FitSW Blog

Personal training costs can be a bit of a battle when getting started with your fitness business. When getting started, you will have to pay your way through education and purchase all the essential items you will need to cater to the clients you want to help. The costs for equipment will depend on how you focus your training. Another thing to consider is where you will be conducting your training. These days, many people are going virtual, so you will have to pay for a method for reaching clients online.

The aforementioned points are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to all things considered for personal training costs. Therefore, we are going to break down the costs you should expect starting from the certifications you receive to the delivery method of your training experience. We will even go over how much you should cost as a personal trainer.

Certifications

As a personal trainer, you have many different options for certifications. Getting certified will be the largest of your personal training costs. Some certifications are specific to certain training styles. An example of a specified certification is from the National Strength and Conditioning Association. No need to guess what that certification specializes in. Nonetheless, these options vary depending on where you are located as well. Here is a quick overview of pricing for the top three certifications for the United States, the U.K., and Canada.

United States

Many certifications based out of the United States are internationally recognized. Therefore, the following certifications apply to the following countries. However, different governing bodies set standards for fitness instructors all over the world. Also, these certifications are all available for financing over time so that you can get certified without breaking the bank all at once.

American Council on Exercise (ACE) – Right now, the three pricing options for becoming certified as a personal trainer through ACE are all 50% off. Usually, the full package is $1,499 and the smallest package is $849. The resources you want to purchase to prepare for the exam and to refer back to throughout your career determine the price package. ACE requires that you recertify by taking an assessment for your knowledge and taking continued education classes.

National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) – This certification is slightly cheaper where the minimum package is priced at $799 and the highest package with the most resources is priced at $1319. There is a much bigger difference in the tiers in terms of the resources you purchase. With a NASM certification, you are much better off to put the money down for the full package to have long-term support and resources. With this package you also are recertified for life, so you do not have to continuously repay. You just have to maintain your education.

International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA) – This organization offers certifications for personal trainers at the basic level and up to earning the label of Master Trainer. The basic package to certify as a personal trainer is priced at $1,598. The master trainer package is priced at $4,794. These packages include certifications in personal training and nutrition and additional courses for extended learning.

United Kingdom

The UK is a bit different in structure for deploying certifications. They have schools with courses that are certified by the governing bodies like CIMPSA, Active IQ, Reps, and YMCA. Many trainers in the U.K. are also certified through NASM and ISSA. Personal trainers learn in levels to build upon knowledge and certification for different levels of fitness instruction.

PT Academy – £2000 is the most you would pay for a single course. This school actually offers bundles of courses to save money and ensure a comprehensive learning experience. Right now, they have their courses on sale for up to 70% off.

Study Active – This is one of the cheapest options for personal training schools in the U.K. and they are certified by Active IQ, CIMPSA, and Reps. The most expensive Level 3 course is £1,248.

Origym – This personal training school is a partner of FitSW and offers comprehensive courses from Level 2 up 4. They have three tiers of course packages with the Elite level being their highest and priced at £2,699. The lowest-priced is the Gold Diploma at £999.

Canada

Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP) – With this certification, you would be looking at spending about $1,215 (CAD) on the high end. The price varies by how many extracurricular sessions you attend for extra test prep.

Canadian Fitness Education Services (CFES) – Certification through this national fitness organization is around $200 (CAD). With this program, you have to learn through tiers. Initially, it will cost around $126 to get your weight training certification. After that, you have to pay an additional $73 to become a fully certified personal trainer.

Canadian Fitness Professionals (Canfitpro) – The prices for this certification depend on the timing of your enrollment. If you enroll in a course three weeks before the date of the class then, you will get the early bird prices. Membership with Canfitpro also affects their prices for getting certified. For non-members, it costs $647 for the full certification package, and for members, it costs $519.

