HAVE you found yourself wanting a career change during the lockdown?

Andy Smith, founder of Pro-Fitness Academy, hopes more people might be thinking about venturing in to personal training.

The 28-year-old from Lewes has been busy moving all his course material online during the lockdown so students can still get their qualification to work as fitness instructors.

He said: “Normally we work in health clubs, colleges and gyms, including Virgin Active at Falmer.

“We have wanted to create an online platform for a while but it’s been really challenging putting together the learning space so quickly.

“We’re hoping gyms will be able to open next month at a reduced capacity so we can get people in to do their practical assessments.”

Pro-Fitness Academy offers an internationally accredited qualification so students can be certified to work in gyms all over the world.

Students are now attending lectures using Zoom and Andy says he has added “his own touches” to the course material.

He said: “As a personal trainer I’ve put in some of my own twists to make it my own. It’s an interesting time right now and I’m not sure how keen people will be to branch out into different jobs.

“But on the other hand, some people have been off work for a while or working from home and some of them might not want to go back to the office.

“I think a lot of furloughed workers have been getting into their fitness during the lockdown by taking up running or cycling.

“Gyms are certainly going to be hit initially with the reduced numbers but I think after that the health and fitness industries will have a boost.

“The best thing about being a personal trainer is it’s all about helping people achieve their goals– whether that’s just to lose a bit of weight or running a marathon, or building the psychological power to achieve other goals outside of the gym.”

Although Andy has only been working with gyms in Sussex so far, now Pro-Fitness Academy is online, he now wants to expand it nationally.

He said: “Covid-19 has forced us to push all our courses online and totally reconstruct our learning zone.

“We’re aware that spending money on anything can be daunting right now, but believe self development and education is a safe bet.

“We’re determined to offer students incentives to feel they can afford our services, so with the discount code profit20 we are offering 25 per cent off all fitness courses.”

To find out more, visit www.pro-fitnessacademy.com.