This is REALLY how much money you will make as Personal Trainer

If you have experience and information regarding a particular health club, your help in building this list for the sake of all personal trainers is greatly appreciated.

Reminders:

If you are a personal trainer, unless you are working floor shifts or employed at a very unique club, you are only getting paid commission on sessions trained. You are not paid hourly.
If you think 1 personal training session = 1 hour of work, think again. (Although corporations often like to suggest otherwise.)
Also keep in mind; most personal trainers out there barely make it to 90 sessions per month, let alone in the 100's. Managers will show you somewhat gorgeous salaries at that top tier, but that is if, and only if, you train an astronomical number of sessions. Few personal trainers ever reach those top bonus tiers i.e. 120-160 Sessions in 4 weeks.
Consider these factors when considering your place of employment.

Side Note:

Based on the national statistics I have gathered from multiple sources, the average personal trainer in the United States trains 767 sessions per year.

For the following examples, I will divide that number over the course of 50 weeks (2 weeks for vacation) to get my average number, which is roughly 15 sessions per week.

If a particular club, i.e. Equinox Fitness, has minimums, I will use the minimum number of sessions required to keep employment instead of the national average.

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Equinox Fitness

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Floor Shift:

Minimum Wage per Hour

Tier I Personal Trainer:

$23.00 per Session (before taxes)

$28.00 per Session, if 90+ Sessions are completed in 4 weeks (before taxes)

Example:

15 Sessions/week x 4 weeks = 60 Sessions x $23.00 = $1,380.00 per month (before taxes)

+ 20 mandatory floor hours/week x 4 weeks = 80 mandatory floor hours x $8.00/hr = $640.00 per month (before taxes)

Total = $2,020.00 per month (before taxes)

Tier II Personal Trainer:

$31.50 per Session (before taxes)

$36.50 per Session, if 90+ Sessions are completed in 4 weeks (before taxes)

Example:

21 Sessions/week x 4 weeks = 84 Sessions x $31.50 = $2,646.00 per month (before taxes)

+ 10 mandatory floor hours/week x 4 weeks = 40 mandatory floor hours x $8.00/hr = $320.00 per month (before taxes)

Total = $2,966 per month (before taxes)

Tier III Personal Trainer:

$39.00 per Session (before taxes)

$44.00 per Session, if 90+ Sessions are completed in 4 weeks (before taxes)

Example: 21 Sessions/week x 4 weeks = 84 Sessions x $39.00 = $3,276.00 per month (before taxes)

Bonuses Awarded to All Tier Levels:

90 Sessions (4 weeks) = $175.00 bonus (before taxes)

119 Sessions (4 weeks) = $434.00 bonus (before taxes)

139 Sessions (4 weeks) = $717.00 bonus (before taxes)

152 Sessions (4 weeks) = $844.00 bonus (before taxes)

Summary Examples:

If you make it to Tier III Trainer…

Average Tier III Trainer:

90 Sessions (4 weeks), $44.00 per Session, plus $175.00 bonus = $4,135.00 per month (before taxes)

After 30% taxes…

= $2,894.50 per month

= $1,447.25 per 2 weeks (Pay Period)

= $723.63 per week

Absolute Best Tier III Trainer:

152 Sessions (4 weeks), $44.00 per Session, plus $844.00 bonus = $7,532.00 per month (before taxes).

After 30% taxes…

= $5,272.40 per month

= $2,636.20 per 2 weeks (Pay Period)

= $1,318.10 per week.

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Bally Total Fitness

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Floor Shift:

Minimum Wage per Hour

Level 1:

$12.94 per Session (before taxes)

$17.00 per Session, if 20+ sessions are completed in 2 weeks (before taxes)

Level 2:

$15.54 per Session (before taxes)

$20.75 per Session, if 20+ sessions are completed in 2 weeks (before taxes)

Level 3:

$24.94 per Session, if 20+ sessions are completed in 2 weeks (before taxes)

$29.10 per Session, if 40+ sessions are completed in 2 weeks (before taxes)

Level 4:

$34.40 per Session, if 40+ sessions are completed in 2 weeks (before taxes)

Level 5:

$39.10 per Session, if 40+ sessions are completed in 2 weeks (before taxes)

Commission:

10% Commission on all session sales, which is paid out the following month.