Equipment

No matter how you want to reach your clients, you should have a set of equipment that you can take anywhere with you. Equipment does not have to be ridiculously pricey especially because your clients might benefit from purchasing their own equipment. Now, if you are becoming a trainer in a health club, then this does not apply to you!

Health Equipment

First, you will need some equipment to track and monitor your clients’ metrics. This could be to track their body composition progress or to make sure that your clients are in the right condition to complete workouts.

You should have a blood pressure kit and stethoscope to monitor clients who may have health conditions that make strenuous exercises a bit dangerous. This kit should cost anywhere between $20-$30. They have cheaper kits, however, you want to ensure that your equipment is reliable.

Additionally, for clients with lung conditions, it would be beneficial to carry a pulse oximeter to monitor their oxygen levels and heart rate. This will cost around $20 to $25.

Metrics are extremely important to track for the client and the trainer. Calipers are a vital tool for trainers to track BMI wherever they are. Digital calipers can cost between $10 and $25.

Exercise Equipment

A ton of different options exist for getting started with purchasing equipment, but these are the ol’ reliable. I will only include pictures of the items that you should specifically watch out for. No need to hurt your intelligence because I’m sure you know what a yoga mat or a foam roller is.

Carry around a couple of yoga mats for you and your clients to use. A decent mat will cost you around $20. Floor exercises without them are extremely uncomfortable! It would be a shame if your client forgot theirs and you had to adjust the whole workout.

Suspension training ropes are an important piece of versatile equipment to have with you as well for bodyweight workouts anywhere you go. An average lower-end kit ranges in price from $50 t0 $80. Make sure to purchase a kit with multiple anchoring methods. You do not want to limit where you can suspend them.

Resistance bands are another good item to have and can be relatively cheap with prices ranging from $8 to $10 for a starter kit.

Foam rollers are great to have with you for those cooldowns post-session. Foam rollers come in all different shapes, but a decent one to start with will cost you around $25.

Don’t forget the classic cardio machine – jump ropes. Jump ropes provide a great workout and are one of the essentials for any trainer. You can get a digital jump rope that tracks metrics like speed for you for $15 and under.

Cones and agility ladders are a great purchase for any workout cardio, speed, and agility related. You can find these in a kit for around $20

The last piece of recommended equipment is a plyometric box. This will probably be the priciest piece of equipment ranging from $80 to $140 depending on your preference of foam, wood, metal, and other features. They all do the same thing and have similar sizing. Just make sure the one you purchase will not collapse on you or your clients!

Software and tools necessary

Your personal training costs for this sector break down into some pretty simple segments. Think about the tools that you want to employ to help your marketing and your managing.

Marketing

For marketing, you have lots of options. To start, word of mouth is your best bet but focus on developing your brand. Brand awareness is extremely important and facilitates client acquisition. In a previous article on branding, you will find some information for creating branded gear that you can sell or give to clients.

Social media is a free form of marketing! Have your friends and family share about your training services on social media and keep yours updated as well.

Although you can share about your business for free, you can also run paid advertisements for as little as $5 a day on Facebook. This will run ads specific to your target audience outside of the followers you already have.

To make sure your investment is worthwhile, you need to be strategic with your audience and the composition of your ad. You can build a very specific audience for retargeting ads with data from your webpage.

Set up a webpage! You can do this for free through many sites or you can use the FitSW platform. For as little as $20 a month you can host a website, manage your clients, track their progress, and much more. We can get more into that in a bit.

Mailchimp is a tool that you can use for free to get the ball rolling on a regular newsletter for your clients and prospective clients.

Managing

Tools for client management improve your efficiency and can allow you to spend more time helping a larger number of clients achieve their goals. Thus your revenue will grow exponentially with small monthly personal training costs to client management software.

FitSW is an example of software that automates every step of the process from onboarding clients to delivering workouts, nutrition plans, and multi-day programs. You can even host live classes to meet with clients remotely.

Clients can find you as an online trainer through the sister site FindTrainGain and sign up for your services there. This is also another form of marketing that comes with the $20 per month cost.

