Venting...Trainer to DPT?

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bigheart

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I'm 30, live in West Los Angeles and help people get into shape, lose fat, build muscle, rehab shoulders, knees, keep older people active, work for myself and make decent money doing so.

I have always liked the "idea" of getting more education.

I have a B.S. in Biology, minor in Chemistry
GPA 2.85ish
GRE 146/144/3.5
EMT Cert/CPR Cert/Cornell Nutrition Cert
Nurse Shadowing Volunteer 75+hrs

I moved out to California, started from scratch, 2.5 years later finally making enough money to live.

I decided I wanted to become a PA, then D.O.

Did the EMT/volunteer route... took organic and the last two weeks of class dropped out.

The course was tough but not undoable, I had a few personal stressors that I allowed to keep me from staying focused. I had a B in the course and dropped down to a C and I lost hope, gave up and realized that if I put 10% of the same effort I put toward education my business would grow and do well.

I put the effort forward and my client base has grown, I love what I do.

I understand that my skills are more related to helping people understand how to move their body, ex. how to properly perform a deadlift, squat and how to precisely place their feet, shoulder, neck, tips and tricks that prevent injury and so forth.

This makes me think Physical Therapy is something that I would like to learn more about in order to better help my current clients and then build my business platform.

Increase the quality of my services and get better results, ability to help a larger population etc.

1. If I went this route I would need to take Physics I & II and retake the GRE and possibly retake more undergrad classes to increase my GPA. Take atleast 1 year probably 2

2. I would then have to drop most of my clients in order to go to school full time for 3 years

3. I would collect a debt of 100,000 plus ( I want to stay in California to further build my network )

4. When it is all said and done I would go back to starting my business all from scratch and then charge people the same $75-100/hr that I am making now.

Just like to point out all of the "CONS" since I am ranting, I know that obtaining a doctorate in Physical Therapy is going to be more "in need" than a personal trainer but when you are making $75-$100/hr your mind will tell yourself... why are you doing this. Just pick up another client and you could be making $70,000 per year, one more and that's $90,000 per year.... sell some online diets and make $125,000 per year. But do I really want to spend my life driving around in my sports car in sunny California from client to client? Yes. Sometimes I DO! I love driving and I love working with people. I just want more skills, I want to be able to teach people how to help themselves and how to help them myself.

I have considered pTA, but you must still work under the supervision of a dPT and I do not like the idea of going to school for 2 year for and associates when you can go to school 3 years for a doctorate.

I want to further my education and specialize in a therapy related field, I want to know how to better help my clients with bad knees, backs, elbows and how to further prevent them from more injury.

I am open to any ideas on accomplishing this "dream" and am looking for other certifications and degrees that would support my desires.

Total brain vomit, I get a little in my head and worked up from time to time. I'm not even sure what my question is.....

1. Do you know of a market/education for someone who is looking to do what I have described? ( I am not going to massage therapy school, eastern medicine is not my interest either, I am good at teaching and working with my hands, teaching others how to perform movements etc.

Thanks guys I needed that!

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I can't add anything about the PT route except to say that if it interests you at all, I would try to follow one around for a day or two to see if it's as interesting in real life as it is in your head. Also, I'm not sure what a Cornell Nutrition Cert is, but if you are set on more schooling have you thought about becoming a nutritionist/dietitian? I think diet is one of the hardest things to get down when you're trying to get in shape, and yet it is so crucial to success. I can imagine having a trainer that can show me how to lift/exercise and also help with my diet (and has the certs to back it up) would be a big plus, both for those starting out and athletes who want to up their game.
 
I can't add anything about the PT route except to say that if it interests you at all, I would try to follow one around for a day or two to see if it's as interesting in real life as it is in your head. Also, I'm not sure what a Cornell Nutrition Cert is, but if you are set on more schooling have you thought about becoming a nutritionist/dietitian? I think diet is one of the hardest things to get down when you're trying to get in shape, and yet it is so crucial to success. I can imagine having a trainer that can show me how to lift/exercise and also help with my diet (and has the certs to back it up) would be a big plus, both for those starting out and athletes who want to up their game.
Yeah, you are spot on. The diet is 90% of the results, training with weights is secondary.

I spent a couple months learning about whole food plant based nutrition and the scientific research that was performed by Dr. Campbell author of the China Project. I took this 3 course cert for personal education and the benefit is that many people in socal are vegetarian. After taking the courses and trying that style of living I have a better understanding of its pros and cons but only recommend it to certain populations, and they must be interested.

The RD route was once a nice idea but then I realized that I have no interest in that, I write diets for clients and its fine but I don't get any excitement/fulfillment out of it. It is nice to see someone lose 20 lbs and get shredded though, which is few and far between because it is hard to do and take a lot of dedication, so many times you end up taking peoples money who are not committed and you feel bad because you are part of the deal. You took their money, their expectations are different than reality and they don't see results because its hard to eat less than you are use to.

Also many people like myself fluctuate with their weight because they are emotionally unstable, their isn't a math formula to figure out how to repair damaged childhoods etc. so that line of work is not interesting to me. People are not fat because they don't know what to eat, people are fat because they have bad eating habits that are formed from lack of knowledge/emotional stress etc.

Thanks for your insight
 
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