Phil Learney: The PT industry is full of “insecure, narcissistic idiots”
Not many people know the UK personal training and fitness industry than Phil Learney.
So he understands better than most the inherent problems that blight it, preventing people getting the physical activity advice and instruction they so desperately need at the time they most need it.
As Learney explains in our exclusive interview with the founder of the Advanced Coaching Academy, many of the problems are structural and others are so entrenched so there is no quick or easy fix.
These include a proliferation of rogue trainers who hold no personal training qualifications, the gyms so eager to hire them to fit their high-turnover, low-standards business model, and the insurers happy to insure them for their lucrative annual premium.
There’s also the growing issue, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and lengthy lockdown of all fitness facilities – the pubs were allowed to open before gyms, remember? – of the fitness fraudsters who operate online coaching services that promise the world – for an up-front fee – only to disappear from trace once they’ve got your hard-earned cash, only to pop up again a few months later with a different name but the exact same scam.
But all is not lost. While the personal training industry is more cut-throat than ever, Learney distills his years of gym-floor wisdom into actionable and impactful advice you can use to stand out from the crowd and build a growing successful coaching career by doing things the right way.