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24 Hour Fitness

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Floor Shift:

Minimum Wage per Hour

CPT 1:

$13.50 per Session (before taxes)

CPT 2:

$16.00 per Session (before taxes)

CPT 3:

$18.50 per Session (before taxes)

EPT aka Master Trainer: Requirement is 2,000 sessions trained with 3 certifications

$20.50 per Session (before taxes)

Commission:

20% Commission on all session sales, which is paid out the following month.

5% Commission on all supplement sales, which is paid out the following month.

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*Curves

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The reason for the "*" is that Curves is not really looking to cater towards Personal Trainers, specifically.

Curves looks for anyone with experience in customer service, and if you have a background in nutrition and/or fitness, the better.

I would not recommend Curves if you are serious about a career in Personal Training, but it may be a great place for someone with no experience to start.

Pay:

Minimum Wage per Hour (before taxes)

Little room for pay raises.

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LA Fitness

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LA Fitness has a very straight forward Personal Training program.

There are no tier levels.

Pay:

$7.50 per Half Hour Training Session (before taxes)

$15.00 per Hour (2 back to back half-hour training sessions) (before taxes)

There are no minimums, no bonuses, no raises.

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Velocity Sports Performance

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Private Trainers:

I am currently training at the Velocity Sports Performance in West LA as a Private Trainer. This gym has one of the best locations, cleanest facilities, and best deals around for Private Personal Trainers.

*This Velocity MAY operate differently than others in the country. There are few like it, but I will be posting details on them as well ASAP.

Clients:

All clients must pay a ONE TIME fee of $20.00 and sign a waiver. No contracts or membership fees.

Monthly Rates:

Unlimited Training Sessions: $300.00 Flat Rate per Month

Single Training Sessions: $15.00 per Session

In-House Velocity Personal Trainers:

Information coming soon...

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Malibu Fitness

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A private gym located in Malibu, CA.

Private Personal Trainers:

They do welcome Private Personal Trainers.

Clients:

All clients must be a member to train here.

Membership costs roughly $90.00 per Month.

Monthly Rates:

Cost: $25 per Session

In-House Malibu Fitness Personal Trainers:

More information coming soon...

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TSI Sports Clubs: New York Sports Clubs, Boston Sports Clubs, Washington Sports Clubs, Philadelphia Sports Clubs

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Coming soon...

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Gold's Gym

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Coming soon...

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Crunch Fitness

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Coming soon...

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Spectrum Athletic Clubs

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Coming soon...

You can find more posts like this one at...

SupertrainerHQ . com / blog

you should change your title to " this is about how much money you will make as personal trainer working at a chain gym". What you forget is that most serious trainers want to eventually work independently and only work at a big corporate gym for experience and building a clientele.

[QUOTE=jphalflion;564492401]you should change your title to " this is about how much money you will make as personal trainer working at a chain gym". What you forget is that most serious trainers want to eventually work independently and only work at a big corporate gym for experience and building a clientele.[/QUOTE]

I can appreciate your reply.

I certainly understand where you are coming from, being that I am a private personal trainer working on an annual salary to train 2 clients privately (8 session per week). I am fortunate and blessed, but I've gone through it all to get here.

What I never had throughout my process was the knowledge of knowing before hand, what I was going to get out of the gym's around me.

No matter beginner, novice or professional trainer, to know what options are out there for them is critical information. Us private trainers also know how hard times can get, and sometimes retreating back to a gym for a short while is our only option.

My objective is to publish every single gym in the country in this post.

It is POWERFUL information and helps all personal trainers to make the right choices in their career path.

The trainers who are on their own and earning private salaries should understand that this post is not designed to "brag" about the potential salaries of $100K in the Personal Training Industry, but rather designed to help all personal trainers everywhere make smarter and wiser career decisions.

If you have any experience working in a club or information on these kind of details, please share them... not for me, but for all personal trainers.

Personal Training is a selfish industry and every trainer I've ever met wants to have their own gym, with their own name on the front...

Until Personal Trainers understand that we need to help one another, this industry will remain in shambles.

This is only one of thousands of posts that I will create in an effort to begin to change it.

All the best.

Bc02!

Thank you for making this info available!

did not read. cliffs or gtfo

[QUOTE=mrJustinPierce;564532671]I can appreciate your reply.

