So, you’re interested in becoming a personal trainer? That’s great! The fitness industry is a fantastic career path – you’re motivating people to lead healthier lives and be the best version of themselves. It’s also great for you: your career is based around your hobby, passion and lifestyle – it’s the perfect combination!
But a career isn’t just about doing something you love. Your salary plays a huge part in your career choice – if there’s not much opportunity to earn a good amount of cash, is it really worth it?
If you’re looking to become a personal trainer, or you’re newly qualified, you might be wondering how much you’ll earn. The salary of a personal trainer can vary – an
experienced trainer can earn between £17k - £22k working in a gym, that’s pretty good if you recognise that’s
average.
But you’re no average personal trainer! The more you work, up your skills and consequently charge per hour can have a serious impact on your take home salary:
If you decide to take your career freelance, you have control over how much you can earn. Think about how much you want to earn a year. Now think about how much you want to work a week, giving yourself time off for weekends etc…we all need a break! Divide your annual salary by the hours you’ll work over the year – ta da! That’s how much you should charge an hour.
Working in a gym
If you’re an employed personal trainer in a gym, it’s likely you’ll be working on a pay as you earn basis. The bonus here is that the gym themselves locate clients, so you won’t have to secure them yourself. You can also become employed in a freelance capacity, so you pay a small set fee to the club without a cap on earnings.
Working in a gym is a great way of starting out if you’re new to the industry. It gives you a level of job security, helps build industry skills and gives you the opportunity to build a client base. This will all be useful if you’re looking to launch your own business in the future.
Learn how to maximise your client base with these simple tips!
Research
You’ll need to consider whether the amount you’re charging is realistic. Of course, as a qualified personal trainer you don’t want to be giving your services away for free, but you also don’t want to price yourself out of the market.
Have a look at what your competitors are offering. If Gary’s Gym is charging £50 an hour for a personal training session, and the PTs are level 3 qualified with CPD training, you’ll need to price yourself accordingly.
Figure out
how much you should be charging here.
Niche
The best way of earning more money is to find your niche. Identifying areas with high demand but low service will help you specialise your offering. For example, if your local area has lots of mums, you might want to offer special discounts and training programmes aimed at this group of people. This is even better if few personal trainers in your area are offering this service. Identifying your niche also helps you target your marketing and advertising – knowing your audience allows you to advertise to them directly!
See our
workout of the week for fitness programme inspiration!
Upskill
Getting the most out of your career means you should be continually upskilling yourself. If you’re working in a gym, many require you to undertake a certain amount of training every year to keep your knowledge fresh and relevant.
This still applies if you’re running your own business. Offering your clients new programmes will stop training going stale and keep them coming back for more! Look at various CPDs like kettlebell workshops, suspension training and bootcamp training to give your knowledge a boost and get your clients aching!
Get the skills and qualifications you need to join this growing industry. Request more information by filling in the form below:
submit your contact details here