At this price package, you can manage up to 15 clients. These clients can purchase packages, subscriptions, sessions, and make on-time payments to you all through the app. In the best-case scenario, all of these clients meet with you three times a week for an hour or less at around $60 per session. This puts you at around $9,700 per month… $2o is a cheap price to pay for that kind of power. This does not include the sales you make for assigning and guiding nutrition plans, programs, and workouts to do at home.

Setting your rates

Setting your rates depends on how many clients you believe you can onboard initially and the competition around you. Factor in the amount of time you will spend on each session and how many sessions you fit in a day.

People will usually search what average personal training costs are and they will find information for the national average. The national average is between $60 and $70 for one hour sessions.

However, location also determines what you should charge. A personal trainer in Los Angeles will cost much more than a personal trainer in Colorado Springs. the demand for trainers there is much higher and much more valued.

Your competition will be the best indicator of how to set your rates.

Overall

As a trainer, you probably won’t need a place of business, and you won’t need to purchase a business license either. Perks of succeeding in personal training are that personal training costs for running the business are relatively low.

Compare this to any other type of business and you have to worry about much more than just some equipment and a couple of software subscriptions.

As an individual, you also have full control over your business model and where you do business. You can travel to people’s homes, deliver online coaching, and never travel anywhere for work. Even better, you meet up with your customers at your home or a public park.

Often, trainers form relationships with people who own gyms and book set times to use the gym to meet with clients. Relationships you form as a personal trainer have lots of value. Relationships you form can save you a lot of money and make you a lot of money in the long run

With all of the aforementioned costs in mind, good luck and get training!

A little bit ago we announced that we would be doing a review of men’s athletic wear by a Brand based out of California called Born Tough. But we lied. We are also doing a review of some of their women’s athletic wear as well. The review will be done by Claire, a digital marketer for FitSW and chronic clothing reviewer.

Being that FitSW is a fitness software, we only thought it was appropriate to dream up a rigorous test to put the hoodie through. As many of us on the FitSW team spend our off time powerlifting, trail running, and hiking, we figured this wouldn’t be too hard.

The Article of Clothing

The piece of men’s athletic wear that we did the review on was the men’s Momentum Track Suite Hoodie in all black.

Right off the bat you can tell the hoodie looks like it’s pretty good quality from the image. But one of the biggest things that go me immediately before ever putting the hoodie through the works was the price. With hoodie prices getting ridiculous nowadays, it was nice to see what looked like a really nice hoodie for an actually affordable price.

The Test

What’s a good review of men’s athletic wear without a good test? I am a pretty avid hiker and I sometimes go for a trail run. I go pretty much every weekend. For those of you that don’t know, the FitSW offices are headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado. As a result, we have plenty of options for trails to hit whether it’s way up in the Rocky Mountains or here in town.

I went on a morning hike last weekend that was 7 miles round trip. The trail featured some open areas leaving me exposed to the wind and some loose gravel that would force me jump and climb up on rocks. At the time of starting the hike, it was a brisk 38 degrees outside with a slight wind but nothing too bad. By the end of the hike, the clouds started to clear and the sun started to come out and the temp rose to about 46 degrees with little to no wind and direct sunshine. I figured wearing a t-shirt, the Born Tough hoodie, gloves, and a hat would be enough for the hike as I didn’t want to end up having to shed layers.

Insulating the Heat and Fighting the Wind

At first, I felt a little chilly starting out, but that’s to be expected with temps in the 30’s. Once I got going, I noticed the jacket insulated heat very well and even had some protection against the slight breeze that was coming through which you don’t always find in lighter weight jackets. The zipper zips up quite high and protects your neck from the elements pretty well and the hood fits your head snug. Sometimes hoods are too big so when you pull the draw strings to prevent wind from coming in, the hood covers too much of your face. Fortunately, Born Tough got the hood just right.