I certainly understand where you are coming from, being that I am a private personal trainer working on an annual salary to train 2 clients privately (8 session per week). I am fortunate and blessed, but I've gone through it all to get here.

[/QUOTE]

Hi,
What do you mean by you work on an annual salary to train 2 clients per week? Do you train 2 celebrities or something??

[QUOTE=jphalflion;564492401]you should change your title to " this is about how much money you will make as personal trainer working at a chain gym". What you forget is that most serious trainers want to eventually work independently and only work at a big corporate gym for experience and building a clientele.[/QUOTE]

i second this

[QUOTE=joegtz99;564829691]did not read. cliffs or gtfo[/QUOTE]

You're attitude sucks, if you are interested in working for a gym this is hands down the best info at your disposal.

edit: BIG suprise, you're a skinny 17 year old -- why are you wasting your time here anyway?

Great info, back when I was a trainer at Q Sports club (now 24 hour fitness) I was in college full time and did just over 100 sessions a month. I knew a couple trainers who went over 200 a month but it is rare.


I remember one quote that the national manager of trainers told me, "Look you make 30K a year, part-time, and your wearing shorts and tennis shoes, isn't life great?" I think if you are in your 20's it can be very lucrative and build a great base of experience.

good post

that was very helpful thank you

Wheres the avg salary of la fit and 24 hr? Repped

Your pretty close on the 24hr pay


You get a flat rate of $7.25/hr plus commission (determined by level) on the session cost. With all the specials constantly going on the avg cost is around $55/session ($65 for masters)

So here is how it breaks down on your level (I could be a little off on some of these, I'm a lvl III so i know that one for sure =D )

I - 12%
II - 18%
III - 22%
Master - 26%

So on avg ($55 session) I make around $19/hr excluding the 20% commission I make at the sale. All level trainers - even fitness managers make a flat 20% commission on the sale of the package which ranges anywhere from $129-$1600.

I avg around 5k in sales a month and around 120 sessions. Any trainer who hits 120 sessions gets an extra 5% bonus on all sales for the month - so if you sell 5k you'll get an extra $250 etc.

It took me about 4 months to start hitting 100+ sessions and I even got to the point where I couldn't take on anymore clients. To get there was pretty tough but it paid off. My best advice for those starting off is to open your schedule up as many hours as possible. I had over 70hrs/week of availability. Once I got a decent base I started cutting out hours around my good clients.

The hardest part about 24 is starting off (I'm sure that's most clubs). You won't have many clients and you really don't make money unless your training. I was somewhat misinformed about the whole hourly rate deal. At first if I wasn't training I could still be on the clock cleaning/walking the floor, helping the front desk, fitness orientations etc. But after a week or two those non-session hours were cut back majorly and I was only allowed to be on the clock for sessions or orientations. So if you have a 7am and your next appt isn't until 11 your going to be spending 4 or 5 hours a shift at the gym and only getting paid for maybe 2 or 3. If you can make it over that hump and start stacking your clients you'll be fine.

Out of our 10 or so trainers about 3-5 of us hit 100+ sessions and 2-3 break 120. It's really not that hard at my location and if your somewhat decent you can almost guarantee 5k in sells and 100+ sessions.

Just be sure to knock out those certifications ASAP, $12/hr to $19 is a pretty significant jump and will be well worth it. Level 2's and up can easily bring home 2-3k/month after 4 months of hard work building up your base.

Hope that helps.

^^^ This. But in San Francisco, we get $9.79 min. wage, so we get less commission per session :( (-2.5% from each category). If you want to think of it another way for 24, if you train all the sessions you sold to that one person, you could be making ~$29/hour (splitting the 20% into however many sessions it was).

just to add in for people that dont know...velocity you will need a degree 99% of time and sport specific ***** and background 99% of time!

equinox and lifetime needs a degree to work as a trainer those places...

[QUOTE=mrJustinPierce;564310311]

LA Fitness

LA Fitness has a very straight forward Personal Training program.

There are no tier levels.

Pay:

$7.50 per Half Hour Training Session (before taxes)

$15.00 per Hour (2 back to back half-hour training sessions) (before taxes)

There are no minimums, no bonuses, no raises.

[/QUOTE]

your post is very informative but this is not entirely accurate.

i worked at LA fitness in CT. Trainers recieve a bonus when their clients stay beyond the length of their contract (this happens with almost all clients). so if a client signs a 6 month deal, and loves their trainer, they continue and keep their rate yet the trainer makes time and a half for those sessions.

and while it is true we did not have tiers, we DID have a "top trainer" who was paid more per hour.


