A Fair Wage?
Instructors: “Show me the money!”
by Mark Grevelding

Money. It’s a topic most presenters avoid like the plague in workshops and certifications. For years the mantra has been “you do it for passion, not for money.” As a new generation of instructors prepares to take over, they seem more emboldened than ever to put a price on passion.

In the beginning, we were known as aerobic instructors, a species composed mostly of housewives inspired by Jane Fonda and Jazzercise. Our ancestors often bartered their services in exchange for club privileges, and a few of the shrewd ones actually got paid.

Just about everything has changed since then except the pay. Some “Non-certification aerobi-saurasas” still roam the nation’s pools and aerobic rooms, but their breed is becoming extinct. The multi-certified group fitness instructors and are taking over, and they are declaring war on wages.

Clearly, we know that we will never get rich teaching aquatic classes and indeed we do it because we love it, but let’s seriously think about this for a minute. We drive across town during rush-hour traffic to teach for one hour. During that hour, we educate, motivate, and captivate our students. In doing so, we cavort around on a stifling hot deck until we are perilously close to organ failure.

At the end of the hour we take our bows and then limp back to our cars for the drive home. After punishing our bodies and investing hour and a half of our time, it’s painful to realize the average retail clerk would have made about the same amount of money in that time.

What is a fair price? Few can argue that most instructors are under-paid, but what should the pay scale be based on? Instructors looking to increase their pay should be aware of the factors that increase their worth in the eyes of club owners and aquatic directors.

Traits that pay.

At Lifetime Fitness, a national chain of health clubs, instructors are given a “raise chart” upon hire and they are made fully aware of the factors that will merit an increase in pay, says Jayme Zylstra, National Group Fitness Director for Life Time Fitness.

Number one on this raise chart is not how long they have been teaching, but rather “are they changing with the times or are they a dinosaur?”

Also high up on the raise chart for Life Time are the following:

Number of certifications.

Number of formats the instructor can teach.

Are they a team player or a diva? (attend meetings?)

Feedback from members (class numbers.)

Instructors at Life Time make between $17.00 and $30.00 per class, and the issue of pay is very “black and white,” says Zylstra. “If you want a raise, then you have to fill all of the obligations as written in that pay level.”

While most of the directors and owners interviewed for this article agreed on the above traits as key factors that influence pay, Alice Monsaert, Corporate Fitness Director for Shapes Family Fitness in Florida, singled out an entirely different trait. “An instructor that has all the certifications in the world and no enthusiasm won’t bring people into the club and generate business,” says Monsaert.

She equates teaching to performing by saying, “Why aren’t most people disciplined to exercise on their own? Because it isn’t as much fun as coming to class with an enthusiastic instructor.”

In this scenario, top performance deserves top pay. Instructors at Shapes Fitness Centers in Florida make between $12.00 and $15.00 per class, according to Monsaert. (Ouch! Sounds like those enthusiastic performers need to form a union!)

Negotiating A Raise.

When asked what tips they could offer an instructor when negotiating a raise, all those interviewed agreed on one thing – BE PREPARED! Being prepared means having all of your certifications, credentials, class numbers, ect., organized and ready to show. I recently went through the negotiating phase myself at a club that is notorious for low pay and miniscule raises.

I put together a virtual public relations package including all my certifications, written articles, future endeavors, and a nice article that was written up in the local newspaper regarding my aquatic kickboxing class at this particular club. The package was powerful, but would not have gone through without the support and glowing praise of my group fitness director.

Recruiting the help of your director to present the case to higher levels of management is something that Carol Halprin, AEA Advisory board member and CEC provider, strongly suggests. “ I have found that you can approach a middle management person successfully by suggesting that you know they would like to pay you better, but you understand the decision must come from higher up,” says Halprin.

Another point brought up, was the need to schedule an appointment to discuss your raise. “Definitely do not approach your manager if they are having a stressful day. If they are always busy and harried, ask to make an appointment with them,” says Joanne Maybeck, a fitness instructor and personal trainer in New York City.

Maybeck is no stranger to negotiating pay raises in the competitive NYC market. She makes $50 per 45 minute class at a non-profit senior center, and $60 per 60 minute class at other local pools. Her negotiating secret?