The Fabric and The Fit

The hoodie is made out of a dense fabric (92% polyester and 8% fabric) and is a slim fit. Once you put the hoodie on the fabric feels tough and durable with a solid zipper. However, even for a how durable the fabric is, the hoodie stretches very well to match your movement. Regardless of what sort of exercise you are competing in, the hoodie moves with you. And admittedly I bit the dust once on some rough gravel and the jacket didn’t show any damage at all on the elbows or areas of contact.

The Wash

After my hike I figured it’d be a good time to put it the through the wash. Sometimes, hoodies will fray on the inside and get little clumps of fabric on your other clothes (so annoying). However, because of how this hoodie is made, there’s really now way for it to do that. The hoodie didn’t shrink, get stiff, and didn’t shed stuff on other clothes while in the washer or dryer.

Recap

The Born Tough men’s Momentum Track Suite hoodie is a great hoodie that fits well, goes for an extremely reasonable price, is quality, and not only works great as something to workout in but also can keep your warm and fend off some of the wind as well. If you’re looking for a dynamic hoodie that you can beat up in the gym and wear casually as well, the Born Tough Momentum Track Suite hoodie is a great option for you.

Don’t forget to stay tuned to our socials for a giveaway of the products that Claire and I have tested! We will be announcing this via Newsletter, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Working out in unfashionable and unfitted clothing is becoming a thing of the past. This past weekend, I tried out Born Tough’s women’s tracksuit bottoms. I am ready to say that they are some of the best athletic pants that I have owned. Athletic wear needs to keep you comfortable, be breathable, and they have to be durable. Whether you are going on a difficult hike or doing a strenuous workout, you rely on your clothes to support your range of movements.

Born Tough’s tracksuit bottoms stood the test of my bodyweight workout and a nice long hike here in Colorado Springs. Let’s get into all of the reasons why these tracksuit bottoms have me considering setting aside a budget to purchase more Born Tough athletic wear.

Affordability

Most athletic wear these days is on the very high end of pricing. You pay a lot more money for fashionable clothing that fits right and lasts a while. When I read the prices for the clothing on Born Tough’s website, I was impressed. The clothing is fashionable and very affordable. For a hoodie that would otherwise cost $60, Born Tough only charges $34.

When I received the tracksuit bottoms, I was impressed at the quality of the material for the $30 price. Usually, tracksuit bottoms or leggings would be $10-$20 more. In terms of the material, the bottoms feel like a soft, snug sweatshirt.

The Workout

I’m not quite a fitness fanatic, but I love getting in my taste of nature and staying in shape.

You absolutely do not want your tighter-fitting clothes giving out on you in the middle of a workout. Born Tough’s clothing is made for a slimmer fit, and at first, I was a bit worried about the flexibility I would have. The material at touch seems very durable and not necessarily the stretchiest. However, I was pleasantly surprised at the range of motion I had.

I completed an at-home bodyweight exercise instead of hitting the gym because it’s by appointment only and they’re always full. Although, when I do go to the gym wearing these bottoms, I will be walking in with confidence. They shape my features so well! Some leggings and tracksuit pants do not accentuate your bottom half very nicely. However, these are tailored really nicely to make you look as good as you feel.

To start off my workout, I did a series of stretches beforehand and had no problem with the bottoms getting tight or pulling in uncomfortable ways. I had the same experience with the bodyweight exercises I completed afterward. Some of the exercises I did were single-leg reach jumps, trunk rotations, mountain climbers, and sumo squats.

I went on a short jog around my neighborhood afterward to cool down (and get the scoop on what my neighbors were up to). It’s a bit chilly here in the mornings, and aside from the heat of my exercise, the bottoms did a good job of keeping my legs warm against the slight breeze.

The Hike

The bottoms proved extremely comfortable during my home workout. So, I decided to put them to the Coloradan test on a hike the following day.

