Working for Free in the Fitness Industry

Hi. I’ve been in the Fitness Industry for close to 6 years now. I’ve been at my current gym for a little bit, and have found that I’m the source of knowledge for new trainers coming on after me.

This makes me both happy and uncomfortable.

I’ve become outspoken over the past 3 years and thankfully I’ve landed myself in a place that accepts that. There was a period when I spent my waking hours devoted to my clients’ successes and completely forgot my own. And when I decided to pay more attention to myself, my business suffered. This was partially because of the expectations I set, and the schedule demanded by my previous gym.

I told myself that I would never put anyone else’s well-being over my own in a professional manner. But this is hard, especially when you have real love and passion for what you do.

I have people coming up to me now, asking how full their schedules should be — how busy should they be? They look at me as the role model. I look at my schedule and wonder, am I a role model?

Maybe not in the scheduling sense, but in the payment sense — yes.

Be paid for every hour that you work. Being paid fairly, and asking for it, does not make you a mooch, or ungrateful. So many of us work for free because we feel like it’s “part of the job.”

It’s not. You do not need to work for free. In fact, you shouldn’t. That is slavery.

Find clear lines of what you are and are not paid for. If you get paid per session and the hours spent programming are part of that — KNOW that. If you get paid to meet with someone but the follow up hours aren’t paid for — KNOW that.

Skills in helping other people are often taken advantage of.

You are important. You are skilled. Don’t work for free.