What does a fitness director do?
A fitness director manages a fitness facility's operations. These operations include creating fitness programs, monitoring staff, scheduling shifts, and even managing the fitness center budget. They can also train fitness instructors and even hire and terminate them. They procure the equipment necessary and make sure it works well and is safe. Aside from these tasks, fitness directors must also be akin to the needs of the center, decide on solutions, and have the ability to motivate clients to follow the program that was created for their betterment.
Fitness director responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real fitness director resumes:
- Manage business administration including cash management, budgets and payroll; interface with members and resolve conflicts.
- Enforce fitness center policies and ensure cleanliness of fitness equipment and customer safety.
- Create SaaS offering for global central booking and POS management.
- Assist patrons in workouts design to improve structural integrity, cardio capacity, and overall fitness.
- Provide staff with information to keep up CPR education and safety procedures according to policy within the facility.
- Implement biannual employee safety training that consist of first aid, CPR training, and job-relate safety precautions.
- Conduct training on policies and procedures governing safety, security and proper use of all strength and cardio equipment.
- Open and assess facility for cleanliness and ensure all equipment are operational.
- Ensure effective payroll control and operating margins; improve net and gross profit margins to maximize profitability.
- Coordinate an education series on Alzheimer's/dementia to give care givers the knowledge to communicate and care for the residents more effectively.
- Provide behavioral/emotional support and supervision for those with dementia and Alzheimer's.
Fitness director skills and personality traits
We calculated that 20% of Fitness Directors are proficient in Customer Service, CPR, and Kids. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Listening skills, and Motivational skills.
We break down the percentage of Fitness Directors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 20%
Provided top quality customer service and programming to ensure contract renewal between Corporate Fitness Midwest and Boeing Corporation.
- CPR, 15%
Provided staff with information to keep up CPR education and safety procedures according to policy within the facility.
- Kids, 9%
Developed a method to enhance the athletic performance of kids and applied it to competitive junior tennis athletes.
- Payroll, 7%
Assume fiscal responsibility by developing and implementing yearly budgetary guidelines and completion of bi-weekly payroll for the entire Fitness department.
- Yoga, 5%
Developed a new program incorporating aerobic and anaerobic classes such as: ZUMBA, Spin, Yoga, and R.I.P.P.E.D.
- Training Sessions, 4%
Provide complimentary personal training sessions to members
Most fitness directors use their skills in "customer service," "cpr," and "kids" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential fitness director responsibilities here:
Customer-service skills. One of the key soft skills for a fitness director to have is customer-service skills. You can see how this relates to what fitness directors do because "many fitness trainers and instructors sell their services, motivating clients to hire them as personal trainers or to sign up for the classes they lead." Additionally, a fitness director resume shows how fitness directors use customer-service skills: "provide adequate feedback on marketing objectives and personal training offerings associated with customer/client retention in conjunction with the bwdw objectives. "
Listening skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling fitness director duties is listening skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "fitness trainers and instructors must listen carefully to what clients tell them in order to determine the clients’ fitness levels and desired fitness goals." According to a fitness director resume, here's how fitness directors can utilize listening skills in their job responsibilities: "listen to member suggestions and do what i can to provide outstanding customer service. "
Motivational skills. This is an important skill for fitness directors to perform their duties. For an example of how fitness director responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "to keep clients coming back for more classes or to continue personal training, fitness trainers and instructors must keep their clients motivated." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a fitness director: "established various client retention and motivational programs. ".