For me, pants and leggings not staying up is an extremely annoying problem that occurs when I’m running or hiking. These bottoms have a nice elastic waistband with a drawstring, so that problem was completely mitigated.

The one issue I came across was the sweat marks showing up quite a bit. It dried very quickly and was not an issue for long. Although, light grey material is always notorious for showing any dampness. The quickness in which they dried was nice, especially for it being colder weather.

My strategy for clothing on hikes is layering because the chill in the altitude is hard to predict. I get hot pretty quickly and then vice versa, so the bottoms fit well to my needs. They kept me warm but were still breathable enough that I didn’t get too hot.

Also, the pocket held my phone snugly. I had to do some climbing around boulders to follow the trail I was on. When exercising with your phone and listening to music, it can be terribly frustrating to hold or keep tucked in your waistband. I have many leggings that have a small pocket in the waitband, but they don’t hold my phone very securely.

Overall

Born Tough’s athletic wear is great for any exercise and looking good while doing it. For the price, you receive high-quality clothing that is durable and flexible for the workouts you complete. I am looking forward to trying out more of their products in the future!

Don’t forget to stay tuned to our socials for a giveaway of the products that Gabe and I have tested! We will be announcing this via Newsletter, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

If you are looking to become a gym franchisor, then you are confident and secure in your business model. So first think about why you formed your business model the way you did. Doing this requires that you ask a long list of questions about your business. Here are some starter questions that you should ponder before making any financial decisions. 

What does your business structure rely on? Who does your gym attract? What kind of area is your gym located in? What are the demographics of your customers and the surrounding area’s residents? What is your gym successful in providing to your customers? What aspects of your gym do customers not like? What do your employees appreciate about working at your gym? What do they not appreciate? What benefits do your employees receive? How can those benefits be a company standard upon becoming a franchisor? Do you have a team of professionals that you trust to aid you in the process of becoming a franchisor? If not, how do you plan on finding and hiring those people?

That is just a small portion of the questions that you will have to ask of yourself and your business getting started. Along the way, you will have to do more evaluation and reevaluation, but try to cover all the bases initially to make becoming a franchisor a smoother process. 

What are the overall benefits of becoming a franchisor?

The best part about franchising your gym will be the empowerment you give to other fitness buffs. Your core values for starting a gym will be passed along to other entrepreneurs and fitness professionals. Franchising provides an opportunity for more people to have access to jobs and places to exercise.

In terms of business growth, the fitness franchise is one of the fastest-growing in the world right now. In a previous blog, you can find information for some of the top franchises in the last year and see a comparison of the net worth required to buy in and the total initial investment needed.

Do a comparative analysis of the successful franchises and see how they have structured their franchise agreements. Also, gather information on what the competitive rates are for buying into a franchise. 

As your business grows, you will find that your involvement is reduced and you have less liability for the day-to-day operations. All the initial stress and workload will pay off tremendously when you can start making money almost hands free.

How scalable is your business model?

Scalability is extremely important. Understand how to replicate your business in different locations with different employees and different customers. Therefore, you have to gauge how effective your model will be on the low end of budget and startup and how effective it can be on the high end of the budget and startup. Figuring out the costs of the startup can be easy if you have kept all records of the purchases you made for your gym from the beginning.

You will have to hash out a budget for interior design, equipment, employees, startup promotions, advertising, business licenses, and more. Franchisees cannot afford to run into any unaccounted for hiccups or major additional expenses. They are most likely putting their life savings on the line as well as their business partners’. 

Detail everything it took to start your gym and the steps you took to become successful enough to want to franchise. Detailing this will help you map out your franchise agreement. 

Where can you improve your gym before becoming a franchisor?

Feedback from your clients and current employees is really important to understand the critical factors that have made your business successful. The questions you ask yourself can also double as survey questions for your employees and customers. Testimonials and reviews are absolute gold for businesses, so make sure that this feedback aligns with your financial success. You could be generating a good bit of revenue, but there could be other hidden problems that would affect you in the franchisor process.

