In this article we will provide the latest information on how much personal trainers make with our latest statistics. We at The Fitness Group qualify thousands of students each year in the health and fitness industry.

We support thousands of students to study their Level 3 Personal Trainer Course, Level 2 Gym Instructor Course and the thousands of existing personal trainers in the market returning to education to gain new qualifications like Level 3 Pre and Post Natal or their Spin Instructor Course Qualification. 

People are paying more and more attention to their health and fitness, which makes it a great time to consider a career as a personal trainer. The market size of the personal training industry in the UK is £635.5 million, making up a significant portion of the £3.56 billion revenue of the fitness industry overall. 

Personal trainers can make money in many ways, including one-on-one coaching, group training sessions, passive income streams and more. But how much do personal trainers make on average? We reveal all in our detailed guide about how much personal trainers make. 

How much do personal trainers make?

The answer to ‘how much do personal trainers make’ varies. It can be dependent on factors such as their years of experience in the industry, or the qualifications they hold. However, the average personal trainer can expect to earn between £15,000 and £60,000 a year. 

Some other factors that can affect how much personal trainers make include:

• Whether they work for themselves or as part of a gym or leisure club.
• The number of hours a week worked. How much do personal trainers make will increase as you complete more sessions per week and per month, relative to your price per session.
• Location. For example a the average cost of a London Personal Trainer will be much higher than the average cost of a Glasgow personal trainer. This is due to higher costs of living in London compared to Glasgow. If you live in London and want to become a personal trainer with a in person course then you can attend a London Personal Trainer Course. 
• How Effective their Personal Trainer Marketing Strategies are to attract a steady stream of new clients.
• Overhead costs such as rent, equipment hire, marketing costs and admin costs like bookkeeping.

A Level 2 Gym Instructor will likely earn less than a qualified Level 3 Personal Trainer. There is no Level 1 personal trainer course qualification so you begin your qualifications at Level 2 Gym Instructor. The difference in job opportunities and earning potential between holding only a level 2 qualification Vs a Level 3 is vast.

To give you a clearer idea of the average personal trainer salary in the UK, the table below gives an idea of what you could make based on your hourly rate, over a 30-hour working week:

Please note, that this is a pre-tax income, and your take-home pay will be subject to income tax and National Insurance payments. This shows you that if you run 30 session per week and charge £40 that you can bring in a annual income of over £57,000 – making it a very lucrative self employed idea.

30 sessions a week would probably equate to about 15 clients, some taking one per week, some taking three sessions per week and the majority averaging at two per week.

How much does a personal trainer make is therefore subjective to different factors and the figure will change dependent on levels of demand and client retention.

Working for yourself versus working for someone else

Personal trainers have different ways of working, and this flexibility allows PTs to manage work around their home life and other commitments. Some people choose to work for themselves, while others may prefer to work for an established business.

When you work for someone else, you’re likely to work for an agreed hourly rate, that may include bonuses and other financial incentives. Working for someone else means no overheads or business expenses to pay, which may be better suited to your lifestyle and work preferences.

When you work for yourself, however, you will be able to keep everything you earn. While you will have expenses and bills to pay, you will also have the benefits that come with your own business, and have better opportunities to grow your business. 

How much do personal trainers charge their clients?

The table above gives you an indication as to how much personal trainers charge their clients. Some new personal trainers will start at towards the lower end of  of the scale, charging around £30 – £40 per an hour for their services.

However, this a personal trainer salary and the revenue gained in a personal trainers business will vary depending on location too. For example the lower end of your local competitive landscape in London city centre will vary Vs the North East of England.

More experienced personal trainers usually opt to increase their prices and charge as much as £50 or £60 an hour for their services on average.  As a personal trainer successfully grows their business they can continue to increase this cost, thus increasing their personal trainer salary.

Read more about how much a personal trainer costs to help give you a clearer indication of what you can charge your PT clients. Remember to review your fees as your business grows – it’s important to charge a fee that’s reflective of your experience and expertise. 

How effectively you can showcase your client results will be a crucial factor in your business success. By marketing the success of your services correctly this will lead to an increase in demand, allowing you to charge more per session.

How to increase your personal trainer salary

As you can see, there are a lot of things that can affect your salary as a personal trainer. While your experience and qualifications can help determine what you earn, there are other ways you can increase your personal trainer salary 

Provide additional services to increase your personal trainer salary

Personal trainers can add to their salary by offering additional complementary services to one to tone personal training sessions. These services can include:

• Nutrition plans
• Group personal training sessions
• Online coaching
• Massage and complementary therapies, like studying our Level 3 Sports Massage Course and then progressing to also study our Level 4 Sports Massage Course.

Providing these additional services can help you extend your personal training offering, allowing you to increase your earnings as a personal trainer. With group personal training sessions you can charge slightly less per person, therefore lowering the barrier to commit for people but by having multiple people your personal trainer salary for that hour will increased.

This is just one way to increase your personal trainer salary which can also increase your business services.

Gain additional qualifications to increase your personal trainer salary

As with many professions, additional qualifications can help you earn a higher personal trainer salary. Completing additional accredited courses can help you learn skills and knowledge that can help you provide services to different types of clients. 

