How Much Does a Fitness Trainer Make?

The term fitness trainer encompasses a variety of careers. While fitness trainer typically refers to a personal trainer, it may also be used to classify athletic trainers and strength and conditioning coaches. Each of these career tracks pays differently, often depending on the level at which the work is performed.

  1. Personal Trainer

    • Personal trainers are typically certified through one of many fitness certifying organizations, the most commonly known being the American Council on Exercise, the National Academy of Sports Medicine and the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

      Personal trainers handle gym maintenance and safety, new member orientations and sales. Their main job, however, is developing workout programs for clients. After a program has been established, the personal trainer runs through it with the client regularly, correcting any technique issues and offering general assistance and knowledge.

      The Bureau of Labor Statistics recorded the 2006 average yearly salary of personal trainers at $25,910. While this may be normal at the entry level, self-employed and privately employed personal trainers have a much greater income potential.

    Athletic Trainer

    • Similar to personal trainers, athletic trainers also work with clients to correct issues. However, their work is focused entirely on athletes. Instead of providing workout programs to either help a client gain mass or lose fat, the athletic trainer creates rehabilitation programs to help athletes recover from injuries of all types.

      Athletic trainers have extensive knowledge of injury prevention and injury correction. As with the personal training profession, the athletic training salary varies greatly depending on level of work. Athletic trainers working at the professional level have a much greater earning potential than those working at the high school level. In 2006, the Bureau of Labor Statistics listed the average yearly salary at $41,620.

    Strength and Conditioning Coach

    • The strength and conditioning coach is a hybrid profession of both the personal trainer and athletic trainer. As with the athletic trainer, he will spend most of the time working with athletes. Although it is not the strength and conditioning coach's primary job to prevent and correct injury, he should be aware of various corrective exercise techniques.

      While the personal trainer focuses on all aspects of fitness, the strength and conditioning coach is primarily concerned with the sport-related qualities. These include, but are certainly not limited to, strength, endurance, agility and power. Even more so than the previously listed fitness trainers, the salary of the strength and conditioning coach is highly dependent on the level in which he is working at. However, average earnings may be compared to entry-level personal trainer earnings.

    Pay Comparison

    • As seen above, the average yearly salary of the athletic trainer a good deal higher than the personal trainer and strength and conditioning coach. While the potential for income increases drastically as you advance up the professional ladder, athletic trainers will likely hit a stopping point at the professional level.

      Personal trainers and strength and conditioning coaches have the option of moving into a private, self-employed career. The salary cap for this type of training and coaching has no particular limit. In addition, personal trainers and strength and conditioning coaches have the extra option of producing information products relating to exercise and fitness to supplement their income.

    Considerations

    • Each of these three careers requires a great deal of effort and dedication to reach the top level of the pay scale. Don't expect to become certified or licensed in one of these fitness trainer careers and instantly earn the big dollar amounts some popular fitness trainers are making. To add onto that, this is definitely not the career for the money-hungry. Because high incomes only exist at the top of the game in this profession, passion should be the primary reason for pursuing a career as a fitness trainer.