Franchising is about being able to sell your business model and brand. Have people shown interest in your brand before? 

Improving brand awareness before becoming a franchisor is imperative. You have to hash out a 6-12 month plan for increasing brand awareness. This includes running intensive campaigns on social media and even on television if your budget calls for it. 

First, develop a brand story about why you opened your first gym and why you want to allow others to do the same. A story gives much more value to your brand and gym; it gives a personalized feel to your brand for more remembrance value.

What is your USP for selling franchises?

You’d be crazy to think that the market for franchising gyms is easy to be successful in. There are exactly 489 gym and fitness club franchises in the U.S. as of this year. Many of these franchises have over a thousand locations.

Granted, all of the fitness industry is taking a major hit this year because of the pandemic. However, the gym franchise market will be wide open when the pandemic becomes less of an issue. Now is the ideal time to start planning on how you will develop a franchise out of your gym.

This means that your gym has to have a unique factor that helps it stand out as a better prospect than your competitors. This can be difficult without much credibility and brand awareness. Although that’s why it is important to focus on your marketing strategy. 

You have to really send home the notion that your gym provides a new and innovative experience that your employees and customers can attest to. Take Pure Barre, for example, this company became successful because of its unique niche for barre training and its clothing line. They are spot on with their target market and how they reach their target market.

Marketing to the right people is extremely important as your business grows and franchises out. This will aid in choosing the right locations and getting your franchisees some traction for signing clients up.

Collect data on the success of your current business model and gym. Client and employee testimonials provide for good leverage on your selling point. You will need the data to back up your claims to creating a successful model that people would want to buy into. Gathering this data can be done in local surveys, your engagement on social media, running the numbers on your revenue and expenditures, and getting the aforementioned testimonials.

What are the risks?

On credibility and brand awareness, you must ensure that the people who do purchase a franchise will run it in a way that represents your company well. Think about the policies and guidelines you want to establish and how you will enforce those. Ensuring success in becoming a franchisor relies on the good work done by the people who are buying in.

In the early stages of becoming a franchisor, your credibility is on a thin line. For companies like Planet Fitness, people know that the individual gym might not be completely representative of the whole company because there are over a thousand gyms associated. 

Therefore, if customers have a poor experience at the gym level, then they are not as quick to reject the whole company. Now, if they go to corporate and corporate does nothing to right the wrongs, then there will be a much larger problem. 

With this being said, you might want to look into building your public relations skills or hiring someone to manage PR. You never know when a crisis is going to happen and you want to be able to put any flame out as quickly as possible.

You will eventually have way too much on your plate to handle reputation management. Budget to hire people who can manage that for you.

Legal hoops and set up for the long term profits

Surround yourself with professionals who will advise you every step of the way. You will need help to properly document the process and budget for the new expenditures that come with becoming a franchisor. This is where friends who are attorneys, accountants, or marketers could really come in handy! 

Hiring good legal counsel is especially important. This will be the time when you have to layout the contracts and policies that your franchisees must abide by. This will essentially come together in the franchise agreement.

What is a franchise agreement?

Franchise agreements define the legal relationship between the franchisor and the franchisee. This document outlines the nature of the relationship and the terms of the agreement between the two parties. It will be the most important reference point for either party for what to do and what not to do. Terms outlined in this agreement are usually guided by an attorney (or multiple) and are legally binding. Business structures are usually outlined in this agreement as well.

You must decide what business structure you want your franchisees to abide by when they file for their business license. When projecting the growth of your franchises, you will need to choose a franchise structure. 

The franchise structure that is popular among emerging franchisors is conversion franchising. Your target audience for selling franchises would be gym owners who would be willing to convert their gym to your business model and brand. This is easier on you as the franchisor because you would see a large reduction in your franchisee’s startup costs.

