Recently, the New York Times posted an expose article about working as a trainer at Equinox. The article highlights long hours, low pay, where the gym’s break room has bunk beds with “mattress pads so thin that some trainers joked they must have been salvaged from a prison.” Vice piggy-backed off the NYT piece with it’s own article called “Ah, So this is Why Trainers are Always Accosting You at the Gym.” As a personal trainer who was worked in a big box gym, I would like to share my point of view on both articles.
Personal training is a competitive industry. As a trainer at a big box gym you are essentially a contractor who is in charge of building their own client base. You have to know how to train, but you also have to know how to approach strangers comfortably, and how to persuade them to part with large sums of money. In my experience, no part of that is easy, especially in the beginning.
Long Hours
Regarding the New York Times article, most of the statements are true for any big box gym — as a trainer, your working schedule works around your clients’ work schedules. Meaning a potential schedule early session blocks, such as 5–8 am, a lunch session around noon or 1 pm, and then an evening block from 5–8 pm. You could potentially spend 5 am — 8 pm at the gym, with long free blocks of time in between. Generally speaking, the more experience and clients you have, the more you you can pick which hours you want to work without a large income sacrifice.
Being Approached During a Workout
Finding new clients is called “prospecting.” Prospecting is a sales term that is used in industries outside of personal training as well. While prospecting can come in the form of lead lists and cold calls or emails, the most effective way is through human interaction — for training that means meeting people at the gym. Personal Training is a hybrid job of actual training and sales. Some trainers excel more in interpersonal communication than others, which may account for feeling “accosted” during a workout.
But here’s a little secret: most people at the gym do not perform the basics correctly. I’m talking about things like squats and push-ups. It doesn’t get any better when it comes to barbell or kettlebell work. As a trainers, a big part of our job is to notice incorrect form and address it. Even if I’m not “prospecting” I try to follow the Homeland Security phrase, “if you see something, say something” — there are risks associated with exercising with poor form, and I’ve heard enough stories about people who are afraid to squat because they have hurt their low back from it before (a form issue).
The trainers I know are passionate about fitness. If a trainer offers you a form correction, it’s usually because we genuinely want to help. At best, your workout may not be optimized for what you need, at worst, you can be setting yourself up for injury.
From our perspective, it’s not always easy to go up to a strangers and try to help. Even though it’s well-intentioned, people can be rude or dismissive. I’ve been guilty of this myself as a gym member. The one recommendation I have is to at least listen to the advice — if you hear the same thing from enough different trainers, maybe it’s time to address it. For your health, not anyone else’s.
Final Thoughts
My intention is not to defend Equinox or say that there are no problems with the personal training industry. While I have not worked at Equinox personally, as far as big box gym goes, I think they do have measures in place that are an improvement over most other big box gyms. If there are only expose pieces about the personal training industry but no explanations of how the industry fundamentally works, then the public only has a distorted view of the system. Again, I do think there are serious systemic flaws, but it’s also an industry where you can get paid very well to do something you love.
In good health.
