Please help! Questions for those who work in a gym. - Personal Trainer Community - Forum

[Christina]

I need help with this! I have never worked in a gym so if someone can answer these questions I would be very appreciative.

1) How many hours a day/week does a trainer in a gym generally work?
2) How much are you paid per hour? (Please tell me the state you live in because this will vary.)
3) Do you have to provide your own liability insurance?
4) As far as dress is concerned, does the gym provide you with clothing or do you have to purchase it?
5) Do you get bonuses for retaining or finding clients?

Even if you no longer work in a gym please chime in! Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

Christina

[Joe Cannon MS CSCS]

Christina. I posted your questions on my blog also
Joe

I need help with this! I have never worked in a gym so if someone can answer these questions I would be very appreciative.

1) How many hours a day/week does a trainer in a gym generally work?
2) How much are you paid per hour? (Please tell me the state you live in because this will vary.)
3) Do you have to provide your own liability insurance?
4) As far as dress is concerned, does the gym provide you with clothing or do you have to purchase it?
5) Do you get bonuses for retaining or finding clients?

Even if you no longer work in a gym please chime in! Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

Christina

[portlandGymRat]

So many threads so FEW responses.
I can't wait to get certified and start working so I can actually provide knowledgeable answers to all/some/most of the questions posted here.
I will totally be a CONTRIBUTING member!!!

[portlandGymRat]

All I can tell you is what I learned today in my interview at a "corporate big name gym" is your paid per session, and that depends on the number of certs you have, the more certs the more money.
Commission on supplements sold, and they have a quota you must sell each month.
Not sure about insurance (forgot to ask)?
Clothes, they should provide you with atleast 1 shirt with their name on it, then you probably have to buy more, but not quite sure?
You are paid "per hour" when not in training sessions, well actually they called them "session hours" and "non session hours" basically like minimum wage for a only a few hours a week during "non session hours" which is your time to "cold call" potential clients to schedule New Member Fitness Orientations (FO's). Up to you to work or not.
"The more time you put in to establish a client base at first will pay dividends later"

Hope this helps
Good Luck

[PTPAM]

1) How many hours a day/week does a trainer in a gym generally work? At my gym, anywhere from 4 - 14 hours in the gym per day...yielding 20-40 sessions per week.
2) How much are you paid per hour? (Please tell me the state you live in because this will vary.) I am paid $40 per hour in Berwyn, PA
3) Do you have to provide your own liability insurance? Yes, I have insurance through NSCA
4) As far as dress is concerned, does the gym provide you with clothing or do you have to purchase it? You dress yourself, with the guidelines of "fitness professional"-no baggy sweatpants.
5) Do you get bonuses for retaining or finding clients? NO!

[ptjustinbowers]

I know this is an older thread but I'd like to give answers based on my experience. I used to work in a gym, but I now work independently. Hopefully some of these answers help:

1) How many hours a day/week does a trainer in a gym generally work?

There are part time and full time trainers. Part time trainers work anywhere from 10 to 20 hours per week. I was a full time trainer at one point, working anywhere from 35 to 70 hours per week. The hours can be brutal, especially around January and the summer.

2) How much are you paid per hour? (Please tell me the state you live in because this will vary.)

In South Carolina in 2004, I was making 18/hr but I was the head trainer and head class instructor too. The pay structure varied. If a trainer was on the job but not training a client, he made $7/hour. If he was training a client, he made $12-18/hour, depending on the experience of the trainer. There are some gyms that ONLY pay when you are training clients, so you can spend hours "walking the floor" and make absolutely nothing.

3) Do you have to provide your own liability insurance?

Most corporate gyms do not require you to carry your own insurance, as you should be covered under theirs, however most private personal training studios do require you to have your own liability insurance.

4) As far as dress is concerned, does the gym provide you with clothing or do you have to purchase it?

The gym provided the shirts, I had to provide my own gym pants/shorts.

5) Do you get bonuses for retaining or finding clients?

Nope. Unfortunately not. It was a flat rate all the way across for most trainers. The guys that got the bonuses were head trainers and managers. This is why I highly recommend that most trainers, once established in a gym, try to take their work independently. It's not fair that you do all of the work for a client, get them the results they want, and the gym pays you $12 from a $60 profit.

[Murray]

Hello Christina,

I currently work in a hotel fitness center that has hotel guest usage as well as downtown business usage with membership opportunities. I get clients from both the hotel and from downtown.

1) How many hours a day/week does a trainer in a gym generally work?

I work in a semi-private gym, and it all depends on the amount of clients I have.

2) How much are you paid per hour? (Please tell me the state you live in because this will vary.)

I get paid based on the session and receive 80% of the actual session price, which is roughly $36.00 an hour. This is in Michigan.

3) Do you have to provide your own liability insurance?

The hotel covers me.

4) As far as dress is concerned, does the gym provide you with clothing or do you have to purchase it?

They provided the shirt, but I had to buy everything else. I also had to invest in a lot of my own tools, for example: a foam roller, TRX Bands, blood pressure cuff etc. (not necessarily priorities, but that depends on your methods)

5) Do you get bonuses for retaining or finding clients?

No bonuses.


Let me know if you want me to elaborate more. Hope this helps.

-Murray