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Personal Training Instructor Course practical learning in the gym

Personal Trainer Salary Guide

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How much does a personal trainer earn?

How much a Personal Trainer can earn is dependent on their qualifications and experience in the fitness industry. On average Personal Trainers are expected to earn between £15,000 and £60,000 a year across the UK.

Fitness Instructor salaries are on average lower than a Personal Trainer’s; this is because a Fitness Instructor is only qualified at Level 2 whereas a Personal Trainer is trained at level 3. According to Payscale, the starting average salary for Fitness Instructors is £17,115 per year. The lowest is £15,000 and the highest at £25,000.

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Average Personal Trainer Salary

The table shows the average personal trainer salary based on 25 hours per week as a guide.

Hourly Rate Weekly Income Monthly Income Yearly Income
£20 per hour £500 £2,000 £24,000
£30 per hour £750 £3,000 £36,000
£40 per hour £1,000 £4,000 £48,000
£50 per hour £1,250 £5,000 £60,000
£60 per hour £1,500 £6,000 £72,000
£70 per hour £1,750 £7,000 £84,000
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Starting your career in health & fitness

Our courses set the benchmark for industry training and ongoing support. If you’re ready to get started, so are we.

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Thinking about diving into an exciting career in fitness but not sure where to start?

Experience and qualifications matter for a Personal Trainer's salary

Level 2 Fitness Instructor Vs Level 3 Personal Trainer

As a fully qualified Level 3 Personal Trainer the earning potential is significantly higher than that of a Level 2 Fitness Instructor. This is due to the additional knowledge gained by a Personal Trainer when studying a Level 3 Personal Trainer course.

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Build your skillset & Achieve more

Level 2 Fitness Instructor Course is the stepping stone into the fitness industry. From this point, you can build on your skills and experience to progress in salary and charge a higher fee. Alternatively, you can go on to study a Level 3 Personal Trainer Course, which allows you to offer one-to-one sessions which open new earning opportunities. As a Level 3 Personal Trainer, you can then build on your skillset and knowledge by studying Continuous Personal Development (CPD) Courses.

As a highly experienced and qualified elite personal trainer you can earn up to £100/hour. It takes many years of experience and personal development to reach this level but a Level 4 Personal Training Course is a perfect launchpad to this high level of qualification and salary.

Location can boost or lower your salary or hourly rate

Your salary as a Personal Trainer will also vary based on your service area. According to Payscale, the average personal trainer salary in London is £25,000 – £35,000 a year, with hourly rates between £17-£62. Whereas in Nottingham a Personal Trainer earns an average of £17,554, and hourly rates are between £10-£25.

 

It is also essential to consider your expenses when it comes to your service area. In London, you may have higher expenses such as travel and living costs compared to Nottingham where your costs may not be as high.

Newly employed personal trainers

As a newly qualified personal trainer, your pay can be between £15K- £24K. To earn £24,000 per year you will need to work 25 hours a week at £20 per hour. To have 25 hours booked in a week, you need 12 -13 regular personal training clients who use your services twice a week.

Starting your Personal Training career in a gym offers more security and higher potential for clients than starting as a freelance Personal Trainer. In a gym, you will have a fixed salary and will build a client base on top of this.

For this reason. Personal Trainers who chose to work in a gym are offered lower pay than those working as freelance Personal trainers. However, this is a great way to start your career and work your way to freelance or even gym management.

Self-employed personal trainers

If you look to earn £60K every year, you need to be self-employed, charge £50 per hour and work 35 hours a week. This means having between 15 and 20 regular clients booking two sessions a week. Creating new relationships, being good at marketing and sales and reaching your clients’ goals will also help you achieve this pay.

 

You will also need to consider what is deducted from these figures to understand your take-home pay. For a freelance personal trainer, expenses can be high, they include insurance, property rental, cost of specialised courses, qualifications and income taxes.

Personal trainer helping women

Starting your career in health & fitness

Our courses set the benchmark for industry training and ongoing support. If you’re ready to get started, so are we.

Personal Branding

Elite personal trainers have the potential to work with high-profile clients such as premier league footballers, TV stars, actors, singers and F1 drivers. Personal trainers working with this level of the client have the potential to earn up to £100k per year.

Developing your knowledge across many aspects of fitness and health, business and marketing, branding, years of experience as a PT and networking is key to success. Some elite personal trainers earn outside this activity simply because they have accumulated a large audience on their social media channels. For example, some Instagram celebrities with millions of followers can charge up to £25,000 to sponsor a product. According to the BBC, once you get 30,000 followers you could be looking at £750 per post.

Specialisations

As a Personal Trainer, there are endless opportunities for Continuous Personal Development (CPD) which enables you to specialise in specific areas and raise your hourly rate to reflect a higher level of expertise and explore different career paths.

We have found that Kettlebellssports nutrition, lower back pain exercises, suspension equipment, treating GP referred clientspre-and post-natal exercises and weight loss management are the most required specialisms. These are part of the Level 4 Personal Training Diploma.

Digital marketing and sales

Being found online is a must for personal trainers as the web can bring extra clients and followers. While it’s hard to quantify exactly how much more you can earn with digital, it’s definitely a field worth exploring. Tailoring your services to an online audience is vital for the success of your career and there are now specific courses available to enable you to effectively and efficiently take your training online.

There are lots of potential clients looking for personal trainers on Google and social media every day, having a website allows trainers to present their work, portfolio and experiences to the wider public. On Google, every month there are 27,000 searches for personal trainers across the UK.

Not all personal training courses will teach you these skills so it is important to make sure you choose a course that will equip you with the skill set needed to launch a successful career. Future Fit Personal Training courses include business modules and ongoing business support as well as access to a Career Toolkit which contains valuable recourses to support you and your business.

 

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How much do PT's make?

Average Personal Trainer salary by employer

On average Personal Trainers annual salary is between £15K and £60K across the UK. All these following salaries are depending on location, experience and sessions per week.

Nuffield Health: £13K – £40K

Fitness First: £17K – £98K

David Lloyd: up to £30K+ OTE

Pure Gym: £16K – £75K

The Gym Group: £15K – £97K

Snap Fitness: £34K – £61K

Anytime Fitness: £18K – £41K

Source: Glassdoor.co.uk

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