Life of an Equinox Trainer | 90% of certified trainers quit w/in a year| Learn why | Show Up Fitness

[@dwd9191]

Maybe it’s because in order to get clients you have to be at the gym and you’re not getting paid for your floor time or you’re getting paid for less hours than you actually have to spend there to get clientele. Then when you have clientele in order to actually program well you have to spend more hours off the clock or cut into your clients 50 minute session. Have fun explaining that to them. When you’re new you won’t get many leads from new memberships or membership sales because they will feed the veterans. That’s a whole other topic you can dig into. The pay structure and bonuses rely heavily on your clients actually showing up or you overbooking for when some people fall through, but guess what? When everyone decides to show up you’re working back to back over 8 hours straight. It’s exhausting dealing with 8-10 people back to back with minimal breaks between considering you’re consulting people, listening to them talk about their day, giving advice etc. your counseling and training them with weights. Don’t even get me started on the pay and all the politics and hoops you jump through to get to a level to charge the highest possible hourly rate and receive slightly more % of that. Even if you have previous experience, and train yourself to be one of the top physically fit and aesthetically fit trainers at the gym it won’t matter. You can’t afford to live in LA on their wages lol. Luckily I was resourceful and able to hustle on my own outside of work with other types of business. I was making $2k a month after taxes for 8 months in West Hollywood. What the fuck is that? Lmao. People leave because they get burnt out. Working like that isn’t physically or mentally healthy and yet you’re expected to be the example you want to set for your clients. The pay structures and slimey ways gyms get around paying their trainers for prospecting or doing proper programming outside of the 50 minute session highly favors gyms. They all do it. If your client doesn’t show up you don’t get paid unless you charge them a session. Which isn’t always the best way to do business.. yet the gym has already been paid up front and in full for all the sessions. Personal training as a job sucks. Its inconsistent. Clients are unreliable. It’s a lot of investment over a long period of time for a chance to make decent money. Very few trainers actually make a lot of money. It’s stressful. No matter how good you are you’re constantly hustling which works for a small number of people. If I’m highly skilled at a job I want to know what to expect for my pay, my hours, and have time to actually be healthy and enjoy my life. Went to the oilfield to do electrical work and went from $2k a month after taxes at equinox to $2k a week starting pay after taxes with similar hours and stress. Seems pretty simple and straight forward. Training is good for a side job or side hustle but as a career there are tons of better options out there.

[@mr.smooth9124]

After 6 months at my first PT job, I became the #1 trainer out of 16 doing 100 sessions but making only about $5k a month 😒. And I NEVER had to pay for leads. You just have to be good at what you do and get creative with prospecting. But it's true PTs don't get paid as much. This is why I'm taking that same work ethic to car sales where I can make $10-$30k per month. You won't see those numbers working in a gym.

[@ShowUpFitness]

Sorry to hear that. We have had numerous trainers make 10k+ at Life Time / Equinox with their SUF-CPT. Building streams of revenue and moving into their own garage or independent too

[@adambondarenko8922]

I would HIGHLY recommend new trainers look into working for a private studio that does strictly personal training. All the cons mentioned are going to be true at any big box gym. Split shifts, huge unpaid gaps and the shared space particularly after 5pm are incredibly difficult to train in. I work for a private studio now and have complete autonomy to train how I like, do not need to hit any sales goals, and still make a good salary. There is a reason for this high turnover in big box gyms and the juice is not worth the squeeze IMO. You will also get direct mentorship from an experienced trainer and or business owner in a private studio. The “mentorship” you receive at a big box gym is often just the manager of the PT department telling you how to upsell to make the company more money, not the trainer. Not trying to be pessimistic, just objective experience in the industry.

[@DeanBair]

What companies in personal training are giving you a good salary? For me, most gyms just pay minimum wage for floor hours and then have direct goals of growing one's book.

[@alexm1841]

No one wants to work 12 hour days at a gym. Most want to be done in 8 or less and only work Monday - Friday. And with team meetings and gaps, you’ll maybe log 4 sessions per day during that time; 5 if you’re lucky

[@ShowUpFitness]

Yes that can be true as a new trainer

[@ericcook5503]

Equinox let’s you privately train?

[@ShowUpFitness]

Don't ask for permission, they don't need to know

[@kamilareeder1493]

Youre telling me to pay the membership staff when theybgive me leads 💀✋ thats wild

[@ShowUpFitness]

Put yourself in their shoes, why should I give you leads? I'm going to give it to the one who gives me cash and is cool to be around. It's politics, play the game. Otherwise become very good at getting clients off the floor.

[@kamilareeder1493]

@@ShowUpFitness I mean, I do 🤷‍♂️👀☝️ like free sessions is one thing but actually having to pay them on top of what they're making is pretty whack. Considering what we all make per session especially. How would be able to make rent ?

[@kamilareeder1493]

@@ShowUpFitness they should match the people with the trainer they think will work best with them. If its ALL politics and nothing to do with the person asking for an assessment than idk. I went out of my way to meet and train all the membership staff and I feel like that should be enough without literally bribing them 😭✋😂

[@kamilareeder1493]

@@ShowUpFitness I mean if I were membership, I probably wouldn't do that to some new trainer just trying their best 🤷‍♂️

[@Beeper711]

@@ShowUpFitness Bro thats called corruption