Pros
-Almost everyone I met was really friendly. -Pretty laid-back atmosphere in the studios. -The job itself is pretty easy. -It was rewarding to see clients improve and change. -The workouts actually work. -Not a desk job. -They offer a program where you can complete lessons to increase your pay by small increments. -They put you through the certifications process (slow-motion strength training) -Ability to move up to a studio manager position.
Cons
-The pay is not great and unpredictable. I came in with an empty schedule so I had to build it up myself. You get paid very little if you don't have clients so I was barely making enough to survive for a bit. Clients cancelled often, which meant I only got paid the low base rate for those empty slots. If you don't have clients you don't get money. Even with a full schedule, I was just making enough to cover my expenses. -Clients can be very spread apart on your schedule, especially in the beginning. I would sometimes have two clients at 3pm for example, and then another three starting at 6. This left a three-hour gap where I wasn't getting paid and had to find a way to fill my time. -Very repetitive. You basically count to 10 over and over all day. There is some room for personalizing each client's session, but overall you're leading clients through the same workout all day. This got to be draining for me. -A full client load is a lot at around 13 clients. That's a lot of people to see each day, at least in my opinion. -Fellow employees called in sick to work often, so I often felt cornered into working doubles to cover the shifts...26 clients in a day. That's a lot of counting to 10. -Turnover rate is very high. It's like a revolving door. -The low-motion strength training certification is not recognized by other gyms. If you want to work in regular gyms, or even on your own, go for NASM. -Some of the studios were in old-looking buildings in random locations. I would have never known these places were gyms and they didn't look very upscale. I assume the owner chooses this buildings because they're lower cost. -Opportunities for upward mobility are few and far between.
