Alright, class, how are we feeling today? Are we feeling good today? Is everybody ready? Are you pumped? I said, are you pumped?

If you jumped up in your chair and shouted, "Yes!" at the top of your lungs, then you're probably a little too excited. Take a moment to calm yourself.

Now then, are you ready to learn about what it takes to become a professional fitness instructor? You should probably also apologize to everyone else in the library first.

Don't apologize to us, though―we get it. There's something exciting, motivating, and thrilling about being fit and staying fit. Regular exercise can make you stronger, healthier, allow you to live longer, help prevent disease, and make you a happier person (source). 

Everyone should get to experience that, don't you think? But some people just don't know how to do it on their own; they either don't know where to start, or don't have the motivation to. That's where—for the low, low price of $32,000 a year (money back if results not satisfactory)—you come in (source).  

 

Feel free to show off; it builds respect for and fear of your magic powers. (Source)

Fitness instructors are exercise professionals who lead, teach, and motivate people in activities designed to maintain health, lose weight, and/or build muscle. Through specific, pre-designed, or choreographed routines, group instructors work to help a wide variety of individuals get to an improved physical state. 

If it's a type of workout, it falls under the realm of fitness instructors, from calming morning stretching exercises to a heart-pumping high-octane, head-exploding Crossfit/Zumba/Macarena hybrid. Since you're the one leading the class, it's pretty much up to you.

People like you—that is, people who get really excited about fitness—are perfect for this job. Fitness instructors are great speakers, able to both lead long periods of class where no one else talks and to helpfully correct issues in technique in a way that everyone can understand. A certain level of personal fitness is needed as well―you don't necessarily need to be able to run a marathon, but you won't do well if you're passing out five minutes into warm-ups.

The best instructors are also the ones who are most compassionate for their clients. These are people who sincerely mean to improve their lives; they don't need a drill instructor shouting in their ears (unless the class is "Drill Instructor Shouts in your Ears"...in which case be our guest). For the even more compassionate, there are places you can work like hospitals and social centers, where you can help people for whom staying fit is more of a need than a want.

Anyone with a passion for diet and exercise can likely find work as a fitness instructor, but being a successful, well-paid fitness instructor takes work. When you're just starting out, it will be important to remind yourself that you're helping people, because you won't be making much more than $20,000 a year doing it (source). If you rest on simply your basic knowledge, you can probably get up to the average $32,000 a year, which isn't bad. 

It is possible to make more, and comes down to (like everything else) what you know. If you are certified in muscle conditioning, strength training, yoga, Pilates, core training, and Krav Maga, and have a degree in exercise science, you'll grab a better income than someone who kinda sorta knows how to do P90X.

We know you may be thinking that this sounds pretty similar to being a personal trainer.

It's similar, but not the same.

 

Who's a pretty boy? You are. (Source)

Personal trainers and group fitness instructors are both responsible for taking sweaty people through exercise routines; the differences can be found in the names. Personal trainers spend sessions focused on one person, using one-on-one guidance to develop muscles and burn calories, and likely develop a nutrition plan of some kind. This doesn't translate well to the class environment, where you'll lead pupils of all shapes and sizes through a wide variety of workouts. 

You'll also be working out just about the entire class, whereas personal trainers have more than enough time to preen into the closest mirror while their client struggles through eight-and-a-half burpees.

Specialized instructors (like your friendly neighborhood Pilates guru) are somewhere between the two, but fall under this category because they can teach more than one person at a time. Being able to multitask isn't a requirement, but it certainly is helpful.

There's no one reason anyone takes fitness classes. Some people will be looking for a way to drop some weight, while others will need a stress release from their daily lives. Your work will be some of the only movement the nine-to-fivers and stay-at-home moms and dads get. As a fitness instructor, people will be looking to you for solutions. Luckily, you've got them in spades.

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