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If you are thinking of working in the fitness industry as a personal trainer it is important to understand the factors that contribute to a personal trainer’s salary. It is important to note that a personal trainer earning potential increases with the increase in personal trainer and related personal trainer qualifications, specialist areas and experience a personal trainer has. It is also dependant on the calibre of the health facility and the location of your personal trainer business.
Personal Trainer Salary
If you are a newly qualified Personal Trainer then your earning potential is significantly higher than that of a fitness instructor, but you will have to establish yourself before you can hope to earn some of the high end figures that the experienced personal trainers do. As a rule of thumb, if you are employed by a gym then you should be looking to earn between £16k - £22k in your first year but this does vary wildly and each facility will have its own arrangements for remuneration.
To maximise our earning potential as a personal trainer, it is important to branch out into different areas of expertise such a weight management consultancy, strength and conditioning, sports conditioning, posture correction and rehabilitation. Additional to these specialist areas, another way to increase your earning potential is to have group exercise skills. This will ensure you can expose yourself to many potential personal trainer clients. By taking classes you can earn additional £20-£30 an hour. Look at our personal trainer courses to help you get an idea of the best courses out there
Most personal trainer clients want to learn from their personal trainers. Therefore to meet their need and to increase your earning, you can set up websites which provide information, programmes etc which people can purchase from you.
For a successful career in the personal training industry, it is important to understand that personal training is only part of it; you need to branch out to include additional Personal trainer tools and specialist skills.
Choosing your personal trainer course
Choosing the best personal trainer qualifications is often a very confusing and can be overwhelming. It is important that you establish which specialist areas you want to branch into (to earn the most money focus on weight management, posture correction and strength and conditioning). Now think about additional income streams, which classes you would like to teach. When these are established you can then research which personal trainer course suits you. Personal Trainer courses range from £1000 to £3000 depending if you study full time or part time (home study courses). The key to getting the right personal trainer qualification is making sure it is from a top awarding body such as CYQ or Active IQ, and to check that the personal trainer course is REPs accredited. It is also important to understand and ask who your tutors will be. Ensure the company is employing leading successful personal trainers that have earned lots of money in the past.
Will the personal trainer course be part time or full time? This will depend on your current employment position and how quickly you want to get into the industry. Part Time personal training courses tend to be slightly cheaper than the full time personal trainer courses. This is because you have less contact time with the tutor, however, they do take longer to complete.
The full time personal trainer courses are an excellent way to get into the industry quickly. Most full time personal trainer courses range from 4 weeks to 8 weeks. This range will depend on whether they include the Level 2 Gym Instructor Course and additional specialist modules which can increase your earning potential. It is important to look at the modules that the personal trainer course offers. The key modules of any personal trainer course need to include are found in the list below. If the personal trainer course you choose does not have these modules then you will not be recognised by one of the two main awarding bodies
Every personal trainer course must include these. The differences between the companies will be the additional modules that you complete in you personal trainer course and the route by which you get these personal trainer modules.
Funding your personal trainer course
The next question is how are you going to pay for your personal trainer course. There are a number of options available and these are outlined below:
- pay in full - this is often the best way to pay you personal trainer course, as you can often get discounts and will have the best value for money.
- payment plans- these can vary, but normally the longer the payment plan the higher the interest. Look for ones that are between 7-10% interest.
- Career development loan - some companies have been approved to obtain government backed career develop loans from approved banks. For more information on this you can call 02085431017
Freelance Personal Trainer - Financial Advice
If you are an existing personal trainer and you are considering becoming a freelance personal trainer, be sure to develop a robust business plan for your personal trainer business. You need to consider all of the costs and income aspects and you ought to have at least 10 weekly personal trainer clients already that you know are regular and reliable. You may wish to align yourself to a gym and pay rent as mentioned before, or you may prefer to be completely freelance and work from the client's home or use the great outdoors. Whilst this is more demanding in terms of delivering a total fitness solution it is more lucrative as you don't have to pay monthly rent, and this can be as high as £500 per month in some clubs.
Holding fitness classes and lessons
An important way to increase earning power for a personal trainer is to take studio classes. This will mean that additional training courses will need to be taken such as Exercise to Music (ETM) Studio cycling (sometimes known as spinning). Payment for classes again does vary quite a lot from one gym to the next, and it will also relate to your popularity as an instructor, and your ability to bring in high numbers. Generally expect to earn between £20 - £30 per hour for classes.
Developing specialist areas of expertise
A good idea as a personal trainer is to specialize in certain areas, and this may include:
This will not only make you more employable but will offer you an advantage over the other Personal Trainers in the gym as you can market yourself in general and specialist terms. Of course you will need to undergo further training yourself to be able to deliver these specialisms but you personal trainer business plan will have made provision for this, and you should always plan to cover the cost of any training within one year.
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