[dropcap]O[/dropcap]nline learning has exploded in a big way. According to Forbes, by 2025 the global online learning market is set to reach US$325 billion. Online personal training courses have not escaped this wave of enthusiasm and are just as popular as any other course out there. But why is this? Why are online personal training courses so popular?
The fitness industry is incredibly popular
Over the past number of years, the fitness industry has been going from strength to strength. According to the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA), in 2018 the US Fitness Industry was valued at US$30 billion. Globally, it’s worth US$87.2 billion.
This means that personal trainers are hot commodities in this arena. And people who are passionate about the fitness industry – and helping people live the fitness lifestyle – are increasingly turning to personal training as their preferred career. Why is this so? Because people need the help of skilled fitness professionals to help them to achieve their health and fitness goals.
Wanna-be personal trainers need flexibility
Very often, people choose to become personal trainers after having pursued another career and deciding that this isn’t for them. At this stage of their lives, they have responsibilities and financial commitments that they need to take care of every month.
This means that they can’t afford to give up work and study personal training full time. They need to earn an income, to support their families, while pursuing their dreams of becoming part and parcel of the fitness industry.
Enter online learning. Especially for personal training courses, online learning – or e-learning – is particularly powerful because it offers the student the freedom of learning when they want, where they want. All they need is a stable Internet connection. This offers the part-time student the flexibility of following their passion for fitness while at the same time maintaining their financial responsibilities.
Cutting-edge education
As the personal training course is online, it becomes extremely easy to make amendments to your course material as and when new information becomes available. In a classroom-based learning environment, the costs of having new material printed and distributed is extremely high which means management is not keen to do this on a regular basis. With the ease of uploading information that online learning presents, it provides the student with information that is extremely current.
Online personal training courses are affordable
Very often, a classroom-based personal training course is much more expensive than an online learning one. This is because besides the teaching and learning material that is offered, the student also has to pay for the lecturer’s time, the venue’s water and electricity, as well as many other costs which all go to keeping a physical building up and running.
With an online course, all you’re paying for is the course itself. The amount of money that you spend on your Internet connection is up to you. You could even go to your local coffee shop and study using their Wi-Fi. So all you would end up doing is paying for your cup of coffee. If you have any questions or concerns, online student support is available and will help you with anything that you need. It’s like having a lecturer – only much cheaper!
Online personal training courses are the way of the future. With the fitness industry set to carry on its upward trajectory over the next 10 to 15 years, personal trainers will be increasingly in demand to cater for the population’s need for quality fitness education. As online learning is so scalable, it makes it a perfect way to get the maximum number of people qualified as personal trainers in the most efficient way possible.