“Ask for a higher amount than you think you can get. That gives your manager an opportunity to make a slightly lower counter-offer that you can accept. Then, everybody’s happy!” Joanne Maybeck, NYC fitness instructor and personal trainer

Negotiating a raise. What not to do.

Almost everyone can agree that you should not get emotional when asking for a raise. “We are trying to get a raise because of our professionalism; we need to act like professionals,” says Carol Halprin. She was an attorney in New York City for 20 years and says, “Fitness directors are similar to juries and judges in that they are not persuaded by screaming, crying, or nasty arguing.”

Some instructors take their emotions to the extreme. Jayme Zylstra says she has had instructors start petitions and take them to the class, in an effort to persuade her of their value. “That just proved to me how much they were in it for themselves and not for the company,” says Zylstra.

Cindy Patterson, a 22-year veteran of the fitness industry and an AEA presenter, says instructors should never attempt to lobby their classes or threaten to leave if they are not given a raise. “Everyone can be replaced, no matter how good that person thinks they are,” says Patterson.

Often, instructors negotiate for higher pay by saying another club has offered them more money. Instituting this kind of threat is risky and can set in motion a chain of events that can permanently damage professional credibility and trust. “Document your worth, rather than ‘pit’ one employer against another,” suggests Alice Monsaert.

While threatening to leave is a risky strategy, you should have a plan in place for an unsuccessful negotiation. “Know what you will do if you do not get the raise before you ask for it,” says Carol Halprin. In my particular case, I never threatened to leave, but I made it very clear that I would not be picking up future classes or clients at the current pay rate.

Knowing when to leave.

For some instructors, leaving may be the only recourse. I recall working at a club where I felt completely unappreciated because of management’s total disregard of fair compensation. Mind you, this was a club that spent a fortune on machines, advertising, and promotions, but completely neglected the contribution that the staff made to their members.

Eventually, my performance in class suffered because of my ill will towards management, and I made the decision to leave. Our classes should never suffer because of our own unhappiness. Since leaving, I’ve heard that the club is recruiting class participants and paying them $10 an hour to “teach.” The sad truth is that management will always find someone to work for their price, regardless of the impact on members.

“As long as this is an industry that is highly gendered, depending on the ‘part-time’ work of women, we WILL be exploited. It isn’t fair, but it is the way it is. Men own most of the clubs and they employ women as instructors who are often wives and mothers, who in return settle for low wages in exchange for club membership or child care. They are exploited because they allow themselves to be exploited. Why do you think there aren’t more men working as fitness instructors?” Cindy Patterson, AEA presenter, and 22-year veteran of the fitness industry.

A New Generation.

The majority of fitness instructors continue to be women in search of part-time work, but that is changing. Consistent with trends on land, aquatic departments are bringing group cycling, kickboxing, healing arts and personal training into the pool, and these new formats are bringing more men into the aquatic profession. Whether right or wrong, this is bound to make an impression on wages. Typically, males are more apt to demand higher pay, and you can bet their female counterparts will follow suit and demand equal treatment.

Whether male or female, a new era is emerging for all instructors. The line between personal training and group fitness is blurring due to the advent of group personal training. I get paid two to three times as much for my group personal training sessions as I do classes, even though the material taught is often identical.

Many instructors are now crossing over into personal training and embarking on full-time careers in the fitness industry. Inevitably, they will question why they are paid more for training ONE person as opposed to teaching 20? As they head to greener pastures, the available pool of qualified instructors will shrink, meaning clubs will have to compete for available instructors.

No doubt, this is already happening. I am constantly bombarded with requests from fitness directors for instructor referrals. When pressed for referrals, one of the first questions I ask is how much they pay? Despite the fact that my friends and peers have a “passion” for teaching, I will not compromise their worth by referring them for anything less than a fair and competitive price.

Indeed, passion does have a price. The days of cheap labor are coming to an end, but instructors looking for bigger paychecks will need to do their homework and prove their worth.

Mark Grevelding is a free-lance writer and full time fitness professional living in Rochester, New York. As a personal trainer and group exercise instructor, he is certified through AEA, AFAA, and FITOUR. He may be contacted via e-mail at markgrev@aol.com, or by phone: (716) 865-2609, or by mail; Mark Grevelding, 234 Milford St. #9, Rochester, NY. 14615.

Copyright and permission granted by Mark Grevelding, 2001.