Turn on your television late at night and you can see the latest gimmicks, gadgets, and potions to help a person lose weight and get fit. The home fitness equipment business has exploded and expanded to a multi-million dollar a year industry. Yet, with society and the fitness industry moving into the technological age, it has not had an impact on the number of people living active lifestyles or exercising. No matter how high-tech everything gets, high-touch still seems to make the most difference in fitness. The International Health, Racquet, and Sports Club Association (IHRSA) discovered through their research the number one reason people stay with an exercise program is because someone else is there with them. Going deeper into the information, a person was nearly ten times more consistent when they had a personal trainer or a favorite group fitness instructor. For those of us already in the fitness field, this holds great promise. Likewise, career trends show that through 2012, careers in fitness will be growing much faster than the national average for other occupations. With this favorable trend and ever growing chronic disease statistics for heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, there has never a better time to enter a career in fitness as a personal trainer or group fitness instructor.
Starting a career in fitness has many advantages. The first clear advantage is the ability to have an enormous impact on peoples’ lives by helping them with positive lifestyle choices. Whether you are more interested in helping groups or working with individuals on a one on one basis, there is not a better feeling than inspiring people to achieve goals and change their lives. The second advantage is that it is a career that you can enter on your own terms. There are full-time opportunities, of course, but some choose to start as part-time second job or to fill some open hours that they have during days. The third advantage is that the field offers good salaries and wages. The salary range for occupations in fitness, on a national average, is $26,000 to $100,000. The average hourly wage range in Maryland is $20 to $75 per hour. The fourth, and sometimes the most important for many, is that it is a field that is fun, flexible, and has high job satisfaction. There are a growing number of individuals that are switching from their existing jobs in the business arena because they want a career that offers them more that just a 9-to-5 existence to satisfy a corporate bottom line.
If you are looking to start a career, or start down a new career path, you may want to consider what a job as a personal trainer or group fitness instructor has to offer. As the population is aging and health trends are deteriorating, there has never been a better time to enter a career where you can make such a huge difference on society…and while you are making that difference, it doesn’t hurt to have some fun along the way!
|
