When you start unlocking the better lifestyle that can be achieved through a real dedication to fitness, for some people, it can really just click. If that dedication to fitness is becoming a real passion, you might even find that it suits you better than your current career. But how do you turn that passion of yours into something tangible that can make you a real living? Here, we’re going to look at some of the potential career paths that can answer that question.
Personal Trainer
Perhaps the first one that comes to mind is becoming a personal trainer, which is a direct path from taking your knowledge and love of fitness and turning it into a career. Typically, this involves guiding people one-on-one or in groups, designing workouts and regimes with them, and offering your expertise to help them get the most out of their efforts. As a very hands-on role, it’s great at keeping you active while you teach, as well. There are plenty of ways to specialize in the role, too, whether you’re a PT who focuses on strength training, weight loss, post-injury recovery, or athletic performance. Certification is often required, but programs are widely available.
Group Fitness Trainer
If you’re someone who has plenty of extroverted energy and works well in a group, then becoming a group fitness instructor could be the right fit for you. Many who work in this role work in multiple gyms or studios, bringing their motivational skills and expertise to lead classes in disciplines like spinning, HIIT, Pilates, yoga, or otherwise. Aside from designing and leading routines, one of the core skills of a group fitness trainer is their ability to create a fun and inclusive atmosphere and to energize and motivate those who attend the class. This includes everything from your body language and tone of voice right down to the workout music that you choose, combining aspects of performance and coaching for sessions that keep people coming back.
Physical Education Teacher
If you’re good at working with children, alongside having a passion for fitness, and you want to do your best to promote lifelong healthy habits, then working as a physical education teacher in a school or similar environment can be both challenging and fulfilling. You’ll introduce students to a variety of sports, exercises, and wellness principles while encouraging teamwork and self-discipline. A degree in education and state certification is typically required, but the career also tends to be fairly stable and offer benefits that some of the other, more self-driven efforts do not. It also often offers the chance to transition into coaching school sports teams. However, working for kids can be tough, so it’s definitely not for everyone.
Online Fitness Course Instructor
If you like the idea of being in a teaching role, but you would much rather work with people of all ages and all walks of life, then you can use technology to reach a global audience these days. There are plenty of platforms that allow you to teach fitness online, nowadays, creating structured classes, whether you’re teaching yoga, strength training, or even more specialized courses like specialized rehab or prenatal fitness. This can include both recorded materials as well as live classes over webcam, and works great for those who want to spread the word of what works best for them. More than most routes here, it requires a lot more planning and digital communication skills, but is also highly flexible, and can even work in tandem as a side-hustle with some of the other careers mentioned.
Running A Gym
If you have the capital to start your own business, and you want to provide what could become an important cornerstone of healthy living in your area, then setting up a gym could be a highly lucrative route to take. Of course, it’s also one that takes a lot of work, requiring you to not only find the right location, but source the equipment ot provide complete workouts for all manner of different customers, and to find those willing to lead classes or otherwise keep the gym running. However, good gyms are practically always in demand, especially if there’s an underserved niche in your area.
Wellness/Health Coach
As you likely already know, fitness is just one part of the overall picture of good health. There’s the nutritional side, and even the mental and emotional side, that a lot of people can use help in getting to grips with. Health and wellness coaches tend to specialize in a more holistic approach to building beneficial living habits, helping clients set and reach long-term health goals, often through habit change, motivation, and accountability. This can include using your passion for fitness alongside knowledge of nutrition, stress management, and lifestyle balance. Although there are no specific courses or certifications necessary to become a health coach, earning some can help you be a little bit more credible in the eyes of your potential clients.
Fitness Content Creator/Influencer
Fitness is one of the most popular niches in the world of blogging and social media content creation. While there is certainly no shortage of people in that space, the right personality and expertise can translate to an exciting and potentially lucrative career. Through platforms like Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok, you can share workouts, nutrition tips, and lifestyle advice to a broad audience. This route does require a mix of creativity and consistency to be able to put out compelling content routinely, as well as a willingness to invest in your personal branding. Working as a content creator or influencer can also synergize with any of the other career paths mentioned above, and, indeed, having the expertise and perspective afforded by those careers can be a selling point.
In reality, the industry for health and fitness is continuing to grow, and people are in need of those with the know-how, the experience, and the ability to guide them down their own healthy living journey. Consider the above careers and think seriously about which might best suit your own skills and mindset.