Fitness Instructors and Personal Trainers
Fitness instructors are one of the largest and most important careers in the fitness, sport, and recreation industry. Fitness instructors generally direct and guide individuals or groups towards a physical health goal.
The role of a fitness instructor is largely defined by where you are working in the sector, meaning there could be different terms for similar roles. The terms you could see used by different employers include personal trainer, fitness instructor, or gym instructor.
Where You Might Work
Fitness instructors rarely have a home base. Their expertise in the fitness industry may sometimes require them to work at places other than a gym. These areas include:
- Sports and recreation centres
- Public parks
- Client homes
- Retirement villages
- Yoga and Pilates studios
- Health and fitness clubs
Key Responsibilities
Fitness instructors must undergo many different tasks throughout the day to effectively plan and conduct fitness sessions. These responsibilities are:
- Designing fitness programs based on a client’s age, health status, level of ability, and fitness goals.
- Being able to work early in the mornings and evenings.
- Consulting with associates to design exercise programs.
- Support healthy eating for individual fitness clients.
- Setting up and monitoring the safe use of gym equipment.
- Teaching clients and other gym-goers about the safe operation of gym equipment.
- Critiquing and modifying the techniques of clients and gym-goers when using equipment or performing exercises.
- Preparing and reporting incident reports.
- Understanding and upholding the current health and safety standards inside a gym or other place of work.
- Managing memberships and signing new clients up.
The Attributes and Skills You Will Need
Fitness instructors have attributes that they must display to get the most out of their clients. These attributes could include:
- An ability to communicate effectively, both in-person and via email.
- An ability to motivate clients so they get the best out of themselves.
- Having a keen interest in sports science and human movement.
- You enjoy being around people and are a people person.
- An ability to work collaboratively as well as individually.
Retrieved from Labour Market Insights.
Salary: The average entry-level full-time salary for a fitness instructor is $65,000, according to talent.com.
Qualifications
A career as a fitness instructor will allow you to become knowledgeable in health and fitness. Your clients will depend on you for your expertise and know-how. The guides listed below display the main qualifications that allow you to explore jobs for fitness instruction.
| Course List | Career Opportunities | Further Study Beyond Qualification | Course Duration or Number of elements/units |
| Certificate III in Fitness (SIS30321) | Cert III fitness instructors may plan and deliver GROUP exercise sessions and develop gym-based programs for individuals where the level of personalised instruction and ongoing client monitoring is limited. | Certificate IV in Fitness |
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| Certificate IV in Fitness (SIS40221) | Cert IV fitness instructors can develop, instruct, and evaluate personalised exercise programs for clients who are healthy and considered a low risk inside the gym. Cert IV fitness instructors can also plan, conduct, and evaluate the effectiveness of group fitness sessions. The experience gained from working in a gym with these qualifications can make a fitness instructor more employable for a role in gym management and sometimes membership sales. | Our partner, AUSactive, promotes continuing education via approved providers. For further details on the various professional development courses, visit AUSactive CEC courses.
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Already qualified? Head to the AUSactive jobs board for the best selection of positions currently available in the fitness industry.
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