While you may have started your personal training career with a Personal Trainer Course qualification, you can advance your own training with a Level 4 Personal Training Course.

Other courses you may wish to complete include Pre & Post Natal, Kettlebells and Indoor Cycling Instructor. These will help you add a wide range of services to your portfolio to help you cater to a range of client needs.   

Create a passive income stream

How much do personal trainers make can be increased from indirected income streams too.

Most personal trainers earn their money through face-to-face client services, but adding a passive income stream to your services could help you increase your salary significantly. Passive income streams help you earn money consistently, without much active work. For personal trainers, passive income streams can include: 

• Pre-made workout plans
• Pre-recorded online classes
• Subscription services 
• Create your own eBook
• Affiliate programmes

With passive income streams, you could maintain a consistent income alongside your personal training services. This can help you safeguard your business and provide some security should something impact your main source of income.

Improve your marketing will improve your personal trainer salary

A solid marketing strategy can help you promote your business and drive up your earnings. Marketing is a very important element of running your PT business, helping to set you apart from the competition. 

While it’s important to maintain effective relationships with your current clients, you should seek out ways to promote your services to new clients to help you maintain a consistent client base. 

Build a strong website

Your website is one of the most important elements of running your personal training business. Your website will give you the opportunity to highlight your services and show off what makes you unique.

Focus on building a website that’s attractive, easy to use and works effectively on mobile devices. SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) can help you ensure your website appears in search engine results, especially for local results for people searching for your services.

Focus on the local market

Locally-targeted marketing can help you promote your services in the right places. Establishing a Google Business Profile is a great place to start, helping people discover you in searches, as well as being able to find you on the map, and read reviews from your existing clients.

A targeted ad strategy can also help you boost your business with some extra promotion – helping you advertise your services within your local area effectively and affordably.

Create a social media strategy

Working as a personal trainer puts you in the fortunate position of being able to post content across each of the most popular social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and LinkedIn.

A social media strategy is essential for making the most of the promotion opportunities that social media offers, and can help you maintain a consistent and engaging presence online. Getting started is easy:

1. Set yourself some goals.
2. Decide on the type of content you want to publish on each platform.
3. Spend time creating quality content.
4. Schedule your content in advance to help you save time. 
5. Engage with your followers – remember that social media should be a two-way conversation.
6. Monitor your performance to help you establish what works and which areas you need to improve.

Get creative with your content

As a personal trainer, you’ve got a lot of incredible opportunities to create content for your channels. From educational and informative content to fun videos and images that will entertain your followers, you can use your niche to create some unique and memorable content. 

Take some time to research the type of content your followers will enjoy. You can also take advantage of social media trends to help you create content that’s relevant and exciting. 

Share your clients’ content

Building a following on social media, especially a local following, can take some time. But one way to help earn some positive word of mouth is to tag your clients in your posts, and share the posts they make about you. This is a great way to promote your business and help you develop a client base within your community. 

Introduce special offers and promotions

When you work for yourself, business can fluctuate. However, special offers and promotions can help you drum up some extra business when you need it. Some introductory offers can help you onboard some new clients, while bundle deals and monthly packages can help you boost your regular income. 

Create a referral programme

A simple way to boost your client base is to create a referral programme. A referral programme can be a fantastic way to reward your existing clients and encourage them to promote your services to their friends and family. You can reward them with discounts on their sessions, or even free sessions in exchange for referrals. 

Work with local employers

Many workplaces use the services of personal trainers to help promote health and wellbeing in the workplace. You could provide group training sessions to local employers and help their employees get fit. Promote your services to local businesses and highlight the benefits these classes could have for their employees.

Create a blog for your website

If you’re passionate about health and fitness, why not channel your enthusiasm into creating a blog for your website? A blog is a useful tool for highlighting your expertise, sharing your ideas and promoting your services. But it’s also a simple way to boost your SEO and help drive search engine users your way. 

Start thinking of some blog ideas and start posting content that will make your website a credible source for health and fitness information, and could even help you command a higher rate per hour for your personal training services.

Consider some offline marketing

There are a lot of suitable digital marketing ideas for personal trainers, but don’t forget to use some offline marketing methods too. Your offline marketing methods could help you find clients in some unexpected places, and ensure you’re covering different areas of the market. 

Some effective offline marketing methods to consider include:

• Flyers
• Workshops and seminars
• Partnerships and sponsorships with other local businesses
• Direct mail marketing

While these methods might not all be right for you, it’s worth exploring some different ideas to see which ones are the most effective for your business.

How Much do Personal Trainers Make after Completing a Personal Training Qualification with The Fitness Group

As you can see, understanding how much do personal trainers make isn’t exactly clean-cut. While there is an average personal trainer salary, the amount you can earn as a personal trainer can vary greatly.

The more experienced you are as a personal trainer, the more you could find yourself earning each month. You can also take advantage of different ways to increase your earnings, such as passive income streams, promotions and a strong marketing strategy. 

At The Fitness Group, we’re here to help you reach your full potential as a personal trainer. We are the UK’s leading provider of personal trainer courses that can help you grow your career, earn more and increase your personal trainer salary.

Learn more about The Fitness Group – download our prospectus or contact us for more information on our personal training courses.