Physical fitness. A big part of what fitness directors do relies on "physical fitness." You can see how essential it is to fitness director responsibilities because "fitness trainers and instructors must be able to lead classes and to demonstrate exercises to participants or their clients." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical fitness director tasks: "included the areas of group fitness, personal training, senior programs, pilates reformer, and specialty fitness. "
Problem-solving skills. A commonly-found skill in fitness director job descriptions, "problem-solving skills" is essential to what fitness directors do. Fitness director responsibilities rely on this skill because "fitness trainers and instructors must evaluate members’ or client’s fitness levels and create appropriate fitness plans to meet their needs." You can also see how fitness director duties rely on problem-solving skills in this resume example: "managed business administration including cash management, budgets and payroll; interfaced with members and resolved conflicts. "
Communication skills. Lastly, "communication skills" is an important element of what a fitness director does. Fitness director responsibilities require this skill because "fitness trainers and instructors must be able to clearly explain exercises that they demonstrate to clients." This resume example highlights how fitness director duties rely on this skill: "manage instructor payroll and communications, schedule, hire and evaluate personnel. "
The three companies that hire the most fitness directors are:
- WTS International
24 fitness directors jobs
- Anytime Fitness16 fitness directors jobs
- Workout Anytime6 fitness directors jobs
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Compare different fitness directors
Fitness director vs. Yoga teacher
A yoga teacher is responsible for teaching yoga as an exercise to enhance general body wellbeing and fitness. Yoga teachers primarily focus on teaching students how to practice meditation, perform different body stretching poses and improve mindfulness, which leads to general body wellbeing. As a yoga teacher, you're required to have a university degree or certification from private training organizations that offer specialist courses. Yoga teachers are also called "yogis" or "yoga instructors."
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a fitness director are more likely to require skills like "customer service," "cpr," "kids," and "payroll." On the other hand, a job as a yoga teacher requires skills like "anatomy," "thai," "asana," and "hatha yoga." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
The education levels that yoga teachers earn slightly differ from fitness directors. In particular, yoga teachers are 6.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a fitness director. Additionally, they're 1.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Fitness director vs. Certified personal trainer
A Certified Personal Trainer is a person who will guide, help, and motivate you to move forward and become successful. Anyone with a mastery of a specific subject can become a personal trainer; however, certification is given only by accredited organizations that can offer licensure or certification programs. Many hope to find their own certified personal trainer in this hectic and convoluted society to accompany them through thick and thin in life.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, fitness director responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "kids," "payroll," "yoga," and "house training." Meanwhile, a certified personal trainer has duties that require skills in areas such as "injury prevention," "nasm," "fitness programs," and "resuscitation." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, certified personal trainers earn a lower salary than fitness directors. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, certified personal trainers earn the most pay in the retail industry with an average salary of $43,335. Whereas fitness directors have higher pay in the government industry, with an average salary of $63,548.In general, certified personal trainers achieve similar levels of education than fitness directors. They're 3.7% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Fitness director vs. Manager/personal trainer
A manager/personal trainer performs fitness training, human resource management, and sales in a single job role. First-aid certification is one of the main requirements for the role. The responsibilities of this role are teaching and evaluating a trainer's performance, offering feedback based on the results of the evaluation, creating a workout plan that works for the client, advising the client on nutrition and exercise, and ensuring that health and safety regulations are adhered to when working with equipment.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, fitness directors are more likely to have skills like "kids," "yoga," "house training," and "group fitness instructors." But a manager/personal trainer is more likely to have skills like "cleanliness," "physical fitness," "team training," and "fitness programs."
Most managers/personal trainer achieve a similar degree level compared to fitness directors. For example, they're 4.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Fitness director vs. Life skills trainer
Life skills trainers are personal health professionals who provide training assistance and supervision to patients, such as personal care, financial management, and social integration. These trainers are required to assist their clients with disabilities with daily living activities while documenting their behaviors and personal hygiene. They can organize therapeutic activities for individuals or groups to maximize their quality of life. Life skills trainers must also assist in meal preparation as well as perform tasks that include glucose monitoring, insulin therapy, and diabetes management.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between fitness directors and life skills trainers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a fitness director might have more use for skills like "customer service," "kids," "payroll," and "yoga." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of life skills trainers require skills like "medication administration," "therapeutic recreation," "medical appointments," and "direct support. "
The average resume of life skills trainers showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to fitness directors. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 2.4% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.2%.Types of fitness director
Updated January 8, 2025
