I'll preface this by saying I was a trainer for 6 years at a gym in an affluent area but also did some work with the basketball team at a local college.
1) You're not getting a decent job without certifications, usually one of the top four or so(NASM/ACSM/ACE/NSCA). That isn't to say you can't get a decent job with other certifications but the higher end gyms which pay more require the better certifications. I've never come across a gym which didn't require certification and you running the interviewer thru a program.
2) The difference in pay is quite noticeable depending on which gym you work at, which is also dependent upon your certifications. At my previous affluent gym which had a great reputation, we'd get 60-70% of the training package amount. Right now it's $78 for a single hour, $72 per hour for a package of five, $68 per hour for a package of 10 and so on. So you can average about 45-50$ an hour. In most other gyms in my area the trainers are only getting $20-30 per hour. Mostly chain gyms. Big difference.
3) Private training and/or working for a sports team/school requires a few years experience and is a much tougher gig to land or making real money with until you've got a client roster and a reputation.
4) The industry is not as glamorous as many believe. Sure, you get some trainers who have a client roster full of hot women or trainers who make some real good money training hardcore, high level athletes but that's not most. You'll find many more who are training the fat kid whose parents forced him to lose some weight with you and hates being there, or the recovering alcoholic who's making a life change, or the old lady who had a hip replacement and needs rehab. You'll also end up playing therapist for a number of people who show up, dump all their negative energy and life problems on you, then leave after an hour.
5) There's not much upside to the industry. At some point, a point I reached, you hit your max % of commission and you're training 8 hours per day, sometimes more, but there's no real avenue to earn more while still working for a gym. Starting your own gym is an entirely different endeavor, requires a different skill set. In home training you can charge more per hour(I charged $100-125) for that but you're limited. You don't have all the equipment your gym has. So you can make more per hour but you'll have fewer clients. You can train at a gym and outside as well but a number of gyms also have territorial rights written in the employee agreement. Mine didn't allow training outside my gym within a 25 mile radius. I still did, just a limited amount and was very careful about it.
6) It gets really fucking annoying when you're going back and forth to the gym and people cancel last minute on you. Here's a common scenario. I'd be in the gym at 6am, train six clients until noon. Then go study or have lunch or workout, come back at 3pm and train two more clients. Then go back home until heading back for an 8pm or 9pm client. Then they cancel. Well, you're evening was just wasted. Or you get up at 5am, head out and your 6am is a no-show. Or your 9 and 10am clients cancel because of the dentist or diarrhea or didn't sleep well and you're sitting there with two hours to kill until your 11am client shows up. After dealing with that shit for months you get sick of it. The worst part of the industry is you work around the schedules of your clients. There's a very high flameout rate in the industry.
7) A number of trainers, male and female get many of their clients, approached, simply because they look good. The hottest female trainers will get big numbers of men signing up with them just because they're hot. Women too, especially in their 30's and 40's will go after the hottest looking male trainers. That only lasts so long. Get deep into your 30's or your 40's and they're going to start going after the new 24 yr old.
8) All these crossfit boxes which popped up a few years ago are limiting potential as a trainer in gyms. Fewer are even joining gyms. Likewise, the crossfit industry has become so saturated, opening your own box doesn't make much sense. There's also more and more cheap bootcamps in parks/private studios which also have hurt the gym industry. You still get plenty who pay for a membership and come in and do their thing alone but the percentages of those willing to pay for a trainer/instructor in gyms is taking a hit as there's far more options outside the typical gym environment now.
9) I'd say it's the perfect job to earn money on the side while in school, especially if like me you were an athlete previously and are quite experienced in gyms. Great way to meet women. You gain confidence teaching/training people from all walks of life. Hard to not gain a little confidence when you're 24 and high paid doctors and lawyers and CFO's are booking you because of your expertise. You make connections. You become a better public speaker as you are running the session for an hour. It's not a career though, not unless you really love it and don't mind topping out at under 100K.
1) You're not getting a decent job without certifications, usually one of the top four or so(NASM/ACSM/ACE/NSCA). That isn't to say you can't get a decent job with other certifications but the higher end gyms which pay more require the better certifications. I've never come across a gym which didn't require certification and you running the interviewer thru a program.
2) The difference in pay is quite noticeable depending on which gym you work at, which is also dependent upon your certifications. At my previous affluent gym which had a great reputation, we'd get 60-70% of the training package amount. Right now it's $78 for a single hour, $72 per hour for a package of five, $68 per hour for a package of 10 and so on. So you can average about 45-50$ an hour. In most other gyms in my area the trainers are only getting $20-30 per hour. Mostly chain gyms. Big difference.
3) Private training and/or working for a sports team/school requires a few years experience and is a much tougher gig to land or making real money with until you've got a client roster and a reputation.
4) The industry is not as glamorous as many believe. Sure, you get some trainers who have a client roster full of hot women or trainers who make some real good money training hardcore, high level athletes but that's not most. You'll find many more who are training the fat kid whose parents forced him to lose some weight with you and hates being there, or the recovering alcoholic who's making a life change, or the old lady who had a hip replacement and needs rehab. You'll also end up playing therapist for a number of people who show up, dump all their negative energy and life problems on you, then leave after an hour.
5) There's not much upside to the industry. At some point, a point I reached, you hit your max % of commission and you're training 8 hours per day, sometimes more, but there's no real avenue to earn more while still working for a gym. Starting your own gym is an entirely different endeavor, requires a different skill set. In home training you can charge more per hour(I charged $100-125) for that but you're limited. You don't have all the equipment your gym has. So you can make more per hour but you'll have fewer clients. You can train at a gym and outside as well but a number of gyms also have territorial rights written in the employee agreement. Mine didn't allow training outside my gym within a 25 mile radius. I still did, just a limited amount and was very careful about it.
6) It gets really fucking annoying when you're going back and forth to the gym and people cancel last minute on you. Here's a common scenario. I'd be in the gym at 6am, train six clients until noon. Then go study or have lunch or workout, come back at 3pm and train two more clients. Then go back home until heading back for an 8pm or 9pm client. Then they cancel. Well, you're evening was just wasted. Or you get up at 5am, head out and your 6am is a no-show. Or your 9 and 10am clients cancel because of the dentist or diarrhea or didn't sleep well and you're sitting there with two hours to kill until your 11am client shows up. After dealing with that shit for months you get sick of it. The worst part of the industry is you work around the schedules of your clients. There's a very high flameout rate in the industry.
7) A number of trainers, male and female get many of their clients, approached, simply because they look good. The hottest female trainers will get big numbers of men signing up with them just because they're hot. Women too, especially in their 30's and 40's will go after the hottest looking male trainers. That only lasts so long. Get deep into your 30's or your 40's and they're going to start going after the new 24 yr old.
8) All these crossfit boxes which popped up a few years ago are limiting potential as a trainer in gyms. Fewer are even joining gyms. Likewise, the crossfit industry has become so saturated, opening your own box doesn't make much sense. There's also more and more cheap bootcamps in parks/private studios which also have hurt the gym industry. You still get plenty who pay for a membership and come in and do their thing alone but the percentages of those willing to pay for a trainer/instructor in gyms is taking a hit as there's far more options outside the typical gym environment now.
9) I'd say it's the perfect job to earn money on the side while in school, especially if like me you were an athlete previously and are quite experienced in gyms. Great way to meet women. You gain confidence teaching/training people from all walks of life. Hard to not gain a little confidence when you're 24 and high paid doctors and lawyers and CFO's are booking you because of your expertise. You make connections. You become a better public speaker as you are running the session for an hour. It's not a career though, not unless you really love it and don't mind topping out at under 100K.