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Compensation

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Career Path for Personal Trainers

How to Host a Profitable Educational Workshop

Hosting an educational workshop is an excellent way to raise your profile as an expert in a health and fitness specialty while providing a great additional revenue stream for your business. The teaching experience can also help you refine your theoretical and practical skills while providing attendees with valuable knowledge and information.

How to Thrive in Low-Income Markets

Do you believe that fitness is for everyone? Do you struggle to accommodate people who can’t afford to work with you? You may be so passionate about reaching everyone that you volunteer in the trenches, speak at service clubs, host health fair booths and support charitable runs.

The Pay Rate Debate

If you’ve managed a group fitness department long enough, you’ve probably felt like the “red-headed stepchild” more than once. If your facility is like a host of others, your department isn’t considered a separate profit center, but rather a part of membership. Since group exercise doesn’t usually have a “home” on the profit and loss statement, payroll is often the only line item attributed to it. Consequently, when cuts are made, guess which department is most often flagged!

Benefits and Discounts for Fitness Industry Workers

While compensation from salary or hourly pay may have decreased in some fitness jobs, benefits and discounts seem to have increased at least for full-time and part-time employees, according to the 2010 IDEA Fitness Industry Compensation Trends Report.

Hiring and Promotion in the Fitness Industry

Hiring and promotion decisions are based on many factors. When hiring individuals, the top three criteria in all positions except personal training director are skills and abilities, certification and personality, according to survey respondents in the 2010 IDEA Fitness Industry Compensation Trends Report.

How Inflation Affects Earnings

Inflation is the “overall general upward price movement of goods and services in an economy,” according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Among other measurements of the economy, the BLS reports the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation as experienced by consumers in their day-to-day living expenses.
If you are interested in how inflation affects your earnings, the Bureau has an online inflation calculator that uses the average CPI for a given year.

Regional Differences in Wages and Salaries

Living costs vary by region, and consequently so do salaries and wages. The 2010 IDEA Fitness Industry Compensation Trends Report provides regional comparisons of average pay rates for fitness professionals located in the Northeastern, North Central, Southern and Western states. Three of the eight job categories are predominantly salaried, and the rest are paid hourly. There are no significant regional differences among the salaried positions (fitness/program directors, personal training directors and group exercise coordinators).

How do you compensate or reward trainers for a job well done?

At our studio we do not have a set bonus structure. I don’t believe in one because I want my employees to work hard to be proud of themselves and feel fulfilled, not simply to earn additional money. We sometimes provide bonuses, but they are not solely based on gross receipts. They are also based on trainers taking initiative, being innovative and going beyond the job description.

2008 IDEA Fitness Industry Compensation Survey

The United States—in fact, much of the world—appears to be in economic recession, owing to such factors as a declining housing market, months of job losses, and turmoil in the…

Leveraging Income

In these increasingly uncertain times, it’s more important than ever to approach your personal and professional finances with an eye toward appreciation. The real measure of character is what you do with what you already have.

Pricing Mind-Body Programs

Now that mind-body programming has proven to be profitable, how can program directors, managers and owners ensure they are pricing their programs to reap the most value from these specialized services?

Incentives for Staff?

The concept of “pay for performance” has been a favorite in human resources for some years. Within pay for performance, staff members receive financial bonuses or incentives based on the results they produce. Pay for performance, while it is not called that, is often used with personal trainers. The “split” of a client’s fee is an example of paying the trainer for…

IDEA Fitness Industry Salary Survey 2004

As fitness businesses hire qualified staff to handle current customers and new exercisers, the good news is that 81% of fitness staff stay with the same business for 1 yea…

IDEA Stats: How Do You Set Your Fees?

Fee-for-service models are preferred by 57% of IDEA members who responded to the 2003 IDEA Fitness Programs & Equipment Survey. Even those who use a membership dues model are charging for some programs.
These were the options offered on the questionnaire:
annual membership dues access all programs offered

annual membership dues plus separate fee for some classes or programs

pay for individual session/class or “package” of sessions or classes

How the Income Flows

Personal training is a popular activity because it helps clients achieve their goals. Although a new membership package may include several personal training sessions, over time the client pays extra for personal training. Often, businesses split the fee with the trainer.

What Are the Pay Scales Around the Country?

Average hours worked and compensation for the industry were reported in the January 2001 issue of IDEA Health & Fitness Source. These charts break down those results into regions. When looking at the numbers, consider that the region includes big cities and suburban areas, as well as small towns.