How much you can earn as a Personal trainer

If you’re considering becoming a personal trainer then it’s only natural that you will be wondering how much you can earn and what you can do to maximise your future earning potential?

Most personal trainers are paid on a hourly basis for the services they provide. So, it’s relatively easy to calculate how much you can earn as a PT because all you need to do is multiply the number of sessions you plan to deliver in a week by you hourly rate.

For example, if you plan to deliver 10 sessions at £35.00 per hour, then that’s a nice and easy £350.00 per week. Of course, nothing is ever as straight forward as this in the real world because there will be other things to factor in. Even the best PT’s will get clients that just don’t show-up to sessions, or cancel at the last minute, so you’ll need to factor this in for sure.

Also, unless you are working in an employed capacity, which we will cover later in more detail, then you’ll perhaps also need to pay rent to the gym or facilities you’re using to train your clients. Clearly, this will reduce what you take home.

You’ll also need to consider other overheads, like insurance, professional membership to CIMSPA, travel costs and even things like ongoing training, professional development and software subscriptions.

If you’re planning to train clients online, then you’re probably much more likely to be using some form of software subscription.

Geography, Qualifications and Experience

Geography, qualifications and experience are typically the most important factors that influence how much a PT can earn.

For example, those in the south of the country tend to earn a little more than the rest of the UK, with London-based trainers charging the most for their services. It certainly isn’t uncommon for personal trainers in London to charge £50-60 per hour for their PT services.

Throughout the rest of the UK, trainers tend to charge an average of £35-40 per session, although this does vary quite a bit depending where they are working and the services that they provide. Remember, this is just an average.

Qualifications and experience are crucial in determining your future value, which is really what any trainer’s hourly rate should be based on.

If a PT is able to deliver better results for their client than other PT’s in the same area or gym, then clients will be much more willing to pay more for that service because there is more value attached to it.

Most newly qualified personal trainers know enough to get by with novice exercisers, or those looking for fairly standard goals, like weight loss, a bit of muscle gain, or training to complete a fitness event like a 10k.

However, for those that have more specialised goals, like a complete body transformation, or completing an ultra-endurance event like an Ironman for example, then these trainers will need to be equipped with much more knowledge and skills. This knowledge, skills and experience will eventually translate into more value for clients, which means the trainer can charge more for their service.

Self employed and Health club hybrid model

As we alluded to earlier, most PT’s work on a self-employed basis and will either pay rent to a club to use their facilities, or work a given number of hours per week as a fitness instructor, usually providing inductions and teaching classes, to pay for their rent. This can actually be a great way for personal trainers to market their 1-2-1 sessions whilst also getting some guaranteed income and experience.

Some health club operators have a hybrid model where trainers are paid a basic salary, then they get a supplement on top of their salary for delivering PT sessions to the members. Usually, these models are quite well structured and trainers are given fairly strict targets to hit in terms of the number of sessions that they must deliver each week.

Naturally, they need to find these clients and sessions from the existing membership base of the club. In these hybrid PT models, trainers will usually need to deliver around 5-10 sessions per week as a minimum, and 20-25 sessions plus per week to be on the top tier.

Apart from earning more because they are delivering more sessions, many operators also increase the hourly rate of their top tier trainers to incentivise them. They may also even reward them with other benefits, like prizes and awards. It’s not uncommon for top trainers on a hybrid model to earn £20.00 per hour on top of their basic salary.

So, if you’re earning a basic of £20,000 per annum and you’re delivering 20 sessions per week at 20 pound per session, then you’ll be earning over 40K.

Personal training does provide an opportunity for creative, passionate, and hard-working individuals to earn a great living doing something that they truly enjoy.

A good PT can earn around £40,000 per annum with relative ease. After all, this only equates to around 20 sessions per week at £40.00 per session, and this calculation also allows for 4-weeks holiday as well.

According to our survey data, around 65% of personal trainers working in the fitness industry are self-employed. For more information, why not read our guide on employed and self-employed opportunities in personal training?

Online personal training and group sessions

With more and more personal trainers splitting their time between the gym floor and online there are other ways to step away from just 1-2-1 coaching. There are plenty of trainers that deliver group sessions, either outdoors, on the gym floor, or in the studio.

It’s worth underlining the fact that most people don’t join the fitness profession for the money, so it’s probably best not to focus on this alone. Most people are attracted to personal training because it provides them with the perfect opportunity to help others, to contribute and to make a difference to the physical, mental, and even emotional health of their clients.

Hopefully this article has given you a better idea of how much you can realistically expect to earn as a personal trainer.

Remember, where you work, how hard you work, your qualifications, experience and location will all play a part.

Got any questions or want to get started on your journey straight away? Please don’t hesitate to connect with our career coaches today!