***edit - bonuses were given out also when a trainer helped a salesman with a session. the salesmen did the "free sessions" to get people to sign up, but if a trainer got involved and helped close the sale, their name would be added onto the contract and they would receive part of the commission.

basically your hourly rate numbers are correct but there actually are many ways for trainers to make more money at LA Fitness.

[QUOTE=BodyQuest1;564861421]Hi,
What do you mean by you work on an annual salary to train 2 clients per week? Do you train 2 celebrities or something??[/QUOTE]

Sort of. Malibu residents living on Billionaire Beach.

[QUOTE=swoll9yards;565384841]Your pretty close on the 24hr pay


You get a flat rate of $7.25/hr plus commission (determined by level) on the session cost. With all the specials constantly going on the avg cost is around $55/session ($65 for masters)

So here is how it breaks down on your level (I could be a little off on some of these, I'm a lvl III so i know that one for sure =D ... [/QUOTE]

Awesome reply! Your insight is greatly appreciated!

(I didn't quote the whole post because I figured it was unnecessary. Scan the thread to find it. It's worth looking at if you're considering 24 Hour.)

[QUOTE=txapn;565486193]just to add in for people that dont know...velocity you will need a degree 99% of time and sport specific ***** and background 99% of time!

equinox and lifetime needs a degree to work as a trainer those places...[/QUOTE]

This information is incorrect.

I went to college for art.

I didn't become a trainer until after I graduated, became certified and started my career then.

NYSC hired me with zero credentials. I got NASM CPT Certified, became Pro Trainer and Fitness Manager in 16 months working there.

Equinox hired me based on my prior experience at NYSC and NASM CPT.

While working at Equinox, several trainers were hired with ZERO experience, and given the opportunity to be placed in EFTI (Equinox Fitness Institute of Technology - an internal education program), after promising to get a certification, and proved to be a decent, motivated individual. They worked the floor and climbed their way up like the rest of us.

At Equinox, you ABSOLUTELY DO NOT need a degree to work there, but it's obviously going to improve your chances of getting hired dramatically.

I applied and was accepted to Equinox Fitness West Hollywood, Century City (Exclusive Top Level Club), and Santa Monica, CA without a degree. The only Equinox out performing these is Chelsea, NYC, and I'm pretty confident they wouldn't have a problem with me not having a degree either.

Velocity Sports Performance operates very similarly.

Obviously, gyms want you to have a degree, and a certification, and experience.

But if you're a person of integrity, fueled with passion and drive, trust me, from personal experience, not having a degree will NOT keep you from getting into this industry or getting a job at any of these locations, despite what you've been told.

[QUOTE=txapn;565486193]just to add in for people that dont know...velocity you will need a degree 99% of time and sport specific ***** and background 99% of time!

equinox and lifetime needs a degree to work as a trainer those places...[/QUOTE]

I know trainers who work at lifetime without a degree. They had interned there, earned their nasm, and had no experience also.

Equinox doesn't require a degree either to my knowledge.

[QUOTE=Murph0408;565502153]your post is very informative but this is not entirely accurate.

i worked at LA fitness in CT. Trainers recieve a bonus when their clients stay beyond the length of their contract (this happens with almost all clients). so if a client signs a 6 month deal, and loves their trainer, they continue and keep their rate yet the trainer makes time and a half for those sessions.

and while it is true we did not have tiers, we DID have a "top trainer" who was paid more per hour.


***edit - bonuses were given out also when a trainer helped a salesman with a session. the salesmen did the "free sessions" to get people to sign up, but if a trainer got involved and helped close the sale, their name would be added onto the contract and they would receive part of the commission.

basically your hourly rate numbers are correct but there actually are many ways for trainers to make more money at LA Fitness.[/QUOTE]

Thank you for the information! I'll add it to the post ASAP.

how accurate is your info on the bally pay rate? did you used to work there? i heard you get a flat rate of 30-40 dollars, regardless of trainer level, per session. it was mainly hearsay so i could be wrong.

[QUOTE=mrJustinPierce;565613053]This information is incorrect.

I went to college for art.

I didn't become a trainer until after I graduated, became certified and started my career then.

