Pros and Cons of Being a Group Fitness Instructor & Weekly Workouts

Hey there! Are you a group fitness instructor or interested in becoming one? Or maybe you’re just curious about what it’s like. If so, keep on reading! This post is about the HONEST pros and cons of being a group fitness instructor.

PROS:

• Free memberships/classes - As an employee of a gym/studio, you’ll most likely get a free or highly discounted membership! In my opinion, this is one of the best benefits of teaching. I teach classes at a place that offers CrossFit, HIIT, Barre, Barbell, Kickboxing, and Bootcamp classes. I get to take all of those classes for free, which is a huge saving! This gym also has a partnership with several local studios, so I get free access to indoor cycling and yoga classes as well. I can switch up my fitness routine as often as I want and never get bored with it. I also teach at a gym that has a sauna and steam room that I use every single week!

 

• Discounts on apparel - Many fitness apparel companies offer discounts to certified fitness professionals. Lululemon, Reebok, and prAna are just a few. You’ll be going through your activewear quickly as an instructor, so being able to stock up at a discounted rate is great! Check out the full list here for more details on the companies who participate and what discounts they offer.

 

• Building new relationships - As a group fitness instructor, you’re always around people, which means you’re able to form lots of new relationships. Clients will chat with you after class, you’ll get to know your fellow gym/studio staff, and you’ll likely connect with other members of the community as well. Many people find it difficult to make friends as an adult. But as a group fitness instructor, you’re in an awesome position to do so! In just a few months I’ve already made some great connections with my clients and coworkers.

 

• Increased confidence - Getting up and teaching to a group of strangers for an hour can be nerve-wracking. It’s also super rewarding! Being an instructor has increased my confidence, which has spilled over into my day job as an engineer. I’m much more comfortable with public speaking and being in uncomfortable situations now. As a natural introvert, I’ve also started to come out of my shell a lot more. 

 

• Pick your own schedule - You have the power to decide what days and times you want to teach. Starting out, you’ll likely be offered less-than-ideal class times. It’s totally up to you whether you accept them, though. Depending on where you live and what format you teach, group fitness instructors could be in very high demand. Find a place that will give you a class time you’re okay with teaching!

 

• Sense of fulfillment - Being an instructor is such a fulfilling job. When my clients let me know how much they enjoyed the class, it’s so rewarding! I’m passionate about fitness and I know how good it feels finishing a great class. So, I love when I can give that feeling to my clients. Sometimes your class will be the highlight of a client’s day - some may even look forward to it all week. Don’t take your role as an instructor lightly! Being able to provide my clients a fun, effective, and safe workout brings me so much joy and reminds me of why I started teaching in the first place.​

CONS:

• No PTO - For the most part, group fitness instructors aren’t given any paid time off. If you can’t teach a class, you miss out on the pay you would’ve gotten. (There are exceptions; SoulCycle instructors get benefits and PTO). Plus, if you’re going to be missing a class due to a vacation or planned break, you’ll need to find a sub for your class. Most gyms hate canceling classes. So, it’s up to you to find someone who can cover!

 

• Teaching when you don’t feel like it - No matter how much you love group fitness, no one looks forward to teaching every single class they teach. Inevitably, you’ll have days where you just don’t feel like teaching. Maybe you’re tired, maybe you’re dealing with a personal situation, or maybe you’re just really busy... But you still have to show up and teach! Your clients are depending on it. Sometimes, you just have to push through the feeling of not wanting to teach and get it done. With my day job, I can always take a personal day if I don’t feel like coming in. That’s not the case when you’re a group fitness instructor. One thing’s for sure, though, that feeling goes away as soon as I start teaching. I always feel refreshed after I finish teaching a class.

 

• Always having to be “on” - Every instructor has a different personality and teaching style. Every instructor needs to be welcoming and outgoing enough that clients want to come back, though. Any good instructor will know not to let on when something is bothering her/him. For the hour you’re teaching, you have to focus on delivering an awesome class. It doesn’t matter what else you have going on! Sometimes you won’t feel like being around people. But as soon as you step into the gym/studio you have to fake it ‘til you make it. I’ve heard stories of instructors who cried in the car on the way to the studio and taught a class immediately after - their clients never knew any better!

 

• Exhausting - Being a fitness professional can be physically, mentally, and emotionally draining. Depending on your format, teaching multiple classes a week can take a toll on your body. It can even cause you to neglect your own workouts due to fatigue. I only teach part-time, but even teaching 5 classes in one week was a lot for me. I can’t imagine how tiring it must be for people who make a living from teaching, which can mean up to 30+ classes a week! Being outgoing 100% of the time you’re with clients and putting all your focus into delivering excellent classes can be mentally exhausting. Fitness professionals also have to have thick skin. Not everyone is going to like you or your class, and some people can be downright mean in the reviews they leave online. Even if your clients are amazing, like mine, you’ll occasionally have that one Negative Nancy who looks for things to be upset about. Emotionally, it can be hard to put yourself out there and not be well received.

All in all, I think the pros far outweigh the cons when it comes to being a group fitness instructor. While making extra money is awesome, my biggest reasons for teaching aren’t financial. Yes, making $45 for a 50 minute class sounds great. But when you factor in the time it takes to prepare for class, arriving early to greet clients, and staying after to chat with them, the hourly rate goes down. If you’re in it for the money, you’ll probably find yourself disappointed! 

My day job pays the bills and my fitness jobs provide some extra income, but the best thing about teaching is how fulfilling it is on so many levels. Preparing my choreography and playlists takes me a lot less time than when I first started teaching. But even when it took forever, it was something I enjoyed doing. I don’t teach any pre-choreographed formats - all my choreography and playlists are 100% original. Teaching gives me an opportunity to express myself creatively. It’s also really honed my public speaking skills, increased my confidence, and contribute to my ability to network. Most of all, the feeling I get when I have a room full of people who got an awesome workout is unmatched.

Post-workout glow!

Check out my workouts from last week:

Monday
Rest day

Tuesday
Taught barre class
Barbell class

• Front squats, dumbbell lunges, banded good mornings

Wednesday
Taught PiYo class
Solo workout

• Hip abductor, banded donkey kicks, banded fire hydrants, kettlebell deadlifts, kettlebell squats

Thursday
Taught barre class
Solo workout

• Activation - banded hip abduction on each leg, banded squats, banded glute bridges
• Building - barbell hip thrusts, Romanian deadlifts, split squats, pop squats

Friday
CrossFit

• Dumbbell glute bridges on medicine ball, dumbbell bench press on medicine ball, toes-to-bar, barbell complex (high hang snatch + hang snatch + power snatch), sprints

Saturday
Taught barre class
HIIT class

• Schwinn bike, hanging knee raises, medicine ball slams, sprints, rowing, kettlebell romanian deadlifts, line hops, mountain climbers, planks, goblet squats

Sunday
CrossFit

• Worked on muscle-ups on rings, box jumps, dumbbell snatches

Do you want to know anything else about being a group fitness instructor? If you teach group fitness, what’s your favorite and least favorite part? If you’ve tried group fitness before, how did you like it?

Let me know in the comments!