Brace yourself and warn your loved ones to do the same

Lots of initial effort will be required to set yourself on a successful track! You will probably not be around too much for your friends and family in the early months of becoming a franchisor. The more effort you put in initially to get things set on the right track, the better off your business will be in the long run. 

Clear and consistent communication is vital! This goes for your teammates, your family, and your friends. Your team must possess a clear understanding of your goals and expectations for franchising. This is the time that you will have little room for error. Make sure you have a clear budget for all expenses and a clear list of expectations for your team. 

As for your friends and family, times get a little tough when you are making big business decisions and plans. Don’t be afraid to ask for their support and understanding for your stress levels. If you have friends who could even be of help in advising your business decisions, then seek their knowledge!

In Summary

Becoming a franchisor means that you need thick skin and hard set goals for what you want. This is not a business venture for the weak, but it will benefit you and many communities in time.

Focus on what made your gym successful to begin with and carry those values through the process. Form the right group of counsel to help you make the most beneficial decisions along the way.

In terms of knowing when the right time to start franchising, stay updated daily on market statistics from IBIS World and other sources like Franchise Direct. Choosing the right time and the right method for spreading the word about your franchises will be important in the following year.

If you liked this article and want to read more, then check out the related blogs below! Feel free to leave us feedback in the comments as well.

Corporate fitness is a method for increasing employee productivity and saving money for companies in many different ways. Ideally, any company should want its employees to be happy and healthy. This leads to a series of positive outcomes for the company as a whole. In this article, you will find examples of effective corporate fitness and wellness programs and why they were implemented.

If you are a fitness business, then you will learn about how to find the right company for you that needs a wellness program. Corporate wellness programs can be a very mutually beneficial business endeavor for both ends. Not only is it good for business, but as a fitness business owner, you will have the opportunity to help dozens, if not hundreds of more people, become happier and healthier.

Typically, large companies with over 50 employees implement corporate fitness programs. However, there are companies of all sizes that most likely could benefit from a fitness/wellness program. Fitness and wellness are not precisely synonymous. However, they do target the same issues that employees experience in the workplace. Fitness and wellness just might imply different approaches to targeting these issues.

History of Corporate Fitness Programs

Believe it or not, the importance of corporate fitness is not a recent revelation. The earliest known corporate fitness program began in 1879 when Pullman Company created an athletic association for its employees. Granted, Pullman created a community around its company stocked with housing for its employees, schools, and shopping centers. Almost designed like our modern-day military bases without the security aspect.

In the late 1800s, National Cash Register actually implemented a requirement for employees to take exercise breaks twice daily. This company built an entire recreation complex spanning over 325 acres.

Fitness and wellness programs started ramping up after World War II. Big names like Xerox, Texas Instruments, and Johnson & Johnson started innovating the post-war fitness and wellness focus. Thereafter, the implementation of Employee Assistance Programs in the 1950s sparked the recognition and understood the need for employee benefits. It wasn’t until the 1970s that companies began to recognize the responsibility to provide healthcare for their employees.

What are the issues that corporate fitness targets?

Think about the typical day in the office. If you are reading this at the end of the workday, then I apologize for taking you back into the work headspace. But wait. That’s a problem. A typical day at work should not be that distressing to think about. Those stressors are what corporate fitness and wellness programs target.

Health and risk assessment is the largest factor in these programs. Companies rely on their employees’ accountability and presence at work. Employees with health problems can cost companies a largely impactful amount of money. Sick days and bringing illness into the workplace can be prevented through these types of programs.

Many companies even employ anti-smoking campaigns to increase employee health and absenteeism. The less time you spend taking smoke breaks, the more time you actually spend working. The longer you’re alive and healthy, the longer you are an asset to a company. Now, that may sound a little skeevy, but if your company is willing to support you in your health and fitness, that is hard to argue with.

Companies should address stress management strategies for their employees and maybe reevaluate the system that is stressing their employees. Stress is a huge factor in health as your mental state reflects directly in your physical state.

