are hiring this breed of professionals like never before. Says the manager of a spa connected to an international luxury hotel chain, “Most luxury hotels have in-house gyms and spas. The demand for health trainers is so high that often we need to import them, paying exorbitant salaries.”

The salaries that local health trainers get are not bad either. “The pay depends on your level as a trainer as well as the centre which you work for,” says Mukherjee-Roy, “and goes up as you go up in rank.”

A physiotherapist or yoga instructor attached to a luxury spa or gym, for instance, can earn 50 per cent of the session charge — which ranges from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 per hour per client. If it is a group session, the charge may be about Rs 500 per client for a one-hour session. That still works out to something between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000 for just an hour, if it’s a group of 20 people.

If you are doing one-to-one sessions, depending on the health centre you are attached to and your qualification and experience, you may charge anywhere between Rs 2,500 and Rs 5,000 an hour.

Even health trainers working in neighbourhood gyms and spas can earn Rs 200 a session. With experience, senior health trainers can command six figure salaries.

The senior trainers at Solace Gym have done a course from the Federation of International Sports Aerobics and Fitness (FISAF), an international institute which certifies health trainers around the world. One of the most comprehensive courses is one which is stretched out over 54 weeks and costs between Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000. It includes instruction in nutrition, body balance and various forms of exercise like aerobics, aqua aerobics and pilates.

Reebok also offers programmes for health trainers and its comprehensive courses are a hit with professionals. The charges range between Rs 25,000 and Rs 30,000 for a one-month course.

Other than FISAF and Reebok, one of the biggest names in health training certification globally is the American Council on Exercise (ACE). If you log on to www.acefit ness.org you will find a long list of ACE-certified professionals who are working as health trainers in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad.

You should have passed Plus Two if you want to be a health trainer. Though most health centres provide in-house training — often master trainers are brought in and cover a wide range of topics including nutrition, exercise, aerobics, ayurveda, taichi, yoga and even handling sports injuries — they prefer to hire those with a certificate from a recognised training institute.

But according to the experts, the most important criterion is what Mukherjee-Roy calls “the will to help people”. And as Richa Gupta will tell you, when there is a will, there is a way.

Source:The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)