Career Change Towards Fitness?

I wasn’t sure where to post this, so I figured here would be the best choice. Having worked in a back office job for the last two years I have come to realize that the office life, especially one that is as repetitive and monotonous as this one is not for me. This has led me to rethink my career. Given the amount of time I spend on this site researching various training techniques as well as nutrition tips it became clear that this could be something to look into not just as a hobby but a source of income.

The world of nutrition and fitness is broad, and I am not sure what I would like to do, nor can I really know if I would enjoy this as a career path rather than a hobby. Having said so, can anyone point me in any direction where I can research things such as possible jobs, needed certifications, income levels and so forth, as well as anything you may suggest is worth looking into.

Also, my degree is in economics. Would I have to go back to school or can that be worked around with certifications?

This is what I did, and might suggest.

Get certified (I was in college for accounting at the time), train part-time and get a feel for it. Didn’t take me long to know this is what I was meant to do with my life, not sit behind a desk crunching numbers.

You don’t need a degree to get certified (unless you’re looking at ACSM and NSCA CSCS which require a 4 yr degree of any kind last I checked).

google ACE (many put it down), but in the fitness world, an ACE certification will get your foot in the door just about anywhere. Or you could check out NSCA CPT program.

The average trainer doesn’t last long in the business because it can be tough to make a decent living out of it. There are many directions you can take from working at a club as PT, training only in-home clients, training athletes, etc.

Your best bet is if you want to turn this into a career is study just as much about the business side of PT as the physiology and nutrition side of it.
Look into Phil Kaplan for business stuff as he’s probably the biggest name in the business from a business standpoint, though there are others out there.

good luck