Mamas, I have a quick insiders tip for you: if you teach fitness, you can take quiet showers away from your children’s fingers popping up under the door. If this selfish reason isn’t enticing enough, know that about 80% of the US does not exercise to meet the HHS guidelines for physical activity for adults just to maintain health, much less to lose weight or to improve function. So – the fitness industry truly needs you (and maybe you need it?)! As many of the gym goers, especially in the group fitness room, are mamas like yourself, you can be very marketable to a group fitness manager as people love to learn from and workout with someone who knows what they’ve been through (no offense to our younger, perkier Zumba instructors – gals, you keep doing you). I’ve been a certified fitness instructor and personal trainer for over 15 years and here’s why I’ll likely never quit. 
In full disclosure, before I get into the perks, I want to be really clear that what I am endorsing is not just watching YouTube or working out enough that you think you could teach others. I have been certified by a nationally accredited organization and have completed additional trainings as well to help me feel confident helping others to their health. While some of my comments may be in jest, I take my profession very seriously and encourage anyone interested in it to do the same by obtaining the proper training and certifications needed to lead the class(es) you’re interested in, but also helps with liability. I’m not a lawyer, but there are certainly legal issues involved if you are “out of scope” – which is outlined here.
My favorite things about being an instructor/trainer
Make Money, Save Money
Think it costs too much to be a member of a local gym, studio or multifunctional family space? Best way to avoid the fees, or at least some of them, is to teach/train there! Most places will offer membership upfront from the day you join their roster. You sometimes have to pay to add on your spouse and dependents, but that is often discounted as well. No more excuses mama – you can put your health first AND not have to pay for this. Now, if you do this the “right” way and get certified, YES, you’ll need to pay to be certified, and keep up with continuing education over time, as well as maintain liability insurance depending on where you teach/train – BUT, this has never been an expense I couldn’t also cover with the money I’ve made from teaching/training.
FREE/ Low-cost childcare while you’re there
No, you can’t just leave your kids at the gym while you go to Target (though that may be tempting), but while you are at the gym, teaching/training, working out yourself, or just taking a shower (we’ll get back to this), your kids can play in what is essentially a padded room. New-to-them toys, kids of all ages, and a young adult to supervise. You’re only a few steps away should you be needed, but you can zone out watching real grown-up TV (news, sports, or in my case HGTV), and they can run out some energy, make some friends and have fun. My kids LOVE when I tell them we are headed to the gym, as two of my three aren’t yet in school so it’s social time for them.
Missing a tribe? Get your fitness tribe (aka #FitFam)
Whether your tribe has disbanded because of your littles, jobs, or just grew apart, becoming an instructor/trainer is a way to create a tribe. Many participants and clients become your regulars and having this “fan club” can feel pretty special. Professionally, it is important to keep some boundaries, however, having people to motivate and encourage can have a really awesome positive effect on you, too. The idea that you get when you give is so true when it comes to helping others to fitness, as you get to hear their ups and downs, but really celebrating with them as they are successful is a rewarding part of the gig.
You *sort of* get paid to workout
I say this cautiously. As you get better at instructing, likely, you’ll do less of the workout and more coaching, observing and correcting form and less of the demonstrating and working out. That being said, there is not a single class or training session I ever conducted when I didn’t have to do some of it. So – yes, you’ll get to be paid to do some exercise. But, when you teach/train, you’re there for them, so this shouldn’t be in place of your normal workout. The nice thing is, once you’re in the gym, you’re more likely to do some more exercise for yourself – even if just a 10-minute walk on the treadmill. So it’s still a win!
You can take a peaceful shower
As mentioned above, showers. When I was first starting out in this business, I was in college and that was the least of my worries. I just used some deodorant, dry shampoo and went to class. But now that I have kids, teaching fitness means I can use the facility, including the locker rooms with personal showers with my name on them. I can feel fresh before collecting my kids and heading back to our home where the crazy begins again, and this really improves my overall mental health, too!
If this sounds appealing to you, here are a few tips to get you started:
- Consider where you’d want to teach. Each gym has their own way of getting started (requiring specific certifications, shadowing, etc.). If you know where you want to teach, you can determine what you need to do first. If you know someone that teaches, or you could ask your instructor some questions after class, you’ll get a sense of how they did it and what may work, too.
- Get trained. There are online and in-person trainings as well as local, regional and national conferences you could attend.
- Practice! Friends and family are easy “bait” for practicing what you learn. Stage fright is the hardest thing to get around if you don’t practice in front of real people.
- Try out/interview – and get to it!
Kind of like having kids, I don’t think anyone is ever really “ready” to start teaching or training. But at some point, you’ve got to feel comfortable just going for it. And if you do, consider the lives you could change, including your own, as you work toward fitness.