Nutrition and weight are also important factors that companies address in corporate fitness programs. Weight and diet have a huge effect on the development of serious health conditions. Health conditions cause employees to be absent from work and also not be as productive in the workplace. If you feel sluggish or physically distressed at work, you are less likely to perform as well.

Another reason, aside from productivity, is employees as a liability in the workplace. The more fit and overall healthier employees are, the less likely they are to have a serious accident in the workplace. Accidents like these reflect poorly on the company and can be very costly.

What companies have done corporate fitness well?

Thousands of companies, small, medium, and large, have implemented effective corporate fitness and wellness programs. Let’s go over five examples of effective corporate fitness and wellness programs.

Johnson & Johnson

The company that set the modern-day standard for corporate wellness programs was Johnson & Johnson’s Live For Life program. Implemented in 1978, it pumped out some notable statistics for the effects of fitness and wellness programs. The goal of this program was to provide the resources that their employees would need to improve and maintain their well-being. These resources focused on smoking cessation, nutritional advising, exercise, stress management, and weight control. Johnson & Johnson actually saw an 18% decrease in absenteeism after implementing the campaign. 50% of its employees actually participated.

Google

Another large company that has focused on corporate wellness is Google, of course. With its silly approaches to in-office exercise like multi-level slides, scooters, ping-pong tables, and standing desks Google employees work in a pretty fun atmosphere, to begin with. However, they have on-site gyms and fitness classes. Google even encourages its employees to teach fitness classes for their peers. On the less active end, they have arcades, “nap pods,” and free books for employees. It’s quite a holistic approach to fitness and wellness. However, Google is a multi-billion dollar company and these awesome things are not so reasonable for smaller companies. They do provide a good example of thinking outside of the box for how to implement health-conscious company functions.

Houston Methodist

This large chain of hospitals in the Houston metroplex has a notable program involving FitBits. They provided over 11,000 Fitbits to their employees to track their steps. Counting steps allowed them to have competitions with each other by hospital, by departments, by gender, and much more! Competition is the most exciting way for companies to use corporate fitness programs because competition generates engagement.

Employees of Houston Methodist also had access to biometrics scanning so they can stay in touch with their progress. This also helps them better set their fitness goals to complete!

Excelas

This company falls on the smaller end of the spectrum compared to Google or Johnson & Johnson. Their approach to workplace fitness was to give each of their employees a pedometer. The employees needed to walk 10,000 steps a day every day for 3 months to receive an extra 24 PTO hours. For employees who met this challenge, the company also donated to a charity of the employee’s choice in their name. This means that the employee could also write this off of their taxes!

Therefore, this program cost Excelas a manageable amount of money and encouraged its employees to stay physically active for three months!

Borislow Insurance

This company has an award-winning corporate fitness program. Their point system lets their employees track their healthy lunches, workouts, meditations, and more. Employees trade in their points for prizes of all different types.

This company even established an on-site fitness center with fitness classes, yoga classes, and meditation classes. Employees’ participation in the fitness center and these classes earn them points as well. Even a yearly physical will earn them points!

How to become the corporate fitness solution

As the individual, trainers verge into the corporate fitness world by simply being able to network and create detailed programs. Lots of money is ready for earning by becoming a corporate fitness trainer. You can find companies in need of a solution by being very active on LinkedIn. This will help you get in touch with businesses and even advertise your solution to their needs.

You need to be well versed in what the company is all about before you pitch to them. Therefore, LinkedIn is a good place to start learning about the companies you would like to pitch to. Be persistent, but professional, with your follow-ups if you don’t hear back immediately. I recommend a maximum of three follow-ups over the course of two weeks. Sometimes emails bury easily for busy business people, so it is important to make sure they even saw your pitch.

Many companies also already exist in providing corporate wellness solutions. Find companies that interest you and get in contact with them for starting a career there. You will be a better candidate if you have fitness and wellness certifications before applying. Good luck!

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