NYSC hired me with zero credentials. I got NASM CPT Certified, became Pro Trainer and Fitness Manager in 16 months working there.

Equinox hired me based on my prior experience at NYSC and NASM CPT.

While working at Equinox, several trainers were hired with ZERO experience, and given the opportunity to be placed in EFTI (Equinox Fitness Institute of Technology - an internal education program), after promising to get a certification, and proved to be a decent, motivated individual. They worked the floor and climbed their way up like the rest of us.

At Equinox, you ABSOLUTELY DO NOT need a degree to work there, but it's obviously going to improve your chances of getting hired dramatically.

I applied and was accepted to Equinox Fitness West Hollywood, Century City (Exclusive Top Level Club), and Santa Monica, CA without a degree. The only Equinox out performing these is Chelsea, NYC, and I'm pretty confident they wouldn't have a problem with me not having a degree either.

Velocity Sports Performance operates very similarly.

Obviously, gyms want you to have a degree, and a certification, and experience.

But if you're a person of integrity, fueled with passion and drive, trust me, from personal experience, not having a degree will NOT keep you from getting into this industry or getting a job at any of these locations, despite what you've been told.[/QUOTE]

Your posts have been very informative. I train a few people independently on the side and was also looking into finding a job at a commercial gym as well. I'm pretty familiar with all of the gyms that you listed as I also live in the LA area. I always thought that places like Equinox and LA Fitness would turn people away for not having a degree or cert. Any advice on getting into a gym with limited experience?

well velocity is independently owned chain so each one i guess is different, but here in TX they will not even let un-degreed interns with out a CSCS work there as trainers! (ones in my area at least)

ive got a degree and have spoken to each in fact was interested in purchasing a velocity here in my area so i know exactly what they are hiring here in my area!

now equinox here and lifetime both are starting to go about the degree route (as of the moment they are saying preferred degree but slowly starting to accept only degreed trainers)...i totally disagree with the ideas bc there are amazing trainers out there without degrees, im just throwing out the info from this area (North Texas) to try and help those that are looking!

[QUOTE=txapn;567008381]well velocity is independently owned chain so each one i guess is different, but here in TX they will not even let un-degreed interns with out a CSCS work there as trainers! (ones in my area at least)

ive got a degree and have spoken to each in fact was interested in purchasing a velocity here in my area so i know exactly what they are hiring here in my area!

now equinox here and lifetime both are starting to go about the degree route (as of the moment they are saying preferred degree but slowly starting to accept only degreed trainers)...i totally disagree with the ideas bc there are amazing trainers out there without degrees, im just throwing out the info from this area (North Texas) to try and help those that are looking![/QUOTE]

Thanks for the info. I guess I really should just apply to Equinox and a few others and see what happens.

Hopefully everyone here is busting their azz, to get to the independent status, and keep all your earnings, rather than giving it to corporate

On the other hand, many trainers are "comfortable" training for corporate

you have to be creative and productive. I'm basically a 6 figure trainer at a commercial gym at 24 years old. I train my regular average clients at 28 - 38$ per hour depending on the package they bought. I get 50 - 80$ an hour for sports we train depending on the size of the team. I'm also a director so i get an 11k base salary plus 10% of what my staff brings in this is also counts for packages I bring in. The director position is more about bringing in revenue rather than things like payroll so it's not like a ton of hours per week. I may also double dip so if I got a package i get my normal training payrate plus the 10% of the package.

I do a bootcamp that the gym helps me promote heavily it's worth 40k a year and i get half. Not bad for a Gold's Gym

I work at a corporate Golds Gym as PT.

I am ISSA certfied, I got certified in June. I was hired at Golds before i finished my cert.

We get 2 "floor" hours at 8 per hr.

Any orientations we do are 8 dollars for the hour.

The min for 30 min session is 35 the min for an hr session is 65

if you don't have NASM CSCS the most you can make is 35% of your PT sales.

You only get your money if the client actually shows up...

Last week i had a particularly bad week when one of my clients got in a car accident and another had surgery and another just plain cancelled. I made 58 bucks that week.

Any other info I can provide if needed

So I'm thinking about taking a 2 year personal trainer course, once finished that I'll be eligible to take a test so I can receive a well recognized certificate. (CSEP-CPT)

so I take it this is the kind of money to expect after I were to finish said course, correct?